The Ins and Outs of Kickboxing WNY

Kickboxing in WNY is a combat sport that combines kicking techniques typical of the oriental martial arts and boxing. Much like boxing, there is an arbitration committee composed of three officials, and a referee who steps into the ring. There are several ways to score, but the most widespread is the scoring system is based on factors of 10.

The rules of amateur kickboxing categories dictate a maximum three rounds of three minutes but may vary by organization. Generally, championship finals entail three rounds of two minutes, exhibition bouts can be done in two rounds. The term kickboxing was coined in Japan in the 1960s. During that period the only forms of full contact sports were Korean Chinese sanda, karate, Muay Thai, Russian Sambo, Russian Sambo and taekwondo.

The Japanese promoters noticing the achievements of Thai boxing competitions chose to do away with the elbows, knees. They introduced a contact sport in which fighters apply punches and kicks to the trunk, legs and face. There are various techniques used in the sport, some of which are considered substantive, others are variations that can be used in combat. The basic techniques include the front kick, round kick and side kick.

Front kicks are set in motion by hurling the leg towards the chest and then extending it forward. The side kick is identical to the front kick, however, it is initiated from the side, twisting the support leg forty-five degrees and striking the opponent using the cut of the foot. Round or rotary kick, on the other hand, is set in motion by maneuvering the leg using a precisely round trajectory, striking with the shin. It is accomplished by twisting the entire body, commencing from the foot of support forty-five degrees forward.

The offensive maneuver can be directed at the opponent's legs, mid-section or the face. Other types of maneuvers of kickboxing in WNY include, the calcium cross, with which the leg performs a lateral motion to strike an ascending face. Calcium descending whereby the action is contrary to that of the crescent kick because the foot moves downwards and laterally, it is typically employed to compromise an opponent's guard.