Kickboxing – or the martial arts from which it was created – has been around for centuries, but it has only really been popular in the West for the last few decades. The style you will see in a typical kickboxing club in the UK now may have various martial arts underpinning it, as the word is generally used in a fairly catch-all way by people today. These could include Muay Thai (or ‘Thai Boxing’), various styles of karate (which can differ significantly between themselves) and other styles. Although the kickboxing London clubs teach may draw on any number of sources, it’s probably reasonable to say that the popularisation of punching and kicking-based martial arts occurred in the 1970s thanks to Bruce Lee, who developed the hybrid Jeet Kune Do style, having studied Wing Chun to a high level in his native China.
‘Kickboxing’ is now used of many different styles, which are often undifferentiated by the public – to the uninitiated, one sort of kicking and punching is much the same as another. Alongside this, there are different governing bodies overseeing different disciplines and clubs, which have different rules associated with them (the use of the elbow in sparring being one common distinction that people tend to focus on). This means that if you decide to take part in kickboxing classes, you might find any number of different expressions – although the same would be true of other martial arts, too, since any style that has been around a while may have different branches, in the same way that a language will have different dialects.
If you are hunting for a class to try kickboxing, London is an excellent place to start, since there are many different kickboxing clubs within a fairly small area. You will need to consider what it is you are looking for. Kickboxing is obviously a combative style, but people often try it for self-defence too. In addition, a growing number of people are looking to kickboxing for its fitness properties. The range of techniques it uses means that it offers an exceptional all-round workout, bringing strength, stamina and flexibility benefits. Add to this the camaraderie that often exists when a group of people get together to learn such a style (training with others is an integral part of learning), and you have another good reason to give it a go. If you’re in any doubt, it’s probably worth going to a few classes – most clubs will offer free taster sessions – and see if you like what you find.
Please visit http://www.zendokickboxing.com/ for further information about this topic.
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