[custom_adv] Kickboxing is a group of stand-up combat sports based on kicking and punching, historically developed from Karate and Muay Thai. [custom_adv] Kickboxing is practiced for self-defense, general fitness, or as a contact sport.Japanese kickboxing originated in the 1960s, with competitions held since then. [custom_adv] American kickboxing originated in the 1970s and was brought to prominence in September 1974, when the Professional Karate Association (PKA) held the first World Championships. [custom_adv] Historically, kickboxing can be considered a hybrid martial art formed from the combination of elements of various traditional styles. [custom_adv] This approach became increasingly popular since the 1970s, and since the 1990s, kickboxing has contributed to the emergence of mixed martial arts via further hybridization with ground fighting techniques from Brazilian jiu-jitsu and folk wrestling. [custom_adv] Kickboxing has a number of different rulesets. For example, American kickboxing and/or American full contact karate restricts to strikes using punches and higher kicks; whereas some other arts often regarded as "kickboxing" allow low kicks and even knee strikes, elbows, and grappling maneuvers. [custom_adv] All forms of kickboxing use an identical scoring system, however. 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 knockout, or TKO). [custom_adv] 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. [custom_adv] 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. [custom_adv] Oriental rules, also known as Japanese kickboxing and K-1 rules, is a combat sport created by the Japanese boxing promoter Osamu Noguchi and Karate practitioner Tatsuo Yamada. [custom_adv] [custom_adv] It was the first combat sport that adopted the name of "kickboxing" in 1966, later termed "Japanese kickboxing" as a retronym. [custom_adv] Oriental rules bouts were traditionally fought over 5, 3 minute rounds but 3 round bouts have since become popular since their inception in the K-1 promotion.
