In many martial arts, the true origins or starting point is usually murky or unknown. This is also true for the martial art kickboxing, however, can be traced back to a creation point of sorts. During the early to mid 1950’s, a man by the name of Osamu Noguchi was a prominent boxer and boxing enthusiast in Japan. He traveled the world to watch popular boxing matches and became fond of the style of boxing used in Thailand – Muay Thai.

Kickboxing is a sporting martial art very similar to boxing, except for the fact that it uses both arms and legs for striking. It can be practiced either as a full-contact combat sport or for general fitness. While the term refers to various forms of combat sports, it is generally associated with Japanese and American kickboxing. The term was introduced by Osamu Noguchi, a Japanase boxing promoter.

The History of Kickboxing

What is Cardio Kickboxing?

One of the differences between a trained martial artist and a streetfighter is the time spent practicing sequences or combinations of moves. The idea being to not just hit, but to reflexively hit in sequences of three or four moves. It is far more effective to barrage an opponent with a rapid sequence of blows than to just punch them once. That way if they block the first, or the first two, there is still something coming in to get them. Makes a big difference.

This is the second in a series on martial arts striking combinations used as choreography in cardio kickboxing. As said, a key difference between a trained martial artist and a streetfighter is that the martial artist reflexively hits in sequences of three or four moves. The instinctive non-thinking reaction isn't just a one-move event, its a more effective practiced sequence of strikes. One punch or kick is easy to defend against, but three or four thrown in a row can be very difficult to deal with.

Are you wondering maybe kick boxing would be helpful as part of your exercise program? Many people are now including this into their regular workout. Kick boxing combines kicking, punching and boxing using the elbows, knees, head blows, kicks and punches. It seems to be a combination of karate and regular street fighting. However, the kicks are delivered to the shin area, so if you want to take part in a kick boxing class, you will first have to condition your shins to take hard kicks. It has been used all through history and as far back as the 1700s there were competitions.