Kickboxing is one of the newest, but enjoying great popularity sports both in the world and in our country. It combines all the best of classic boxing and karate. Compared to boxing, which relies only on hand punches, the use of karate footpunches gives it greater naturalness and variety of techniques, making it very attractive to viewers.
According to the classification of sports, kickboxing belongs to the group of polystructural sports, with a stochastic (variational) structure of motor activity. In this group, movements are distinguished by a wide variety of spatial, temporal and force characteristics. In the variable and complex conditions of single combat, motor actions are characterized by many varieties in solving the problems that arise. Along with the mastery of a wide repertoire of defensive and offensive means and methods, the competitors also have the so-called. “crown” perfectly mastered techniques that demonstrate their individual characteristics.
As a modern, contemporary sport, kickboxing has borrowed the best from classic boxing and karate. Although he has integrated techniques from both combat sports, he is significantly different from them. This combination makes it a sport with very complex motor activity, which manifests itself in constantly changing extreme training conditions and especially in competition. Competitors are subjected to great physical and mental stress. They must master and apply in the ring a huge arsenal of complex dynamic stereotypes in conditions of acute conflict with an opponent who actively counteracts them. Many of the foot techniques have been modified by changing the amplitude and trajectory of motion. The technical arsenal of punches from classic boxing (straight, hook and uppercut) is enriched with new techniques. Combining hand and foot strikes into interconnected attacking/counter-attacking combinations makes kickboxing very complex for competitors from a coordination point of view, but makes it an extremely attractive combat sport for spectators.
The compilation of two different sports has led to the adoption of specific terminology. Boxing terms are used for hand punches, and foot techniques have Japanese names. This “trilingual” terminology for non-specialists is difficult to understand (e.g. left straight, right hook, left uppercut; indoor/outdoor low kick, left mae gerry, right ushiro mawashi, etc.), where English and Japanese terms have Bulgarian transcription, but thus has gained popularity and is widely used by coaches, competitors and judges in Bulgaria. This is the terminology used to describe the techniques in the specialized literature (including the textbook on kickboxing of the NSA). Worldwide, the international organization WAKO, which organizes and conducts global, continental (including European), regional (including Balkan) championships, has imposed English terminology.
