What kickboxing is all about
The evolution to kickboxing took place during the 1970s
WHAT is this kickboxing you always hear about?
Kickboxing is a stand-up combat sport that includes kicks and punches.
The sport was developed from karate, Savate, Muay Thai, Taekwondo, Indochinese boxing, western boxing and other stand-up fighting styles, and is a good cardio vascular workout that is great for self defence, fitness or as a sport.
The evolution to kickboxing took place during the 1970s but is considered to have been influenced by the development of Japanese kickboxing that started in the 1960s. Bruce Lee’s use of non-traditional techniques is also considered to have had an influence on this evolution of stand-up fighting.
In the 1990s, this hybrid fighting concept further evolved to include ground fighting techniques based on Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, judo and wrestling. This combination of all fighting styles is the increasingly popular Mixed Martial Arts (MMA).
Kickboxing has several international governing bodies with the World Association of Kickboxing Organisations (WAKO) being currently considered as the largest of these. The South African Kickboxing Association (SAKA), a member of WAKO, is the only South African association that can give recognised national or provincial colours for this sport.
At WAKO amateur events, kickboxing is contested in five categories, namely semi contact, light contact, full contact, K1 and forms. Legal strikes are above the belt but exclude the top of the head, neck and back.
With K1, kicks to the inner and outside of the upper leg are also legal. “Kick Low Light”, a good starting point for K1 fighters, was contested as a demonstration sport at the 2012 WAKO Junior World Championships.
Forms are a series of fighting techniques that are used against imaginary opponents using either bare hands or weapons, with or without music.
Kickboxing welcomes any fighting style to compete within a prescribed set of rules that are designed to protect the fighters. In semi contact, after each point is seen by a majority of judges, the contest is paused to award the point in a way that is similarly to karate. This gives the fighter the confidence to strike and score fast without being left vulnerable, resulting in what is arguably the fastest and most effective stand-up fighting on the planet.
Fighters from the five Kempton Park clubs excelled at the South African Kickboxing Championships contested in Cape Town in May. Several fighters from these clubs became the official 2015 champions in their weight divisions.
CAPTION:
KEMPTON Park based SAKA champions, coaches and officials. Front: Sensei Brittany Crocker (gold SC), Michael Lovemore (gold SC), Tanya Coetser (bronze LC), Johan Coetzer (silver FC), Angelique Johnson (bronze SC) and Karlia van Eeden (gold SC and silver LC). Middle: Sensei Gerhard van Niekerk (gold veteran U/74kg SC), Sensei Daniel Mangoejane (gold veteran U/74kg LC and silver SC), Marc St Arnaud (gold U/19 over 94kg LC and bronze SC), Sensei Claude St Arnaud (gold U/19 U/84kg SC and LC), Westly van der Wald (gold SC), Magda van Niekerk (silver veteran SC) and Ronel Lovemore (official). Back: Shihan Willem Kruger (chief referee from Kempton Park Karate Club), Sensei Stanley de la Cruz, Shihan Danie du Plessis (championship chief referee and head of ISFO), instructor Eddie Theron from Xtreme Kickboxing Kempton Park (gold LC over 94kg and silver SC), Claude St Arnaud (referee) and Rowan Lovemore (referee). Absent: Shihan JD du Plessis (Nova MMA Club), Edward Davis (gold SC) and Bradley Saunders (gold K1).
