The sixteen codes
There is no single set of kickboxing rules. What is legal in a GLORY ring is a foul on a WAKO tatami, a Sanda fighter can throw you, a savate fighter must kick you with a shoe, and a Kyokushin competitor may not punch you in the face at all. These are the codes that matter, what each one permits, and why the differences exist.
Compare them side by sideModern professional
K-1 Rules
1993The most widely copied code in modern kickboxing: punches, kicks and knees are legal, elbows are not, and the clinch is cut short almost as soon as it forms.
Limited clinchJapan, worldwideGLORY Rules
2012A tightened descendant of K-1 built for television pacing: the clinch break is faster still, and passivity is actively penalised.
Limited clinchNetherlands, United States, worldwideONE Championship Kickboxing Rules
2018A K-1 derivative run alongside ONE’s Muay Thai division, with a scoring philosophy that explicitly rewards fight-ending damage over accumulated points.
Limited clinchSingapore, Asia, worldwide
Foundational codes
Japanese Kickboxing Rules
1966The original code — the one that gave the sport its name — created to bring Muay Thai’s weapons into a Japanese ring without importing the full Thai clinch.
Limited clinchJapanDutch / Oriental Rules
1976The European working code: low kicks central, knees permitted, clinch briefly allowed, elbows out — the ruleset the Dutch gyms built their style around.
Limited clinchNetherlands, Belgium, EuropeAmerican Full-Contact Rules
1974Karate with boxing gloves: everything above the waist, nothing below it, and a minimum number of kicks required per round.
No clinchUnited StatesAmerican Low-Kick Rules
1990Full-contact with the leg kick added back in — the American scene’s answer after the above-the-waist rules were exposed internationally.
No clinchUnited States
WAKO amateur
WAKO Point-Fighting
1976Semi-contact on a tatami: the referee halts the bout after every scoring technique, so the sport rewards explosive first contact above all else.
No clinchWorldwide amateurWAKO Light-Contact
1976Continuous fighting with controlled power — the bridge between point-fighting and the full-contact ring disciplines.
No clinchWorldwide amateurWAKO Full-Contact
1976The amateur ring discipline that mirrors American full-contact: everything above the waist, a required kick count, no legs and no clinch.
No clinchWorldwide amateurWAKO Low-Kick
1980WAKO full-contact with leg kicks restored — the amateur equivalent of the Dutch ruleset minus the knees.
No clinchWorldwide amateurWAKO K-1 Rules
2010WAKO’s amateur mirror of the professional K-1 code: leg kicks and knees legal, brief clinch permitted, elbows out.
Limited clinchWorldwide amateur
Adjacent traditions
Sanda / Sanshou Rules
1979Chinese kickboxing with throws: striking plus takedowns on a raised platform, where dumping your opponent off the edge is a legitimate winning strategy.
Full clinchChina, worldwideSavate (Boxe Française)
1924French kickboxing fought in shoes: every kick lands with the boot, never the shin, and knees, elbows and the clinch do not exist.
No clinchFrance, Europe, worldwideKyokushin Knockdown Karate
1969Bare-knuckle full-contact karate where punches to the head are forbidden but kicks to it are not — a restriction that produced a distinctive and very tough kind of fighter.
No clinchJapan, worldwideShootboxing
1985Japanese standing-only hybrid where you can be choked unconscious on your feet — kickboxing plus throws and standing submissions, with no ground game.
Full clinchJapan