In this discipline the idea is to strike hard the opponent using full power and energy. These fights are held in the ring and safety of kick boxers lies with the referee. Referee is also responsible to maintain rules in the ring. The players are allowed to execute punches and kicks on authorized targets only with attention, speed and conviction. Players are allowed to kick and punch on the head of the opponent and anywhere on the body above the waist. The judges give scores after counting the legal hits and strikes.

The amateur full contact fights organized by IKF and WAKO have 3 rounds of 2 minutes each with a break of 1 minute in between. In full contact men are bare chested and wear short pants along with gears like shin pads, groin pads, mouth guards and gloves. Women wear trunk tops, chest protection and all clothing or gears similar to that of men. Head gears are used in amateur fights.

As per International Kickboxing rules there are two more disciplines of kickboxing, as follows;

Light Contact: In light contact fighting the kicks and punches are well administered and the idea here is to score points. The players use same fighting techniques as used in full contact but the actions are well administered. Equal importance is placed on kicking and punching techniques. The light contact sport is played without stopping and until the referee shouts "Stop" or "Break". The referee administers the fight and sees to it that the rules are followed by the players but doesn’t judge the players.

One can gradually make out that light contact is a stage created between full contact and semi contact disciplines. Unlike full contact men wear t-shirts in conjunction with short pants and gears.

Semi Contact: Semi contact fight is played by the players with the only objective of scoring points by well administered kicks and punches. Equal importance is placed on kicks and punches. The players should be focused and should use full power and energy to score points. When the player executes legal techniques they gain points, these points are called valid points. The referees judging the players reward the points by pointing their fingers at the players. But time is not stopped by the referee to reward points or charge penalty.

Therefore beginners should also understand the different punches and kicks at the elementary level.

Basic Punches:

The elementary kickboxing punches are same as the boxing punches:

· Jab: Jab is a straight and fast punch from front hand. It is thrown at the face of the opponent to defend self by combining this act with a cross.

· Cross: It is a punch thrown either by left hand towards right or right hand towards left. Cross is also considered a quick hit and is always used by kick boxers in series with Jab. Jab and Cross are the two most accepted forms of punches.

· Upper Cut: Unlike jab and cross this punch is not used in series by the kick boxers and is considered as a surprise punch. In upper cut the punch is thrown by using either of the hands to the chin. In this form the punch starts from the mid section and goes straight up as if rising.

· Hook: Hook is a rounded punch and is other surprise punch used by kick boxers. This punch makes a lot of impact on the opponent. The kick boxer uses heavy hand to execute this punch in an arching position.

Basic Kicks:

The elementary kicks used by the kick boxers are as below:

· Front kick: Front kick is also known as the "push kick". While attempting this one needs to stand facing the opponent, lift either of the legs then bend the knee and kick with the heel of the foot. This kick creates an impact on the opponent since it either strikes the chest or face of the opponent.

· Roundhouse kick: "Circle kick" is another name to address this kick. The kick boxer stands side ways facing the opponent, lifts the front leg, bends the knee and strikes with the upper foot or lower shin on the head or anywhere on the body above waist.

· Side Kick: In side kick too the kick boxer stands facing side ways to the opponent, lifts the front leg then turn it in the knee brings it back slightly and hits a kick. A lot of impact can be made on the opponent by striking a kick with outer part of the foot. The kick can be stroked either on the head or anywhere on the body above waist.

With the above techniques the beginners can start slowly but steadily.

Muay Boran: It is understood that the Buddhist monks were familiar and used to teach this form of kickboxing. They used to hold fights during festivals. This form is said to have originated even before Muay Thai came into existence and is also known as "Ancient boxing". The practitioner can make use of hands, legs, knees, elbows and head in this form.

Lerdrit: This form was used by the Thai Royal army. Practitioners make use of finger jabs, palm strikes and extensive use of grappling.

Adithada: This is as well known as "Indian boxing". This form is practiced in some parts of Kerala, Kanyakumari and a few parts of Sri Lanka. It uses the pressure point approach. Practitioners make use of bare hands, feet, knees and forehead as weapons.

Pradal Serey: This form originated in Cambodia and has now gained importance as Cambodia’s national sport. This style is also known as "Khmer Boxing". Practitioners make use of elbow strikes instead of knee strikes here.

Japanese Kickboxing style: Japanese kicboxing was introduced by Osamu Noguchi and Tatsuo Yamada. This is the first style which tapped the name "kickboxing" in the year 1966. It consists of 5 rounds of 3 minutes each. It allows strikes made by elbows and knees. And kicks are allowed on the lower body except the crotch. Neck wrestling is allowed here; however the use of headbutts and throws is barred since the year 1966 to ensure boxers’s safety.

American Kickboxing style: It is a full contact sport, wherein two competitiors of almost same weight fight against each other. The boxers are allowed to strike only the upper body using their fists and legs. There are 3-12 rounds of 2-3 minutes each with a break of 1 minute in between in Amateur as well as Professional fights.

International Kickboxing style: This style can be considered as a blend of Muay Thai and Japanese Kickboxing. So one can make out that International kickboxing rules are similar to those of Japanese kickboxing.

Before you join any training please consult your physician. People especially with chronic ailments like asthma, diabetes or people with heart diseases should get a physical check up done and should follow their doctor’s advice. Similarly pregnant women should also consult their gynecologists.

The next thing one should not forget is to find the class or a gym which is as per your requirement. To begin with one needs to go slow with exercise and need not overstretch. Hence observe the sessions and then only decide on joining any training facility.

Once you join the class, take every instruction seriously. One should be serious with the warm up sessions and do not consider these as sheer waste of time. Drink a lot of water before and after the sessions. Kickboxing also allows you to take a break in between sessions, but don’t make this a habit.

Confirm the diet plan with your instructor. You need to have a proper diet consisting of proteins, carbohydrates and fats.

You should also find out the proper clothing and gears you need to wear while kickboxing. Remember to buy clothing which will fit you correctly and is not too tight or too loose.

Practice your punch and kicks accurately and with the right amount of force and power. This will benefit you in practicing the right move and also will help you shape up your shoulders.

Lastly breath properly, inhale when you take back your hands and exhale when you punch. In case of any doubt please consult your instructor and avoid doing something that will do you harm.

Please do your regimen thoroughly and follow the above steps until kickboxing becomes a habit.

By practicing kickboxing not only physical but mental fitness as well can be achieved. It helps to relieve stress thus increasing self confidence and all this can be achieved by learning simple self defense techniques. Yes it is really surprising to know that a fighting style can help you relieve stress. Kickboxing helps you bring out the anger buried into you. One must understand that releasing anger is very much important, because if it is not taken out it might affect first your mind and then your body. So one can just punch or kick out all the anger without even hurting anyone’s sentiments.

Before starting with kickboxing classes please consult your doctor and have a complete physical check up done this is very important if you have any chronic ailments like asthma, diabetes or if you are overweight. After this join those classes which can match up with your pace and are not too fast. Do your warm ups seriously so that you don’t get yourself injured and this also makes your muscles flexible. Talk to your instructor about the clothing and the gears you will need beforehand. Start with the sessions slowly and don’t try to overstretch yourself. And as always don’t forget to drink water before and after your workout.

Therefore remember the fitness mantra, when you are mentally at peace you are supposed to be physically at par too.

While kickboxing was originally a male dominated sport we now a days find more and more women being pulled towards it as it promises to relieve stress and lose weight.

There are few tips which one can make use of during weight loss regime. Warming up before the start of actual cardio is very important. This will help you to flex your muscles and will avoid any injury and will too not put a break in your projection. Make sure you breathe properly i.e. inhale when you withdraw your hands or legs and exhale when punching. Correct breathing will allow more oxygen to your lungs leading you to exercise efficiently. One should be sure that the punches and kicks are powerful. Make use of heavy gloves the additional weight will exhaust your shoulders quicker than the light weight ones. Try and kick as high as you can. High kicks need more energy and you will end up loosing more calories. Similarly your punches should also go high as this also helps in shaping your shoulders.

Cardio should be practiced for an hour daily to achieve best results. It is unlike other forms of exercises and one can take a breather anytime they want. Apart from work outs eating right is also essential. Choose right form of food that is low in fat and has nutritional values. One must as well remember to drink a lot of water before and after the exercise so that you don’t feel dehydrated. By following the correct methods one will encounter an increase in energy in the first week and weight loss will be apparent by the third week.

Toshio Fujiwara: A Japanese kickboxing sensation, who has won 123 of 141 matches. He is also the first non Thai to win National Muay Thai title in Bangkok.

Nai Khanom Tom: A Thai kickboxing legend who became a champion after defeating a Burmese opponent and continued to win 9 more titles in series without taking a break in front of the Burmese King.

Benny Urquidez: He was also known as the “jet” and has a remarkable record of 49 knockouts from 1974-1993. Benny helped US full contact fighting in its early years.

Musashi: Musashi is one of the most celebrated and successful Japanese player. His career start was so bad that no one would have ever imagined Musashi becoming a celebrity. His career lasted from 1995-2008.

Semmy Schilt: Semmy is a proficient Dutch kickboxing champ, who also trained in mixed martial arts and Ashihara karate is a type of full contact martial arts. Most recently in April 2010 he successfully defended for the title the fourth time.

Women kick boxers are also not far behind, names like Aya Mitsui and Sugar Miyuki are trained not only in kickboxing but also highly injurious Thai boxing style.

Naoka Kumagai: She is the most feared in the women kickboxing ring. She is known for her aggression and supremacy in this sport which has annoyed many of Korea’s women kick boxers like world champion Kim Messer.

Kim Messer: Kim is known as the “fireball” in the ring and has cooled off many of her opponents with great skills. Her destructive style of fighting has earned a lot of reputation and is an inspiration to other women kick boxers.

The youngest kickboxing champ is just 6 years old and has won accolades for Malaysia. Byan Leong has made a world record by winning a World Kick boxing Championship after beating competitors from US, Germany and Ireland in the year 2009.

So gender, age and nationality is not an issue for kickboxing what only matters are the pains to be taken for learning its skills.

“Kickboxer 2- The Road back” was made in the year 1991 was the first in the sequence of sequels. Van Damme is not seen in this sequel as Kurt Sloan and Eric Sloan have already been shot dead by the bad Tong Po. In this movie the battle is taken up by Kurt’s brother David Sloan, who has to fight against Tong Po. The character is played by Sasha Mitchell.

“Kickboxer 3- The Art of War” has no connection with champion Tong Po and has a new story line but is considered a disappointment by many fans. This movie revolves around Sasha Mitchell as David Sloan.

“Kickboxer 4- The Agressor” again Sasha comes back as David and is confronted by Tong Po. This time David fights a battle to save his wife.

“Kickboxer 5- The Redemption” is last in the series. This movie ends the character of David Sloan as he dies. The sixth sequel was planned originally, but when the movie failed to good amount of profit this idea was discarded.

Then there is a movie “Beautiful Boxer” this movie is based on a true story where in a kickboxer Nong Toom’s deep desire to become a woman reveals when he wears make up to the ring. Nong Toom’s character is played by real life kickboxing star Asanee Suwan. This movie was made in English, Thai and Japanese with English subtitles.

Kickboxing is also seen in a few Indian movies like Naseeb, Ghayal, Gumrah and the very recent Lahore. So this fighting style is not new for us Indians.

There are various types of protective gears which are used by the participants, like; mouth guard, shin-guard or shin pads, groin guard, boxing gloves and helmets. Women also use same gears as men. Head gears are usually used during the semi contact events and by children below the age of 16 years.

Along with a proper instructor one must also be careful about their gears and clothing. Clothing must not be too tight or too loose. In case of too tight clothing one will not be able to stretch properly and this might lead to injury. Similarly, if they are too loose one may end loosing them. There are various kickboxing schools which prefer uniform known as “gi”. Therefore what you wear is most important. Now days fight attires are available in the market. This consists of fighter shorts and fighter t-shirts. These are available in various sizes so they stay on your body and are not too tight. The best t-shirts of this kind are the sweat absorbent ones, so you stay cooled off even during a fight.

There are several forms of gears which one training in kickboxing need to have. The most important being hand gloves since they protect your hands, but they are not the only necessary things. There are Hand wraps which are worn inside the gloves. These wraps are wrapped around the wrist, palms and base of the thumb, they protect the boxers against injuries made while punching. The feet also need protection, the kickboxing boots fit comfortably in ones feet. These are bare at the bottom but are padded at the top so as to absorb shock created by the kick. Therefore right type of clothing and gears are essential.

Independent Shootfighters Inc have kickboxing in various places in Bangalore, as follows,

Indian Heritage Academy is situated in Koramangala locality. They offer morning classes from 10am to 11.15 am on Saturday and Sunday and evening classes from 8pm to 9.15pm on Tuesday and Thursday. So the working lot can take advantage of this schedule.

They charge Rs.1, 500 a month, Rs.7, 000 for half yearly and Rs.10,000 annually.

Doodle Den is situated in Richmond Town. They offer evening classes from 7pm to 8pm on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. Their fee structure ranges from Rs.2, 000 a month to Rs.12, 000 a year.

Moving Body in Malleshwaram also offer morning batches on weekends and evening batches on weekdays after work and charge between Rs.1, 500 a month to Rs.10,000 a year.

Latino Rhythms Dance Academy in Jayanagar, though a dance studio also offers kickboxing lessons. They also have morning weekend batches and evening batches on weekdays. They also charge between Rs.1, 500 to Rs.10,000 a year.

Body Count Gym situated at H.A.L III stage Bangalore offers evening classes from 8.15pm to 9.15pm on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. The fees range from Rs.2, 000 monthly to Rs.12, 000 annually.

Just Dance Studio in Fraser Town also like a few other studios in the chain offer morning and evening batches on weekends and weekdays respectively. They also charge between Rs.1, 500 monthly to Rs.10, 000 annually.

One of the studio in Independent Shootfighters Inc in Padmanabhanagar has started a first ever Women’s kickboxing batch. It also offers same time and fee structure.

They claim that their class makes difference as they offer best cardio exercises. Free trial classes before joining. They also give projects at every belt level to create a unique personal fitness level for each student.