General Kickboxing info needed?

Check out MikeMiles.com for interesting info and video clips of the entire Kickboxing scene ! OSU.

Re: question 1, i would like to add that american rules "kickboxing" which had fighters like Joe Lewis, arose out of full contact karate, rather than the Thai boxing tradition.

If you are asking which country has the best thai boxers (fighters who compete under thai rules), for the lighter weights, it would be thailand. although burma and cambodia has some badasses, and japan has a good league or 2.

it's already in the works. the k-1 middlewight tourney is already to take place.the k-1 organization has the money and the marketing, so it will attract the best.

Answer for #7 really depends on who is fighting who
and what are the rules if it's just american kickboxing
(no kicks below the belt)the good boxer can probably
learn to block certain higher kicks without deviating
from his boxing formalities,if it's kickboxing with
leg kicks allowed this changes the whole spectrum of the fight it makes the the boxer have to really take
a crash course in defense for his legs(i don't think
one exist)and in muaythai rules ,the boxer is in a heap of trouble,of course it really depends on who is fighting who bottom line is which fighter can impose his weapons. One of the reasons kickboxer sometimes don't look good boxing like a skilled boxer is the distance the kickboxing match is fought in, sometimes causes the kickboxer to not have that great foundation that the
boxer always seems to have because he never has to balance himself while punching and kicking sometimes
simotaneously.

HAVOC 1,

You feel that eventually K1 will establish lighter divisions and bring in the world's best?

savateur pretty much nails it right on the head, but I'll add a little extra to his

1. Savateur is correct. Thailand for the lighter weight fighters, and Holland overall. But, as he has mentioned, there are SO many kickboxing styles that its very hard to pinpoint specific countries outside of those two as producers of the best fighters. For instance, England and France also produce great Thai boxers, but I don't believe they're specifically known for other kickboxing styles. With the VERY noteable exception of Savate fighters from France. But being as that sport still hasn't gotten the recognition that some of the other styles of kickboxing, I unfortunately know very little about it.

2. I can't give you specifics, but Holland is one of the best countries to train kickboxing in. They have kickboxers who excel in almost all of kickboxings variations. VERY active scene!

3. Others have already listed the sites I would refer you to.

4. Loaded question. Jean Yves Therieaut (sp?), Don "the Dragon" Wilson, Pud Pad Noi, Diesel Noi, Ramon Dekker, Rob Kaman, Samart... These are the stars of the past. Today? That is an ever changing scenario. I have been unable to keep up on the scene in recent years, but people like Jeff and Duke Rufous, Mo Smith, Kiatsongrit, Andy Huq (RIP), Danny Steele, etc are some of the most recent stars of the ring.

5. As said, K1 is the premier showcase for heavyweight fighters. Elbows are not allowed.

6. Who? I'm embarrassed to say I don't know who that is. I've been trying to get plugged back into the current fight scene. But my few years hiatus has hurt me.

7. Ah, the age old argument of who would win, boxer or kickboxer. One thing is true. Boxers hand skills are in most cases better than their kickboxer counterparts. The reason should be obvious. Kickboxers must divide their training between hands and feet, and whatever other weapons allowed in their version of the sport. Boxers concentrate solely on hands. So of course boxers hand skills are better. But, it all depends on the rules of the match. If both fighters are allowed to fight with all their weapons, my money will usually be on the kickboxer.

8. There are a bunch of world champions. The reason why is because there are a bunch of organizations that award titles. Each organization has its own fighter pool to create matchups from, and their champions are world champions... of THAT organization. Perfect example: If I wanted to, I could claim to be an amateur world champion. I won the ISMTA amateur Muay Thai title in my weight class back in 1994. This organization did have fighters from all over the country and all over the world. However, the bulk of the fighters were from the Pennsylvania, New York, Toronto (Canada) area. So, when I refer to my title, I prefer to call it a regional title. But, I *could* claim to be a world champion, and NOT be lying.

Khun Kao

1) yes Thailand has the best thaiboxer in the world at lightweight, it's a question of culture, training methods, and there are so many events held almost every night so basically a thai fighter could fight every week

2)Holland is probably the best country about thaiboxing and kickboxing in Europe. Generally in Europe there are many styles not only muay thai, kickboxing, savate, full contact (where low kicks are not allowed), and often the fighters are involved in many different styles.

3) check out also www.ultimatefighting.co.uk you could find some Peter Aerts instructionals and K-1 legit videos

4) thai fighters too many to name, Pud Pad Noi was one of my favourite, for the past Ramon Dekkers and Rob Kaman, both from Holland involved in kickboxing and muay thai, Francois Pennacchio from France (probably the best savateur), the legendary Andy Hug; and many many others.
Actually i think that the ones in K-1 like Hoost, Aerts, LeBanner and Filipovic are among the best.

5) they are the best in the heavyweight division

6) Yvel is a good striker, probably one of the best in the MMA scene about kicking, but i think he's an average fighter about K-1

7) Probably it's true, but boxing and kickboxing are simply different sports with different rules. I mean probably the best boxer could beat down average kickboxers and vice versa.

8) the situation is really confused, too many promotions, too many style. For example italian Massimo Rizzoli actually fights in Full Contact, kickboxing, thaiboxing and recently Vale Tudo, he's Wako world champion in his division. Is he the best? i don't know, probably he's the best in kickboxing not in other styles.

Just my opinion
Claudio
NHBItalia

thanks

1.holland use to be the stuff. the scene in holland has gone on to mma. still great gyms,but most big names are fighting in japan,france,thailand.
france,and australia/nz and of course thailand are the current hotbeds.

2.holland has produced some very good fighters, but like i said, mma/nhb seems to be more popular right now.

3.axkickboxing is a good website

4.kaman,dekkers,bille,rick roufus,theiault,mo smith,longinidis,ballentine,hypolite,vick,pena,wison,alexio,and urqidez r some great names from the past.
some new ones would be shane chapman, daniel dawson,jwp,ryan simpson,perry ubeda,patrick erickson,micheal zambidis,jeff"duke'roufus,mark miller,jason johnson,and guiseppe denatale are some current up and comers or already here er's.

5.k-1 fighters are the cream of the crop for heavyweights. it is the biggest event in kickboxing.
this is basically mod. muaythai, but was started as a martial arts tournament to competer with the ufc of the day. the rules were designed to accomodate all types of stand up ma's or sports.
elbows are not allowed due to the high occurence of cuts.

6. don't know

7.boxers kickboxers.
depends.
james warring who is one of a few men to hold both kickboxing and boxing titles-cruiserweight champion in boxing.was knocked out stone cold by peter aerts.
bill wallace made tommy the hitman hearns look silly in a exihibition fight, and don wilson ko's arthur jimmerson in the 6th rnd of a mixed fight, boxing v.s. kickboxing. art went on to fight for the lt.heavyweight boxing title,losing a 15 rnd dec.
dana rosenblatt,troy dorsey,tex cobb,khasoi gakaxy,samart paykaran(sp?)and a fistfull of other thais have been successful in both sports.

8. world champions are a dime a dozen and k-1 will take care of that.

ttt

ttt

With the recent success and/or visibility of strikers in MMA, I've become increasingly interested in Kickboxing, if anybody could answer any of the following questions, I would very much appreciate it.

I apologize in advance if any of these questions seem ignorant, I can assure you I'm not trying to be offensive, just trying to learn.

1. Which countries produce the best fighters? I'm currently under the impression that Thailand is #1 at the lighter weights.

2. What's the Holland scene like?

3. Any first rate, Sherdog equivalent type websites I can purchase tapes and/or learn about Kickboxing greats?

4. Who are the best and/or best known fighters, past and present?

5. How "world class" are the K1 guys? Why are elbows banned in K1?

6. How "world class" is Gilbert Yvel?

7. It seems to me that most Boxers have better hands than Kickboxers, would that be a correct assumption? Based on my tiny comprehension of Kickboxing, I've always felt that a good Boxer could simply take out an equally good Kickboxer by simply getting inside and outpunching him. Is that true at all? While watching Stefan Leko win KI USA earlier this year, that seemed to be exactly the case.

8. MY BIGGEST QUESTION

There seems to be an abundance of "world champions" between countries and promotions. Who are the legit reigning Champs? How bout the reigning promotions? Any comprehensive rankings systems out there?
It just seems as if there are too many damn Champs!

uhhh u've got a lot of questions but I've only got one answer for now
check out www.shoto.com they've got some basic thai techniques and some history

as to y the K-1 doesn't allow elbows (they hurt and cut really bad and the fighter don't want to get jacked up) plus that would make it more of a thai fight when they try to say it's a japanese Karate event.

Check out the USMTA site: http://www.usmta.com/
Check out MuayThaiOnline: http://www.muaythaionline.net/

You can purchase tapes from both sites. I belive they are legit. (I apologize to the mods if this is not correct.)