Kick Boxing

Kick Boxing refers to the sport of using martial-arts-style kicks and western-boxing-style punches to defeat an opponent in a similar way to that of standard boxing. Kick Boxing is a standing sport and does not allow continuation of the fight once a combatant has reached the ground. All punches and kicks must land above the belt.

Kick Boxing is often practised for general fitness, or as a full-contact sport. In the full-contact sport the male boxers are bare chested wearing kickboxing trousers and protective gear including: mouth-guard, hand-wraps, 10oz boxing gloves, groin-guard, shin-pads, kick-boots, and optional protective helmet (usually for those under 18). Female boxers will wear a top in addition to the male clothing/protective gear.

Thai Boxing

Also known as “The Art of the Eight Limbs”is a form of martial art practiced in several Southeast Asian countries including Thailand.
Muay Thai has a long history in Thailand and is the country's national sport. Traditional Muay Thai practiced today varies slightly from the ancient art Muay Boran and uses kicks and punches in a ring with gloves similar to those used in Western boxing. Muay Thai is referred to as the science of eight limbs, as the hands, shins, elbows, and knees are all used extensively in this art. A master practitioner of Muay Thai thus has the ability to execute strikes using eight points of contact, as opposed to two points (fists) in Western boxing and four points (fists, feet) used in the primarily sports-oriented form of martial arts.

Mixed Martial Arts

MMA is a full contact combat sport in which a wide variety of fighting techniques are used, including striking and grappling. Modern mixed martial arts tournaments as a popular phenomenon emerged in 1993 with the Ultimate Fighting Championship, based on the concept of pitting different fighting styles against each other in competition with minimal rules in place in an attempt to determine which system would be more effective in a real, unregulated combat situation.
In the late 1990s and early 2000s, mixed martial arts events implemented additional rules for the safety of the athletes and to promote acceptance of the sports, while maintaining as much of the original no-holds-barred concept as possible. Since these changes the sport has grown rapidly to the point of setting pay-per-view records.

K-1
K-1 is a world-wide kickboxing promotion based in Tokyo, Japan founded by Kazuyoshi Ishii, a former Kyokushin karate practitioner, and owned by the Fighting and Entertainment Group (FEG), who organize combat sport events in Japan, and around the world, that include events by the mixed martial arts promotion Dream. K-1 combines stand up techniques from Muay Thai, Karate, Taekwondo, Savate, San Shou, kickboxing, western-style boxing, and other martial arts. Its rules are similar to those of kickboxing but they have been simplified to promote exciting matches that may end in a knockout win.The main difference between K-1 rules and kickboxing is the use of knees, allowed in K-1 but not in International kickboxing.