Kickboxing is a generic martial arts term that refers to a modern combative sport rooted in karate, Western boxing and muay Thai. Although practical as a means of self-defense, kickboxing has gained wide acceptance as a fitness method and a competitive contact sport.
Kickboxing was born when Japanese boxing promoter Osamu Noguchi and martial artist Tatsuo Yamada took an interest in muay Thai fighting. Frustrated that traditional karate didn’t allow contact on strikes, the duo developed what they first called “karate boxing” and staged “karate vs. muay Thai” fights, in which practitioners of each art squared off against each other. The popularity of these matches grew, and by the early 1960s, the combination of karate’s hand strikes with muay Thai’s emphasis on kicking and no-holds-barred aggression yielded the new sport of kickboxing. Osamu Noguchi and Tatsuo Yamada’s entrepreneurial spirit and creative blending of two distinct arts doubtlessly sewed the seeds for the emergence of today’s mixed martial arts.
– November 11, 2011
Back in 1983, I heeded the call of Uncle Sam and joined the U.S. Army. Basic training at Fort Bliss, Texas, was easy enough and mostly fun, what with the M16 rifles, M60 machine guns, hand grenades, Claymore mines and LAWs (light anti-tank weapons). A martial artist interested in state-of-the-art
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– October 11, 2011
Chael Sonnen isn’t your typical politician. For one, he actually answered our questions. But more important, the All-American wrestler from Oregon taught us some of the best tricks from his playbook.
Despite his reputation as one of the UFC’s loudest stars, he doesn’t have a bad word to say about
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– August 26, 2011
This list is in no particular order. I could have put krav maga, haganah and others in there, but when I got to 10, I stopped. This list will piss off many instructors, but they have to realize, for example, that with a system like kyokushinkai, which came from goju-ryu
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– August 12, 2011
Editor’s Note: Because it’s impossible to defend yourself when you’re unconscious, knockouts play a critical role in any fight, whether it takes place in the ring or on the street. In our September issue, we explored the physiological effects of a knockout and why head trauma is such a controversial
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– June 29, 2011
Antonio Graceffo takes you to the Philippines in this martial arts travel-video supplement for his Destinations column, appearing in Black Belt magazine. Graceffo explores a variety of martial arts styles and gives an overview of the fighting and training scene in this island nation. Included are his experiences training in
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– June 22, 2011
In any sport from football to fighting, when two opponents are practically equal, usually the one who makes the fewest mistakes becomes victorious. With that in mind, presented below is my list of the 40 most common errors martial artists make in the ring.
Kickboxing Training Mistake #1
Trying to counter when
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– June 14, 2011
The first time you watched your favorite martial arts star wipe out a horde of bad guys with a string of jump-spinning back kicks on the silver screen, you probably were impressed. I know I was. On the other hand, you probably weren’t quite as inspired the first time you
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– May 6, 2011
It was 1 o’clock, and I was sitting at Jun Chong’s taekwondo school in Los Angeles getting ready to work out. In walked Dolph Lundgren, 6 feet 5 inches tall and built like a brick [outhouse].
He said, “You’re Bill Wallace, right?”
I said, “Yeah, and you’re Dolph Lundgren.”
I stood up and
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– March 24, 2011
If you don’t know Gokor, you’re not really into grappling. Disagree all you want, but you can’t dispute the fact that Gokor Chivichyan is the go-to guy for submissions, especially leg locks. He was inducted into the Black Belt Hall of Fame in 1997 as Judo Instructor of the Year,
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– March 24, 2011
Antonio Graceffo takes you to the other side of the world in this video supplement for his Destinations column, appearing monthly in Black Belt magazine. In Part 1 of his trip to Thailand, he discusses martial arts training and the variety of styles available to partake in, including muay Thai,
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