Japanese kickboxing
This is almost same as Muay Thai(the type of Kickboxing practiced in MMU) but there are differences between them:
Similarities
- Time: three minutes × five rounds
- Allowed to attack with elbow
- Allowed to attack with knee
- Allowed to kick the lower half of the body except crotch
- Allowed to do neck-wrestling (folding opponent's head with arms and elbows to attack the opponent's body or head with knee-strikes)
- Head butts and throws were banned in 1966 for boxers' safety.
- No ram muay before match
- No Thai music during the match
- Interval takes one minute only as same as boxing
- Point system:
- In muay thai, kicking to mid-body and head are scored highly generating a large number of points on judges' scorecards. Moreover, kicking is still judged highly even if the kick was blocked.
- In contrast, punching is worth fewer points. In kickboxing punches and kicks are held in closer esteem.
American-style kickboxing
These are rules used in American and Australian Full Contact Karate:
- Opponents are allowed to hit each other with fists and feet, striking above the hip
- Using elbows or knees is forbidden and the use of the shins is seldom allowed.
- Bouts are usually 3 to 12 rounds (lasting 2 - 3 minutes each) for amateur and professional contests with a 1-minute rest in between rounds.
This is in contrast to Muay Thai where the use of elbows and knees are allowed; in fact some Muay Thai practitioners consider kickboxing a "watered down" version of Muay Thai. Fighters and promoters can agree to various rules including kicks only above the waist, kicks anywhere, no knee strikes, knees only to the body, and so on. American Kickboxing is essentially much a mixture of Western Boxing and Karate.
The round durations and the number of rounds can vary depending on the stipulations agreed to before hand by each fighter or manager. A winner is declared during the bout if there is a submission (fighter quits or fighter's corner throws in the towel), knockout (KO), or referee stoppage (Technical Knock Out, or TKO). If all of the rounds expire with no knockout then the fight is scored by a team of 3 judges. The judges determine a winner based on their scoring of each round. A split decision indicates a disagreement between the judges, while a unanimous decision indicates that all judges saw the fight the same way and all have declared the same winner.
The round durations and the number of rounds can vary depending on the stipulations agreed to before hand by each fighter or manager. A winner is declared during the bout if there is a submission (fighter quits or fighter's corner throws in the towel), knockout (KO), or referee stoppage (Technical Knock Out, or TKO). If all of the rounds expire with no knockout then the fight is scored by a team of 3 judges. The judges determine a winner based on their scoring of each round. A split decision indicates a disagreement between the judges, while a unanimous decision indicates that all judges saw the fight the same way and all have declared the same winner.
European-style kickboxing
Originally, European style kickboxing was formed with Muay thai and Japanese kickboxing. The rules being enforced for European-style kickboxing are :
- Time: 3 minutes × 5 rounds
- Not allowed to attack with elbow
- Allowed to attack with knee
- Allowed to kick the lower half of the body except crotch
- Allowed to do neck-wrestling but frequency is limited.
- Headbutts and throws are not allowed
