Editing Kickboxing (section)

== History ==
=== Overview ===
[[File:Pankration Met 16.71.jpg|thumb|Pankratiasts fighting under the eyes of a judge. Side B of a [[Panathenaic Games|Panathenaic]] prize [[Panathenaic amphora|amphora]], c. 500 BC.]]
Since kickboxing is a broad term, understanding the history can be somewhat difficult, since [[hand-to-hand combat|combat]] is an inherent part of being human. [[Kick]]ing and [[Punch (combat)|punching]] as an act of [[human aggression]] have probably existed throughout the world since prehistory.<ref name="EncyclopaediaBritannicaEntry">{{Britannica|76377| Boxing|author=Michael Poliakoff}}</ref>

The earliest known depiction of any type of boxing comes from a [[Sumer]]ian [[relief]] in Iraq from the 3rd millennium BC. Forms of kickboxing existed in [[ancient India]]. The earliest references to [[musti-yuddha]] come from [[Indian epic poetry|classical Vedic epics]] such as the ''[[Ramayana]]'' and ''[[Rig Veda]],'' compiled in the middle of the 2nd millennium BC. The ''[[Mahabharata]]'' describes two combatants boxing with clenched fists and fighting with kicks, finger strikes, knee strikes and headbutts.<ref name="sacred-texts.com2" /> Mushti Yuddha has travelled along the Indosphere and has been a preceder and a strong influence in many famous martial arts of [[Southeast Asia]] such as [[Muay Thai]] and [[Muay Lao]]s.

In the [[Pankration]], a [[Mixed martial arts|mixed martial art]] from [[ancient Greece]], a form of kickboxing was used in its Anō Pankration modality, being able to use any extremity to hit. In addition, it is debated whether kicks were allowed in [[ancient Greek boxing]], and while there is some evidence of kicks,<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TlA989ijx9IC&dq=Philostratus+kicking+shin&pg=PA150|title=The Victor's Crown: A History of Ancient Sport from Homer to Byzantium|isbn=978-0-19-984273-5|last1=Potter|first1=David|year=2012|publisher=Oxford University Press, USA }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://earlychurchhistory.org/entertainment/boxing-in-ancient-roman-world/ | title=Ancient Roman Boxing | date=14 November 2015 }}</ref><ref name="ReferenceB" /> this is the subject of debate among scholars.<ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/294973|jstor = 294973|title = The Evidence for Kicking in Greek Boxing|last1 = Crowther|first1 = Nigel B.|journal = The American Journal of Philology|year = 1990|volume = 111|issue = 2|pages = 176–181|doi = 10.2307/294973|url-access = subscription}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://ejmas.com/jcs/2010jcs/jcsart_murray_1007.html | title=Boxing Gloves of the Ancient World }}</ref>

[[File:Boxe-francaise.jpg|thumb|left|220px|Old picture of ''la boxe française'']]
The French were the first to include [[boxing gloves]] into a sport that included kicking and boxing techniques.  In 1743, modern boxing gloves were invented by Englishman [[Jack Broughton]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Now and then: boxing gloves {{!}} Sport {{!}} The Observer |url=https://www.theguardian.com/observer/osm/story/0,,803152,00.html |access-date=2022-11-18 |website=www.theguardian.com}}</ref>  Frenchman [[Charles Lecour]] added English [[boxing gloves]] to [[Savate|la boxe française]].<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Coleman |first=J. |date= February 1982 |title=The Fighting Sport of France |magazine=Black Belt |pages=28–32 |issn=0277-3066 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zNIDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA28}}</ref> Charles Lecour was a pioneer of modern savate or la boxe française.  He created a form where both kicking and punching was used.<ref>{{Britannica URL|sports/savate|Savate}}</ref>  Lecour was the first to view savate as a sport and self-defense system.  The French colonists introduced European boxing gloves into the native Asian martial arts in [[French Indochina]].  The use of European boxing gloves spread to neighboring [[Siam]].

It was during the 1950s that a Japanese karateka named [[Tatsuo Yamada (karate)|Tatsuo Yamada]] first established an outline of a new sport that combined [[karate]] and [[Muay Thai]].  This was further explored during the early 1960s, when competitions between karate and Muay Thai began, which allowed for rule modifications to take place. In the middle of the decade, the first events with the term kickboxing were held in [[Osaka]].

By the 1970s and 1980s, kickboxing expanded beyond Japan and had reached North America and Europe. It was during this time that many of the most prominent [[Sport governing body|governing bodies]] were formed.

* In Japan the sport was widely popular and was regularly broadcast on [[television]] before going into a dark period during the 1980s.
* In North America the sport had unclear rules so kickboxing and [[Full contact karate#American|full contact karate]] were essentially the same thing.
* In Europe the sport found marginal success but did not thrive until the 1990s.

Since the 1990s kickboxing has been mostly dominated by the Japanese K-1 promotion, with some competition coming from other promotions and mostly pre-existing governing bodies.

Along with the growing popularity in competition, there has been an increased amount of participation and exposure in the [[mass media]], [[Physical fitness|fitness]], and [[self-defense]].

=== Japan ===
[[Image:Kumite of Motobu Choki.jpg|thumb|Tatsuo Yamada (left) and his master [[Choki Motobu]] (right), 1926]]
On December 20, 1959, a Muay Thai match among Thai fighters was held at [[Asakusa]] town hall in [[Tokyo]]. [[Tatsuo Yamada (karate)|Tatsuo Yamada]], who established "''Nihon Kempo Karate-do''", was interested in Muay Thai because he wanted to perform karate matches with full-contact rules since practitioners are not allowed to hit each other directly in karate matches. He had already announced his plan which was named ''"The draft principles of project of establishment of a new martial art and its industrialization"'' in November 1959, and he proposed the tentative name of "karate-boxing" for this new art.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OVXRAgAAQBAJ&dq=osamu+noguchi+kickboxing&pg=PT53|title=The Complete Martial Arts Training Manual|isbn=9781462905553|last1=Martin|first1=Ashley|date=2012-04-16|publisher=Tuttle }}</ref> It is still unknown whether Nak Muay was invited by Yamada, but it is clear that Yamada was the only [[karateka]] who was really interested in Muay Thai. Yamada invited a champion Nak Muay (and formerly his son Kan Yamada's sparring partner), and started studying Muay Thai. At this time, the Thai fighter was taken by [[Osamu Noguchi]] who was a promoter of boxing and was also interested in Muay Thai.<ref name=O68>{{cite magazine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Q84DAAAAMBAJ&q=osamu+noguchi+kickboxing&pg=PA8|magazine=Black Belt|access-date=10 January 2015|date=October 1968 |title=Kick Boxing "Lethargic Karate"? Official Sees Best Of Both Worlds |page=8}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4NYDAAAAMBAJ&q=osamu+noguchi+kickboxing&pg=PA12|magazine=Black Belt |access-date=10 January 2015|date=February 1973 |title=Japanese Kick-Boxing Promoter Opens Plush Gym In Thailand |page=12 }}</ref> The Thai fighter's photo was on the magazine "The Primer of Nihon Kempo Karate-do, the first number" which was published by Yamada.

There were "Karate vs. Muay Thai fights" on February 12, 1963. The three karate fighters from ''Oyama dojo'' ([[kyokushin]] later) went to the Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Thailand and fought against three Muay Thai fighters. The three kyokushin karate fighters' names are Tadashi Nakamura, [[Kenji Kurosaki]] and Akio Fujihira (also known as Noboru Osawa). The Muay Thai team were composed of only one Thai-born fighter.<ref name="8 Limbs">{{cite web|url=http://8limbs.us/muay-thai-thailand/the-origins-of-japanese-kickboxing-the-karate-muay-thai-fight-that-started-it-all|title=Origins of Japanese Kickboxing – The Karate vs Muay Thai Fight That Started It All|publisher=8 Limbs|author=Sylvie von Duuglas-Ittu}} December 28, 2015</ref> Japan won by 2–1: Tadashi Nakamura and Akio Fujihira both KOed opponents by punch while Kenji Kurosaki, who fought the Thai, was KOed by elbow. The only Japanese loser Kenji Kurosaki was then a kyokushin instructor rather than a contender and temporarily designated as a substitute for the absent chosen fighter. On June of the same year, karateka and future kickboxer [[Tadashi Sawamura]] faced against top Thai fighter Samarn Sor Adisorn, in which Sawamura was knocked down 16 times and defeated.<ref name="8 Limbs"/> Sawamura would use what he learned in that fight to incorporate in the evolving kickboxing tournaments.

Noguchi studied [[Muay Thai]] and developed a combined martial art which Noguchi named ''kick boxing'', which absorbed and adopted more rules than techniques from Muay Thai. The main techniques of kickboxing are still derived from a form of Japanese full contact karate where kicks to the legs are allowed, [[Kyokushin kaikan|kyokushin]]. In early competitions, throwing and [[headbutt|butting]] were allowed to distinguish it from Muay Thai. This was later repealed. The ''Kickboxing Association'', the first kickboxing sanctioning body, was founded by Osamu Noguchi in 1966 soon after that. Then the first kickboxing event was held in Osaka on April 11, 1966.

Tatsu Yamada died in 1967, but his dojo changed its name to ''Suginami Gym'', and kept sending kickboxers off to support kickboxing.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9uM5id-uMA0C&q=osamu+noguchi+kickboxing&pg=PA132|title=Physical Exercises & the Martial Arts|access-date=10 January 2015|isbn=9789380297057|last1=Shapira|first1=Philip|date=July 2009|publisher=Readworthy Publications (P) Limited }}</ref>

Kickboxing boomed and became popular in Japan as it began to be broadcast on [[Television|TV]].<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ms4DAAAAMBAJ&q=osamu+noguchi+kickboxing&pg=PA16|magazine=Black Belt |access-date=10 January 2015|date=December 1968 |title=Kick Boxing: The Mixture of Mayhem |first=Lloyd |last=Williamsen |pages=14–21}}</ref> By 1970, kickboxing was telecast in Japan on three different channels three times weekly. The fight cards regularly included bouts between Japanese (kickboxers) and Thai (Muay Thai) boxers. [[Tadashi Sawamura]] was an especially popular early kickboxer.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.nikkansports.com/battle/news/202104010000841.html|title= 「キックの鬼」沢村忠さんが死去 肺がんで入院|trans-title= "Kick Demon" Tadashi Sawamura dies, hospitalized for lung cancer|date= April 2, 2021|website= Nikkan Sports|access-date= February 21, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine  |title= Kick-boxing Booming in Japan|page=11|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=R9gDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA11|magazine= Black Belt |date=December 1971 |quote=Current idol of the young fans is Tadashi Sawamura, 28, a 130-pound ex-karateka who has been knocking out all comers with his powerful knee kicks ever since he introduced kick-boxing to Japan about five years ago.[...]Kick-boxing commands such an audience in Japan that it is now shown weekly over three television channels in Tokyo.|access-date=February 22, 2023}}</ref> In 1971 the All Japan Kickboxing Association (AJKA) was established and it registered approximately 700 kickboxers. The first AJKA Commissioner was Shintaro Ishihara, the longtime Governor of Tokyo. Champions were in each weight division from fly to middle. Longtime Kyokushin practitioner Noboru Osawa won the AJKA bantamweight title, which he held for years. Raymond Edler, an American university student studying at Sophia University in Tokyo, took up kickboxing and won the AJKC middleweight title in 1972; he was the first non-Thai to be officially ranked in the sport of Thai boxing, when in 1972 [[Rajadamnern Stadium|Rajadamnern]] ranked him no. 3 in the Middleweight division. Edler defended the All Japan title several times and abandoned it. Other popular champions were [[Toshio Fujiwara]] and [[Mitsuo Shima]]. Most notably, Fujiwara was the first non-Thai to win an official Thai boxing title, when he defeated his Thai opponent in 1978 at Rajadamnern Stadium winning the lightweight championship bout.

By 1980, due to poor ratings and then infrequent television coverage, the golden-age of kickboxing in Japan was suddenly finished.
Kickboxing had not been seen on TV until K-1 was founded in 1993.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Kickboxing – Persian International Martial Arts Federation |url=https://amirmosadegh.ir/styles/kickboxing/ |access-date=2022-04-14 |language=en-US |archive-date=2021-09-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210908133425/https://amirmosadegh.ir/styles/kickboxing/ |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web  |title=What Is Japanese Kickboxing? Easily Explained For Beginners |url=https://mmachannel.com/what-is-japanese-kickboxing-easily-explained-for-beginners/ |access-date=2022-04-14 |website=MMACHANNEL |date=30 November 2021 |language=en-us}}</ref>

In 1993, as [[Kazuyoshi Ishii]] (founder of [[Seidokaikan]] karate) produced K-1 under special kickboxing rules (no elbow and [[Tachi waza|neck wrestling]]) in 1993, kickboxing became famous again.<ref name="Maylam2001">{{cite web | last=Maylam | first=John | title=K-1 hits the spot | website=The Japan Times | date=2001-10-21 | url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2001/10/21/general/k-1-hits-the-spot/ }}</ref><ref name="TashiroTyrangiel2001">{{cite web | last=Tyrangiel | first=Josh | title=Turning the Martial Arts Into Mondo Mayhem | website=time.com | date=2001-09-03 | url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1000699,00.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071103152110/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1000699,00.html | archive-date=2007-11-03 | url-status=dead }}</ref>
In the mid-1980s to early 1990s, before the first k-1, Kazuyoshi Ishii also partook in the formation of glove karate as an amateur sport in Japan. [[Full contact karate#Gloved|Glove karate]] is based on knockdown karate rules, but wearing boxing gloves and allowing punches to the head. In effect, it is oriental rules kickboxing with scoring based on knockdowns and aggression rather than the number of hits. As K-1 grew in popularity, Glove karate for a while became the fastest-growing amateur sport in Japan.

=== North America ===
{{Further|Full contact karate#American}}
[[Image:Kickboxing right hook landing.jpg|thumb|250px|Hook-punch]]

[[Count Dante]], Ray Scarica and [[Maung Gyi]] held the [[United States]]' earliest
cross-style full-contact style martial arts tournaments as early as 1962.
Between 1970 and 1973 a handful of kickboxing promotions were staged across the US. The first recognized bout of this kind occurred on January 17, 1970, and came about when Joe Lewis, a Shorin Ryu stylist who had also studied [[Jeet Kune Do]] with the legendary [[Bruce Lee]], and noted champion in the Karate tournament circuit, grew disillusioned with the point-sparring format and sought to create an event that would allow martial artists to fight to the knock out. Enlisting the help of promoter Lee Faulkner,<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.worldwidedojo.com/sport-based/lewis-joe/ |title=Lewis, Joe |publisher=World Wide Dojo |access-date=2016-09-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160923115343/http://www.worldwidedojo.com/sport-based/lewis-joe/ |archive-date=2016-09-23 |url-status=dead }}</ref> training in boxing and combining the techniques of boxing and Karate for the first time in America, Lewis arranged the bout to be held at the 1st Pro Team Karate Championships. Lewis faced Kenpo stylist Greg "Om" Baines,<ref name="starsystemkickboxing.net">{{cite web |url=http://www.starsystemkickboxing.net/Pages/JoeLewis.aspx |title=Joe Lewis |access-date=2016-08-08 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160716152336/http://www.starsystemkickboxing.net/Pages/JoeLewis.aspx |archive-date=2016-07-16 }}</ref> who had defeated two opponents in years pasts. Lewis won the fight by knockout in the second round. The event was advertised as "Full contact" but the announcers referred to it as Kickboxing, and rules included knees, elbows and sweeps.<ref name="starsystemkickboxing.net"/> Lewis would defend his U.S. Heavyweight champion title 10 times, remaining undefeated until he came back from his retirement. In the early days, the rules were never clear; one of the first tournaments had no weight divisions, and all the competitors fought off until one was left. During this early time, kickboxing and [[full contact karate]] are essentially the same sport.

The institutional separation of American full-contact karate from kickboxing occurred with the formation of the [[Professional Karate Association|Professional Karate Association (PKA)]] in 1974 and of the [[World Kickboxing Association|World Kickboxing Association (WKA)]] in 1976.
They were the first organised body of martial arts on a global scale to sanction fights, create ranking systems, and institute a development programme.

The [[International Kickboxing Federation|International Kickboxing Federation (IKF)]] and the [[International Sport Kickboxing Association|International Sport Kickboxing Association (ISKA)]] have been the only organizations to have thrived in the modern era.

The [[International Kickboxing Federation|International Kickboxing Federation (IKF)]] was founded in 1992 by Steve Fossum and Dan Stell. Stell eventually stepped down to go back to fighting while Fossum continued with the organization. In 1999 Fossum and Joe Taylor of Ringside Products created the first amateur open North American tournament for Kickboxing and Muay Thai, now the IKF World Classic.

After ending its venture with K-1 in 2006, ISKA co-operated the [[World Combat League]] with [[Chuck Norris]], and [[Strikeforce (mixed martial arts)|Strikeforce]] MMA in partnership with Silicon Valley Entertainment (SVE), an investor group who also own the San Jose Sharks. Norris passed the WCL to his son-in-law Damien Diciolli in 2007, and it has since become inactive. Strikeforce MMA was sold to UFC in 2011.

The ISKA expanded into sport (tournament) martial arts about 15 years ago,{{When|date=November 2014}} and is a co-operator along with WAKO and Global Marketing Ventures (GMV) in the global Open World Tour (OWT) the first worldwide pro circuit of sport karate professional competitors. It sanctions and assists in the annual US Open & ISKA World Championships that anchors the OWT and the North American-based NASKA Tour. The US Open & ISKA World Championships is broadcast live on ESPN2 and ESPN3 each year.

Other kickboxing sanctioning bodies include [[World Association of Kickboxing Organizations]] (primarily amateurs) and KICK International.

=== Europe ===
[[Image:MUNCHEN_(2).JPG|thumb| A kickboxing match in [[München]].]]
{{Further|World Association of Kickboxing Organizations}}
In [[West Germany]], American-styled kickboxing was promulgated from its inception in the 1970s by [[Georg F Brueckner|Georg F. Bruckner]], who in 1976 was the co-founder of the [[World Association of Kickboxing Organizations]]. The term "kickboxing" as used in [[German-speaking Europe]] is therefore mostly synonymous with American kickboxing. The low-kick and knee techniques allowed in Japanese kickboxing, by contrast, were associated with Muay Thai, and Japanese kickboxing went mostly unnoticed in German-speaking Europe before the launch of K-1 in 1993.

By contrast, in the [[Netherlands]] kickboxing was introduced in its Japanese form, by [[Jan Plas]] and [[Thom Harinck]] who founded NKBB (The Dutch Kickboxing Association) in 1976.
Harinck also founded the MTBN (Dutch Muay Thai Association) in 1983, and the WMTA (World Muay Thai Association) and the EMTA (European Muay Thai Association) in 1984.
The most prominent kickboxing gyms in the Netherlands, [[Mejiro Gym]], [[Chakuriki Gym]] and [[Golden Glory]], were all derived from or were significantly influenced by Japanese kickboxing and kyokushin karate.

Dutch athletes have been very successful in the K-1 competitions.
Out of the 19 [[K-1 World Grand Prix]] championship titles issued from 1993 to 2012, 15 went to Dutch participants ([[Peter Aerts]], [[Ernesto Hoost]], [[Remy Bonjasky]], [[Semmy Schilt]] and [[Alistair Overeem]]). The remaining four titles were won by [[Branko Cikatić]] of Croatia in 1993, [[Andy Hug]] of Switzerland in 1996, [[Mark Hunt]] of New Zealand in 2001 and [[Mirko Filipović]] of Croatia in 2012.

A new era in Kickboxing was established in 2018 with the launch of the World Kickboxing Organisation (WKO). With a database of 10's of 1000's of amateur and professional athletes. The World Grand Prix is creating the next generations of world class athletes. With over 90 countries in representation throughout WKO the World President Jon Green continues to strive for the credibility and legitimacy of the sport.