Editing Kickboxing (section)

=== Overview ===
[[File:Pankration Met 16.71.jpg|thumb|Pankratiasts fighting under the eyes of a judge. Side B of a [[Panathenaic Games|Panathenaic]] prize [[Panathenaic amphora|amphora]], c. 500 BC.]]
Since kickboxing is a broad term, understanding the history can be somewhat difficult, since [[hand-to-hand combat|combat]] is an inherent part of being human. [[Kick]]ing and [[Punch (combat)|punching]] as an act of [[human aggression]] have probably existed throughout the world since prehistory.<ref name="EncyclopaediaBritannicaEntry">{{Britannica|76377| Boxing|author=Michael Poliakoff}}</ref>

The earliest known depiction of any type of boxing comes from a [[Sumer]]ian [[relief]] in Iraq from the 3rd millennium BC. Forms of kickboxing existed in [[ancient India]]. The earliest references to [[musti-yuddha]] come from [[Indian epic poetry|classical Vedic epics]] such as the ''[[Ramayana]]'' and ''[[Rig Veda]],'' compiled in the middle of the 2nd millennium BC. The ''[[Mahabharata]]'' describes two combatants boxing with clenched fists and fighting with kicks, finger strikes, knee strikes and headbutts.<ref name="sacred-texts.com2" /> Mushti Yuddha has travelled along the Indosphere and has been a preceder and a strong influence in many famous martial arts of [[Southeast Asia]] such as [[Muay Thai]] and [[Muay Lao]]s.

In the [[Pankration]], a [[Mixed martial arts|mixed martial art]] from [[ancient Greece]], a form of kickboxing was used in its Anō Pankration modality, being able to use any extremity to hit. In addition, it is debated whether kicks were allowed in [[ancient Greek boxing]], and while there is some evidence of kicks,<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TlA989ijx9IC&dq=Philostratus+kicking+shin&pg=PA150|title=The Victor's Crown: A History of Ancient Sport from Homer to Byzantium|isbn=978-0-19-984273-5|last1=Potter|first1=David|year=2012|publisher=Oxford University Press, USA }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://earlychurchhistory.org/entertainment/boxing-in-ancient-roman-world/ | title=Ancient Roman Boxing | date=14 November 2015 }}</ref><ref name="ReferenceB" /> this is the subject of debate among scholars.<ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/294973|jstor = 294973|title = The Evidence for Kicking in Greek Boxing|last1 = Crowther|first1 = Nigel B.|journal = The American Journal of Philology|year = 1990|volume = 111|issue = 2|pages = 176–181|doi = 10.2307/294973}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://ejmas.com/jcs/2010jcs/jcsart_murray_1007.html | title=Boxing Gloves of the Ancient World }}</ref>

[[File:Boxe-francaise.jpg|thumb|left|220px|Old picture of ''la boxe française'']]
The French were the first to include [[boxing gloves]] into a sport that included kicking and boxing techniques.  In 1743, modern boxing gloves were invented by Englishman [[Jack Broughton]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Now and then: boxing gloves {{!}} Sport {{!}} The Observer |url=https://www.theguardian.com/observer/osm/story/0,,803152,00.html |access-date=2022-11-18 |website=www.theguardian.com}}</ref>  Frenchman [[Charles Lecour]] added English [[boxing gloves]] to [[Savate|la boxe française]].<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Coleman |first=J. |date= February 1982 |title=The Fighting Sport of France |magazine=Black Belt |pages=28–32 |issn=0277-3066 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zNIDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA28}}</ref> Charles Lecour was a pioneer of modern savate or la boxe française.  He created a form where both kicking and punching was used.<ref>{{Britannica URL|sports/savate|Savate}}</ref>  Lecour was the first to view savate as a sport and self-defense system.  The French colonists introduced European boxing gloves into the native Asian martial arts in [[French Indochina]].  The use of European boxing gloves spread to neighboring [[Siam]].

It was during the 1950s that a Japanese karateka named [[Tatsuo Yamada (karate)|Tatsuo Yamada]] first established an outline of a new sport that combined [[karate]] and [[Muay Thai]].  This was further explored during the early 1960s, when competitions between karate and Muay Thai began, which allowed for rule modifications to take place. In the middle of the decade, the first events with the term kickboxing were held in [[Osaka]].

By the 1970s and 1980s, kickboxing expanded beyond Japan and had reached North America and Europe. It was during this time that many of the most prominent [[Sport governing body|governing bodies]] were formed.

* In Japan the sport was widely popular and was regularly broadcast on [[television]] before going into a dark period during the 1980s.
* In North America the sport had unclear rules so kickboxing and [[Full contact karate#American|full contact karate]] were essentially the same thing.
* In Europe the sport found marginal success but did not thrive until the 1990s.

Since the 1990s kickboxing has been mostly dominated by the Japanese K-1 promotion, with some competition coming from other promotions and mostly pre-existing governing bodies.

Along with the growing popularity in competition, there has been an increased amount of participation and exposure in the [[mass media]], [[Physical fitness|fitness]], and [[self-defense]].