Kickboxing

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A dynamic sport that blends boxing techniques with martial arts, focusing on strikes delivered by both hands and feet for competitive advantage
2. An athletic activity that merges the principles of boxing with various martial arts, aimed at improving combat skills and overall fitness levels
3. A competitive physical discipline that combines boxing strikes with kicks from martial arts, enhancing both fitness and self-defense skills

Etymology: The sport's name was assembled in Japan from two plain English words. "Kick" and "boxing" were both already in use in English, and the compound was borrowed back into English from Japanese, where it appears as キックボクシング, transliterated "kikkubokushingu." The Japanese form itself is a phonetic rendering of the English pair, so the word's route runs from English into Japanese and then back again. The name is generally credited to Osamu Noguchi, a Japanese businessman, who is said to have coined it in 1964, the period when the sport was taking shape in Japan. Its meaning fits its purpose: it combines the hand-based strikes of boxing with kicks drawn from various martial arts, and the combined term describes a discipline built on both.

Synonyms: martial arts, boxing, combat sport, full-contact, striking sport