K 1 Kick Boxing was started in Japan by a karate practitioner: Kazuoyshi Ishii. Ishii created his own kickboxing organization in 1980 called Seidokaikan Karate. He held tournaments with kick boxers and Seidokaikan Karate ultimately evolved into the K-1 Organization.
The main objective of K1 Kick Boxing is to beat the opponent either with a knockout or by a split decision or unanimous decision from the judges. Points are scored by kicks to the legs, kicks to the head, kicks to the midsection, or by punches: jabs, uppercuts, and hooks to the head or midsection. Each round is three minutes long and has either 3 or 5 rounds depending on if it is a title fight or not. The three judges score each of the fighters on a 10-point system where the winning fighter receives 10 points.
There are universal rules and fouls throughout all fighting organizations which disallow similar conduct such as striking the opponent in the groin, choking the opponent or biting, punching in the throat, punching in the back of the head, and holding the ropes. And there are also rules that are limited to only K1 Kick boxing which are considered fouls: using the head or elbow to strike, using submission techniques, using judo or wrestling throws, and attacking more than once while holding the opponent’s leg.
K1 Kick Boxing has one difference that differs with traditional thai boxing. With muay thai kick boxing, the fighters are allowed to clinch the opponent and continue to use knees and elbows to strike blows to each other. Clinching the opponent means holding them in place, usually holding behind their neck or head. But K1 Kick Boxing, on the other hand, the fighters are only allowed one single blow if they grab the opponent with the intent of kneeing them.
K 1 MAX
K1 MAX is a super heavyweight division of K1 kickboxing with the MAX being an acronym for Middleweight Artistic Xtreme. This new division added two new title belts to K1 Kick Boxing: Super Heavy Weight World Title with fighters weighing over 220 lbs., and Heavyweight World Title with fighters weighing at 156 to 220 lbs.
Although very popular in the rest of the world, including most of Europe, Japan, and Brazil, there is very limited popularity in the US. Much of the popularity lies in other fighting organizations such as Ultimate Fighting Championship UFC.
