Kickboxing Rules: K-1, Glory and Muay Thai Compared

The biggest kickboxing promotions, Glory in Europe and K-1 in Japan, use rules often simply called K-1 rules. They allow punches, kicks and knee strikes to the head, body and legs.

What is not allowed

Elbows are banned, which is the main difference from Muay Thai. So are throws, sweeps with the hands and fighting on the ground. Clinching is limited: a fighter may hold the opponent only briefly and throw a single strike, usually a knee, before the referee separates them.

Rounds

Rounds last three minutes. A regular fight has three rounds; Glory title fights have five. In K-1, if the judges see a draw after three rounds, an extra round is often fought to find a winner.

Knockdowns and scoring

A fighter who goes down from a strike gets a count from the referee. In many promotions three knockdowns in one round end the fight. Judges score each round on the 10-point must system: 10-9 for a clear round, 10-8 for a round with a knockdown or complete dominance.

Kickboxing and Muay Thai

Muay Thai, the national sport of Thailand, allows elbows and a long clinch with knees and off-balancing, and the later rounds weigh more in the judging. The two sports share many techniques, and many kickboxers started in Muay Thai.

Other formats

Amateur kickboxing, led by the WAKO federation, has several disciplines: point fighting, light contact, kick light, full contact (kicks only above the waist), low kick and K-1 style.