The reason I ask such a question is simple. The fact that Muay Thai and MMA have rocketed in recent years notwithstanding, Kickboxing seems to have been left behind. What remains seems to have been watered down. Points tournaments, back in the days of guys like Alfie Lewis, were a highlight of the UK Martial Arts circuit. Now... it's often like a game of tag, where people score for next to nothing. Light-continuous tournaments, once a good in-between for those wanting something more than points but not quite full-contact, often has tournaments where categories are empty (i.e. 4 or less, which means people "win" medals just for turning up, even if they lose their fights). Full-contact itself, with the exception of K-1 and WAKO, seems to be less headline-grabbing than in yesteryear. So, what exactly is the future of Kickboxing in the UK? More pertinently, what are the reasons for it's decline?
Im a relative newbie to MA's....having spent over 20 years in conventional boxing. So anything i say is based purely on opinion and own observation. I think a lot of it is down to individual perception. I think because we SEE muay thai and mma being more and more pushed to the forefront other arts can seem to be overshadowed. I think if you look harder you may well find that its still thriving. The same way as a lot of people boast that MMA is killing off Boxing etc, there will still always be a following for Boxing. I think that may be the case with Kickboxing. Just my two pence worth. Morti
Don't worry as long as there are practitioners the art will continue to live. Martial arts tend to go through periods of decline and increase depending on whats popular at the time. Maybe what the kickboxing scene needs is to do is compete more in open martial art competitions against other styles, to prove that it still has its place in the competitive martial arts scene.
You are right in the sense that kickboxing is falling by the wayside to MMA, and Muay Thai is also popular but here's my theory... MMA is the new boy on the block and taking the fight sports by storm. No arguments about that. This has led to a massive following with the more testosterone fueled males - ie the 16-30 yrs olds. A lot of young lads are turning to mma as they see a fast, exciting and brutal sport. It's also the new wannabe hardman's sport of choice - you know the sort, the ones that always refer to mma as cage fighting and go out to pubs wearing tight mma branded t-shirts!! (tongue in cheek there) Two sports that have also grown as side products thanks mainly to mma are BJJ and Muay Thai. Basically fighters who think they can learn a little BJJ think they can grapple, and a little Thai they think they can strike with the 'eight limbs'. Kickboxing unfortunately is losing out because the main fighters, be they potential newbies or experienced fighters, are turning to mma. Newbies because it's the in-thing, and experienced fighters because they want to test themselves at the next level... MMA also has that glamour side to it now. Full Contact and Low Kicks rules are suffering the most... Full Contact is now being pushed heavily as an amateur sport and stepping stone (the way light continuous was at one time before going full contact).. K1 is still popular as most fighters come from Muay Thai gyms but also because they are the biggest kickboxing based promotion on the block. Then you've got the problem with the sheer amount of sanctioning bodes that confuse the hell out of everyone, so many organisations, so many champions. The sport is diluted too much, world champions are on every block now. I cant see kickboxing recovering anytime soon unless there is a proper, organised structure behind it and we get rid of two rogue elements - 1) the cowboys who are i sanctioning anything.. 2) the more known organisations that are in it just for the money (Paul Hennessy for example, who has been quoted by Marlon Hunt as saying that Full Contact is a rotten corpse and ISKA are only interested in the sanctioning fees.) I hope kickboxing does recover. I think that a proper regulatory body should be setup in order to uniform the rules of the sports of Amateur and Pro Full Contact, Low Kicks, K1, and MMA.. I will leave Thai out of it as it is pretty well organised in my opinion. Well that's my 20pence worth. Anyone else wanna comment?
New one in Mansfield Nottinghamshire doing well by all accounts..Falcon if anyones interested! nope its not a plug, im TKD till I die..maybe a bit Of HKD to finish off
Full contact is more exciting, I used to be a points fighter for many years. Its not that interestng to watch and technique have become very pita patta today! Not clean and solid like they used to be in the 80-90s. The World Combat League was much better but still not as exciting as K1 or UFC.
Ive seen this alot in the united states now as well, many schools here now teach "mma" or muay thai and replaced kick boxing as just a cardio class. It bothers me how they have watered down a great form and im hoping that it will regain its strength again perhaps like karate is getting a boost in popularity due to Machida in the UFC.
