The vocabulary, and where it came from

A full point in knockdown karate — a knockdown leaving the opponent unable to continue for three seconds. Ends the bout. Has no equivalent in gloved kickboxing, where a knockdown is scored rather than decisive.

The promotion founded in 1993 by Kazuyoshi Ishii. The K gestures at karate, kickboxing, kung fu and kempo; the 1 at finding a single champion among them. Its ruleset became the template for nearly all modern kickboxing.

The axe kick — brought straight up and dropped heel-first onto the collarbone, sternum or skull. Andy Hug’s signature, and a direct product of a ruleset where the head can only be reached by foot.

Full-contact karate founded by Masutatsu Oyama, fought bare-knuckle with punches to the head forbidden and kicks to the head permitted. The organisational and stylistic ancestor of K-1 via its Seidokaikan offshoot.

The roundhouse kick in Japanese terminology. In karate lineages it is typically thrown with the instep or ball of the foot; kickboxing adapted it to land with the shin.

The Kyokushin offshoot founded by Kazuyoshi Ishii, which created K-1 in 1993. Explains why so many early K-1 champions came from knockdown karate rather than kickboxing.

Japanese standing hybrid created in 1985 by Caesar Takeshi. Permits throws, standing chokes and standing joint locks alongside striking; the referee stands the fighters up the moment the action hits the mat.

A half point in knockdown karate — a partial knockdown or clear stagger. Two waza-ari conventionally equal an ippon.

A roundhouse to the thigh, landing with the shin. The technique the Dutch system is built around and the sharpest dividing line between rulesets — legal in most codes, banned outright in American and WAKO full-contact.

The Amsterdam gym founded by Jan Plas after training under Kurosaki Kenji in Japan. The origin point of Dutch kickboxing and the lineage most modern Dutch camps trace back to.

The name Dutch promoters gave their working code: low kicks central, knees permitted, brief clinch, no elbows. The direct ancestor of the GLORY ruleset.

The controlled form of savate competition, where excessive force is penalised and technique is judged. The full-power form is combat savate.

The savate thrust kick — the sole of the boot driven into the target like a piston, linearly rather than on an arc. Comparable to a side kick or teep depending on the line.

The savate low kick — the boot skimmed along the floor into the opponent’s shin or ankle. Targets lower than a Dutch low kick and does not rely on shin conditioning.

The savate whip kick — the toe of the boot snapped into the target on a curved path. The nearest savate equivalent of a roundhouse, but delivered as a precise point strike rather than a swung shin.

A savate kick landing with the outside edge of the boot on a slashing path. Has no clean equivalent in shin-based kickboxing, because the technique depends on the shoe presenting a hard narrow edge.

French kickboxing, also called boxe française. Fought in specialised boots, with every kick required to land with the shoe rather than the shin. No knees, elbows or clinch at any range.

A Muay Thai fighter. Used in kickboxing contexts to mark that someone came through the Thai stadium system rather than a European or Japanese gym.

One of Bangkok’s two principal Muay Thai stadiums. Toshio Fujiwara became the first non-Thai to win a title there in the 1970s, which gave Japanese kickboxing enormous early credibility.

The push kick — knee chambered high, then the ball or flat of the foot thrust into the midsection or hip. Functions as the leg’s equivalent of a jab: range management first, damage second.

The raised platform Sanda is contested on. Has no ropes, so forcing an opponent off the edge is a legitimate scoring action and positional awareness becomes a live concern.

Chinese full-contact kickboxing, also called Sanshou. The only major code where throws score as heavily as strikes, contested on a raised platform where forcing an opponent off scores.

Traditional Chinese jacket wrestling. Its throws were folded into Sanda, which is why Sanda strikers develop catches and dumps that no K-1-derived fighter trains.

An explosive linear entry off the back foot, the signature technique of WAKO point-fighting. Optimised for arriving first in a code where the bout stops after every scoring technique.

Scooping a body kick under the arm and taking the standing leg. Legal under Sanda, shootboxing, ONE and Dutch rules; prohibited under American, savate, Kyokushin and most WAKO categories.

Turning the shin outward and lifting the knee so an incoming low kick lands bone on bone. The only defence that actively punishes the attacker — and a skill that does not exist under rulesets without leg kicks.

Close-range grappling for position while standing. The single biggest point of divergence between rulesets: forbidden entirely in American and savate rules, broken within seconds under K-1 and GLORY, and unlimited under Sanda and shootboxing.

An extra round fought to settle a bout that is level after the scheduled rounds. A K-1 signature, inherited by GLORY and the WAKO K-1 category. Most codes outside that lineage simply record a draw.

In American usage, specifically the above-the-waist code with a mandated minimum kick count per round. Confusingly, elsewhere it just means "not semi-contact" — always check which sense is meant.

A one-night elimination tournament, usually eight fighters and three fights to win. Rewards durability and finishing ability over point accumulation, and is the format that built K-1.

Any point where a fighter touches the canvas with anything other than their feet, or is ruled unable to continue unaided. Weighted heaviest in almost every ruleset’s judging criteria.

A hook or uppercut under the right side of the ribcage. Produces a delayed collapse rather than immediate concussion, and is legal under every ruleset including Kyokushin because it does not touch the head.

The lead arm extended toward the opponent’s face as a physical frame. Obstructs vision and measures range simultaneously, but cannot protect the body or check a kick — so it is a phase, not a stance.

A stance with the left foot and hand forward — the default for right-handed fighters. Two orthodox fighters meet in a closed stance, where the rear low kick travels to the outside of the lead leg.

Striking a holder’s pads to drill combinations at pace. The Dutch method’s defining training tool: long, high-volume rounds where the coach refuses to allow a reset between elements of a combination.

Semi-contact competition on a tatami where the referee halts the bout after every scoring technique. Excessive contact is penalised rather than rewarded, which makes it a genuinely different sport from ring kickboxing.

Progressive loading of the tibia so it tolerates repeated hard contact. Necessary in any code where the shin is the striking surface, and irrelevant in savate, where the boot makes contact instead.

A stance with the right foot and hand forward. Against an orthodox opponent it creates an open stance where both lead legs sit on the same side, which makes the low-kick exchange the defining battle of the matchup.

Changing which foot leads mid-fight. Strategically significant because it invalidates a low-kick game plan: an opponent accumulating damage on one leg loses that investment the moment the target changes.

The scoring system where the round winner must receive 10 points and the loser 9 or fewer. Standard across professional kickboxing, though what earns the 10 differs sharply — GLORY weighs volume, ONE weighs damage.