Karate vs. Kickboxing
Quick answer
Kickboxing arose from karate: in Japan in the sixties by combining full-contact karate with Thai boxing, in the USA in the seventies from full contact bouts of karate fighters. Karate works with forms, grades and kumite with contact depending on the style, kickboxing divides into tatami with controlled contact and a ring with full-force blows to the head. Karate was Olympic only in Tokyo 2020, kickboxing has had full IOC recognition since 2021, but it is not in the Olympic programme.
At a glance
| Karate | Kickboxing | |
|---|---|---|
| Country of origin | Japan | Japan |
| Origin | 20th century (present form) | c. 1966 |
| Founder | Anko Itosu (codifier) | Osamu Noguchi |
| Contact | Semi-contact · Full contact (depending on style) | Semi-contact · Light contact · Full contact (depending on style) |
| Sparring | Medium contact · Full contact (depending on style) | Light contact · Full contact (depending on style) |
| Competition format | Point fighting | Mixed |
| Olympic status | Former Olympic sport | Not Olympic |
| Ranks | Yes (belts) | No |
| Rank recognition | fragmented | fragmented |
| Attire | Gi required | Protective gear |
| Weapons | No weapons · Weapons optional (depending on style) | No weapons · Weapons optional (depending on style) |
| Forms | Forms at the core | Forms optional |
| Relative cost | low | medium |
| Katas and forms in the encyclopedia | 67 | – |
| Techniques in the encyclopedia | 230 | – |
Scales 1–5
Rated for the typical training of an adult beginner in an ordinary club, calibrated across all arts.
What each art is built from
Editorial rating 0–3: how much room each area gets in ordinary training.
History and relationship
Kickboxing grew out of karate in two places: in Japan from full-contact karate and Thai boxing, in the USA from full contact bouts of karate fighters.
- 1959: the karateka Tatsuo Yamada proposed karate-boxing bouts.
- 1963: karate fighters from Masutatsu Oyama’s dojo met Thai boxers in Bangkok.
- 1966: Osamu Noguchi founded an association and gave the sport its name.
- 1970: Joe Lewis, a Shorin-ryu competitor, won the first recognised full contact bout.
- WAKO began as the World All-Style Karate Organization, founded in 1974, or 1977.
- 1993: Kazuyoshi Ishii of Seidokaikan founded K-1.
Technique
- Punches, kicks and blocks from stances.
- WKF kumite: 1 point for a punch to the body, 2 points for a kick to the body, 3 points for a kick to the head.
- Only a light touch to the head, elbows and knees prohibited.
- Kyokushin: full contact without gloves, no hand strikes to the head.
- Punches in gloves and kicks, WAKO rules prohibit throws.
- Point fighting: stopped after every point, 2 points for a kick to the head.
- Full contact: kicks only to the trunk and head, low kick adds kicks to the thigh.
- K1 style adds knees, the clinch is prohibited.
Point fighting is close to WKF kumite: both score clean hits and stop the bout. The ring aims at the head with full force, which WKF kumite does not permit.
Training
| Karate | Kickboxing | |
|---|---|---|
| Pillars of teaching | kihon, kata, kumite | we have not been able to confirm how a lesson is structured |
| Fighting in training | from agreed kumite to free kumite | WAKO: controlled sparring from the green belt |
| Forms | kata | only a competition discipline, forms |
We have not been able to confirm training frequency for either. According to the sources, light contact is very demanding on fitness.
Progression and ranks
| Karate (JKA) | Kickboxing (WAKO) | |
|---|---|---|
| Grades | 10 kyu and 10 dan | white to brown belt, 1st to 10th dan |
| Waiting between grades | 1st and 2nd dan after 1 year | 6 months between kyu, 2 years from 1st to 2nd dan |
| Age limit | 3rd dan from the age of 18 | black belt from the age of 16 |
| Competition as a condition | no, an exam in kihon, kata and kumite | regional competitions from the orange belt |
The WAKO programme is optional and grades up to the 3rd dan are awarded by the national federation. In karate every style has its own regulations.
Physical load and risks
- Meta-analysis of 28 kumite studies (Lystad et al., 2020): 88.3 injuries per 1,000 starts, mostly the mildest.
- Head and neck: median 57.9%.
- Concussion at the WKF World Championships 2008–2014: 0.43 per 1,000 starts.
- Nevada, 15 years of records (Lystad, 2015): 390.1 injuries per 1,000 starts, 57.8% to the head.
- Professionals in the state of Victoria 1985–2001: 109.7 per 1,000 starts.
- We have not been able to confirm a study of point fighting.
Who it suits
| Karate (WKF) | Kickboxing (WAKO Europe) | |
|---|---|---|
| Lowest competition age | category under 14 (ages 12–13) | tatami: children aged 7–9 |
| Youth | cadets 14–15, juniors 16–17 | cadets 10–15, ring from age 15–16 |
| Seniors | from age 18 | 19–40 |
| Older age | we have not been able to confirm WKF veteran categories, Shotokan SKDUN has them from over 68 | masters 41–55, only in tatami disciplines |
| Women | at the World Championships since 1980 | all age categories, chest protector from older cadet girls |
| Para sport | para-karate at the World Championships since 2014 | we have not been able to confirm it |
Children
| Karate | Kickboxing | |
|---|---|---|
| Lowest competition category | WKF from age 12, Shotokan SKDUN from age 10 | WAKO Europe: children aged 7–9, tatami only |
| What is prohibited for children | we have not been able to confirm any special prohibitions, the general ones apply (neck, knees, elbows) | ring disciplines, which start from age 15–16 |
| Mandatory protectors | under 14 helmet and body protector | helmet, mouthguard, groin guard, shin guards, in point fighting a mask under 12 |
| Bout length | under 14 1.5 minutes | we have not been able to confirm the WAKO rules for children |
| Studies of children | Slovak children’s tournaments: 45.3 injuries per 1,000 starts | a French study of emergency visits by 10 to 18-year-olds does not report results by sport |
| Statements by physicians | AAP (2016): karate can improve fitness and motor skills | we have not been able to confirm any for kickboxing, AAP and CPS (2011) speak about boxing |
Self-defence
- Kumite from agreed attacks to free fighting.
- Resistance in WKF is limited by points and a light touch to the head.
- Kyokushin fights in full contact without gloves.
- Wado-ryu also trains joint locks and throws.
- Ring sparring against full resistance, punches and kicks to the head.
- WAKO rules prohibit the clinch, K-1 permits it for at most 5 seconds.
- Throws, ground fighting and weapons are not trained.
- We have not been able to confirm a study of transfer to self-defence.
Ring kickboxing trains against full resistance at the distance of punches and kicks. Karate covers the same distance, but the degree of the partner’s resistance depends on the style and some styles add joint locks and throws. Neither develops ground fighting.
Practical use
| Karate | Kickboxing | |
|---|---|---|
| Self-defence programme | we have not been able to confirm one | we have not been able to confirm one |
| Fitness load | we have not been able to confirm a study | cardio kickboxing, 15 women (ACE): 75–85% of maximum heart rate, 350–450 kcal per hour |
| Fitness variant | we have not been able to confirm one | cardio kickboxing, a class without fighting |
| Older age | randomised study of 89 people around 70: after 5 months improvement in reactivity and attention | we have not been able to confirm a study of seniors |
| Competition at an older age | Shotokan SKDUN from over 68 | WAKO masters 41–55 |
The studies concern small groups and short programmes, no general conclusion about suitability can be drawn from them. The cardio kickboxing measurement describes a fitness class, not training for a ring bout.
Competition
| Karate | Kickboxing | |
|---|---|---|
| Olympic Games | only Tokyo 2020 | no, WAKO has had full IOC recognition since 2021 |
| Disciplines | kumite and kata (WKF), knockdown (Kyokushin) | tatami: point fighting, light contact, kick light, forms, ring: full contact, low kick, K1 style |
| Bout length | WKF seniors 3 minutes | WAKO ring 3 rounds of 2 minutes, K-1 3 of 3 minutes |
| Professional scene | we have not been able to confirm one | K-1, Glory, ONE Championship |
Gear and costs
| Karate | Kickboxing | |
|---|---|---|
| Clothing | karategi and belt | depends on the discipline, from long trousers to shorts |
| Gloves | light gloves in WKF competition | 8 oz in point fighting, otherwise 10 oz |
| Competition protectors | mouthguard, body, shins, insteps | helmet, mouthguard, groin guard, shin guards |
| Relative costs | low | medium |
Availability and organisations
| Karate | Kickboxing | |
|---|---|---|
| World sports federation | World Karate Federation | WAKO |
| Other organisations | styles and their branches, for example JKA or Kyokushin split after 1994 | ISKA, WKA, IKF and the professional K-1, Glory, ONE Championship |
| Recognition of grades when moving | depends on the organisation, we have not been able to confirm a general rule | 1st to 3rd dan awarded by the national federation, we have not been able to confirm mutual recognition between organisations |
In both arts what matters is which organisation the new club belongs to. In karate it is a question of style, in kickboxing of organisation and discipline, because each has its own rules.
Switching and combining
- Kicks and a sense of distance from kumite.
- Point fighting scores similarly to WKF kumite.
- For the ring, getting used to full-force blows to the head.
- Fitness from the rounds and full contact.
- Learning stances, blocks and kata.
- For WKF kumite, reducing contact to the head.
On the left the move from karate to kickboxing, on the right the reverse. Bill Wallace, Andy Hug and Semmy Schilt moved from karate to the ring.
Philosophy
- The suffix do: the art as a path with a spiritual component.
- Dojo kun: character, effort, courtesy.
- Funakoshi’s Niju kun: humility, respect, patience.
- Terminology and commands in Japanese.
- We have not been able to confirm a philosophy of kickboxing of its own in the sources, it is described as a modern Western sport.
- WAKO disciplines have English names: point fighting, light contact, low kick.
- The original name of WAKO contained the word karate, kickboxing was adopted later.
Forms and terminology
Kata are the foundation of karate teaching and part of exams and competitions, the official WKF list has around a hundred of them and their analysis is called bunkai. In kickboxing forms are only one of the WAKO tatami disciplines: competitors perform a routine against an imaginary opponent, with or without music and with or without a weapon, individually and in teams. Judges assess technique, clean movement and combinations of punches and kicks.
Training culture
- Opening and closing salutation, mandatory in WKF team kata.
- Training in the dojo, in a karategi with a belt according to grade.
- Kumite competitors wear a red (aka) or blue (ao) belt.
- A division into tatami with controlled force and ring with full force.
- Clothing depends on the discipline, from long trousers to shorts.
- In Japan after 1966 a television boom around Tadashi Sawamura, a decline in the seventies.
- We have not been able to confirm a greeting or etiquette in the gym.
Common misconceptions
- Kickboxing does not have a single set of rules: point fighting is stopped after every point, full contact prohibits kicks to the legs, low kick permits them and K-1 adds knees.
- Kickboxing is not the same as Muay Thai, WAKO rules prohibit elbows, throws and the clinch.
- Karate does not have a single set of rules: WKF kumite touches the head lightly, Kyokushin fights in full contact without gloves.
- IOC recognition from 2021 does not mean an Olympic programme, kickboxing is not at the Olympic Games.
- Cardio kickboxing is a fitness class, not competitive kickboxing.
Which to choose
Frequently asked questions
Did kickboxing arise from karate?
To a large extent yes. Japanese kickboxing combined full-contact karate with Thai boxing and WAKO was originally called the World All-Style Karate Organization.
Which of them is Olympic?
Karate was on the programme only in Tokyo 2020. Kickboxing is not on the programme, WAKO has had full IOC recognition since 2021.
Is kickboxing full contact?
It depends on the discipline. Tatami is controlled contact, the ring is full force including blows to the head.