Anyone here from Thailand? If there is someone what Thai people think about japanese kickboxing?
So are in other countries in most cases. I don't think that training methods are like in Thailand in average USA (as example) gym.
I can't distinguish a "USA" style of muay thai. The biggest common denominator from what i've seen is that they're mostly low level.
Well every gym has their own style and fighters within the gyms have their own styles. It's all about perception though. Generally i can tell if someone trained in thailand, japan, netherlands or china.
Then again every promotion has their own set of rules, scoring and definitions of their sport.
I think that most people in this forum use these definitions
1. Stadium muay thai: pretty obvious - rules and scoring according to the major thai stadiums. Mostly thai fighters. Perhaps even stadium title fights abroad can count in here. Raja title fights are fought for quite often in japan.
2. Non stadium muay thai: Generally it varies alot and the judging can be inconsistent but includes promotions such as top king, kunlun fight with full thai rules, max muay thai etc. Includes fighters from many nationalities and different training backgrounds but most succesful westerners trained in thailand.
3. Japanese kickboxing: pretty similar to the #2 but consists mainly of japanese fighters fighting each other in japan and most people on the forum will know what you're refering to if you call it japanese kickboxing. I don't know much about it but from what i've seen the strikes allowed are the same as in muay thai but the pace is higher and the clinch isn't used alot.
4. K-1 style kickboxing or just kickboxing are the terms used to describe Glory, K-1, Kunlun, Enfusion fights etc. No elbow, minimal clinch, often 3 rounds.
5. Dutch kickboxing: a style of fighting (punch, low kick) which is usually used in K-1 style kickboxing but can be applied in muay thai aswell. Mohamed Khamal is a good example.
6. WAKO kickboxing, shiny pants, no low kicks etc...
7. Western muay thai scoring: i have no idea what it means but i guess they refer to how muay thai is scored in Best of Siam, Yokkao, Lion Fight. The scoring sometimes appears to be similar to that in K-1 style kickboxing (ie agression and punches are favored) but there are also alot of hometown robberies.