It is with utmost urgency that we allow low kicks to the thigh in Karate Combat. Since its inception Karate Combat has only allowed low kicks to the calf. The reason for this was to incentivize the long distance striking and movement that Karate is known for by mainstream audiences. But not only does this prevent Karatekas from using their full Kicking repertoire, in practice it has also been difficult to execute due to Karate Combat’s signature Gi Pants.
Explanations on the proposed change can be viewed here
Rule Change Proposal:
Legal Techniques while Standing:
All kicking and knee strike techniques delivered to the frontline and side of the head, and torso above the beltline are Legal. All Kicking techniques targeting any part of the thigh and calf are legal.
Arguments:
Accidental Thigh Kicks: Frequently fighters have accidentally targeted the thigh instead of the calf in Karate Combat. Many fighters state that the Gi Pants make it difficult to accurately target the calf in the heat of combat
Low Kicks to the Thigh is a fundamental technique in some styles of Karate: In styles like Kyokushin (and the styles that descend from it) a Low Kick to the thigh is as fundamental to their training as a jab is in Western Boxing. But not just these styles, it’s also a core technique in other traditional close range styles of Karate such as Goju-Ryu, Uechi-Ryu, and Yoshukai to name a few. To not allow this technique is to limit the kicking arsenal of many Karate styles.
WE NEED YOUR VOTE:
Should Karate Combat allow low kicks to the thigh in addition to calf kicks? Vote YES or NO below.
Thought this was already legal when I started watching KC. Really don’t know why is ilegal, it don’t make sense. This shouldn’t take too long to vote for really. Just approve ASAP.
Karate Combat has been a calf kick only for low kicks ruleset to this point. The main argument against this rule change is people feel like it would take away some of the uniqueness of Karate Combat as being a Calf Kick only Low Kick Striking ruleset. Even some striking coaches like this rule because they feel it will cause the evolution for striking for calf kick set ups. But if this is truly to be a ruleset that shows all the beauty of high paced Karate action than Gedan Mawashi Geri (Low Kicks to the Thigh) should be legalized in my opinion.
yes and not… according with the kind of karate you have certain rules that you never have on MMA. Like I practiced Shotokhan and there you lose a tournament if you make your opponent bleed
100% Leg kicks to the thigh should be allowed
I believe they were omitted in the first place was to allow more WKF and point style fighters transition over to KC
However, KC now is bringing everyone from all disciplines so now I think bringing in kicks to the thighs will be much more inviting to those outside of the point style
If it wasn’t for the exclusive contracts the KC athletes are forced to sign, the sport really would lose all of its identity because of this rule change.
No amount of marketing and promotion of karatekas, or even signing of olympic medalists, would impact world class kickboxers treating this fight promotion as an easy source of income, before going back to their original sport. However since they would have to deal with the side kicking weirdos for 2 years, none of them are probably interested.
Obviously eventually the KC athletes will have to test themselves against the real deal, to see if karate is actually usueful, but until then fighting washed up kickboxers from ISKA/OneFC (that think it’ll be easy) would be good prep for it.
Low-kicks are the way to go! As a fan, I wanna see these guys throw down with everything they’ve got. It’s gonna be way more exciting and I bet we’ll see even more interesting and calculated fights.
