I bet at some point one of your friends has asked “how’s your kickboxing going?” and you’ve got slightly annoyed and corrected them. I’m actually at a stage now where I can’t be bothered and I just accept that they forge the two together.
However, there are huge differences between the two. The obvious ones are the use of clinch, knees and elbows, but when you watch the two styles go against each other you can really see how they differ.
Below is one of the first times that people got to see ‘American style kickboxing’ against Muay Thai.
At the time, kickboxing in America only allowed strikes above the waist, it’s what we’d class as Full Contact kickboxing in the UK (a strange title for a sport which allows limited strikes in my opinion). However, for the first time in America the use of low kicks were permitted in this contest.
Kickboxing has evolved massively over the years due to the introduction of Muay Thai, Dutch Style kickboxing and of course the K-1 promotion.
Rick Roufus is one of the legendary kick boxers of his time, he even holds a first round KO over Rob Kaman.
Changpuek Kiatsongrit was one of the first Thai fighters to go abroad and showcase Muay Thai against foreign opposition.
The video has been made and edited by Lawrence Kenshin and it has an excellent breakdown what is going on during the contest….enjoy
If you want to watch the full fight unedited you can watch it here.
Hi Damo,
I love this fight, and I’ve watched it many times before. I don’t think anyone had seen Muay Thai in the US before, but you get the sense that that didn’t matter. American Kickboxing is clearly superior to everything else. And “if you don’t understand that then you’re an idiot!”
Which is why absolutely everyone; from Roufus and his team, through to the commentators and the rest of America were looking forward to giving this cheeky little upstart a well-deserved kicking.
In the first round the audience celebrate every punch and spinning kick with glee. This was going to be a Harlem Globe Trotters style humiliation, and everyone was going to take delight in seeing it!
Changpuek gets told off a few times and has points deducted for using his Muay Thai, but the impression you get is that the Americans think he’s a dirty little cheat!
He doesn’t use a lot of techniques but you can’t deny the impact of his leg kicks. Just one technique chops at Rick Roufus’ foundations and finally fells him. I think I am correct in saying that Roufus himself pleaded with the ref to penalise Changpuek in a desperate attempt to get him to stop! At one point he wearily leans on the ropes and looks to his corner and shakes his head in utter defeat. Not long after this he falls down, and unable to stand on his broken legs rolls around in agony.
My first foray into Muay Thai started in 1992 when I came down to the K Star Perry Barr gym to do some open training with a mate. Newly opened and with only the one room my mate suggested we do some sparring. I had 4 years of Karate and 2 years of Kung Fu behind me. I could do the splits between two chairs like Van Dam and I thought this would be like shooting fish in a barrell. I danced around a bit doing my best Bruce Lee impression, show boating and landing a few flashy high kicks. Until he started on my legs.
Six years of martial arts training and nothing had prepared me for this. I clearly remember getting a very painful lead deadleg, and not been able to move it. I shuffled around a bit but my movement now was clearly muted. He knew he had me- I could see it in his eyes. Content with destroying my lead leg started on the back one. I remember that one stopped working too and not been able to move at all. And finally in a fait accompli he bust my nose with a right cross!
I remember that day with clarity. And I’ll be the first to admit that I deserved it, but I learnt a valuable lesson;
“If you can’t stand you can’t fight”
And it doesn’t matter how good your hands are, as this link goes to show;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDjE4BywrE4
This is another Muay Thai versus fight. Dieselnoi against another kickboxer. He’s never been kneed before and doesn’t know how to defend against it. Gets his arms broken. I can’t watch this without shouting out “NUMBER 9!!”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kw-wpWMS-WY
Keep up the good work. Best MT site on the interweb!