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K-1 Qualification System until 2005
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K-1 Qualification System until 2005

K-1 is a kickboxing combat sport that combines standup techniques from karate, taekwondo, kickboxing and traditional boxing, among others. The name is a play off the abbreviation of Formula 1, which is F-1. The sport was first formed by Kazuyoshi Ishii, a former Kyokushin karate competition fighter who had formed his own organization, Seido-kaikan karate, in 1980. Seido-kaikan arranged several successful organization challenge events against other martial sport organizations, originally using rules based on the Kyokushin Knockdown karate rules, but gradually adapting and changing closer to kickboxing rules. In 1993 Mr. Ichii founded the K-1 organization exclusively as a kickboxing sport organizations, closely cooperating with, but independent from, Seido-kaikan.

There is currently a 70.5kg (155lb) weight division in K-1 called K-1 MAX ("Middleweight Artistic Xtreme").

The K-1 organization has recently branched out into mixed martial arts (MMA) in a series of events known as Hero's, with headliners such as Genki Sudo, Joachim Hansen, Bob Sapp and more recently MMA PRIDE legend Kazushi Sakuraba.

Contents

Rules, Qualification and Match-Ups

Rules

Regular K-1 matches are contested under the following rules:

In K-1 single elimination tournament matches:

Source: [K-1 Website]

Fouls

The following actions in K-1 are considered fouls:

A fighter is penalized as follows:

Two cautions result in one warning. Two warnings result in a point deduction, and three point deductions in one round can result in a disqualification.

A red card is shown automatically if a fighter commits a foul with malicious intent.

Source: [K-1 Website]

Qualification

The system of K-1 is changing from time to time as a response to the growing popularity in different parts of the world.

In the beginning of the K-1 series it was a single tournament in Japan with fighters participating by invitation. By today K-1 has branched out to all parts of the world and has been divided into Grand Prix-s, leagues and preliminaries. There are six GPs on all continents (except Africa) and all of them has exclusively the right to send fighters (the winners) into the Final Elimination in Japan. Although the hosting countries of GPs has changed several times as popularity varies throughout regions. Preliminaries are organized in countries with minor attendance and consists of 7 tournament matches whereof the winner qualifies to the GPs. Until 2006 the main aim of K-1 was to gain popularity in the United States therefore three of the GPs were in the US, however only in some case did an American qualify for the Finals. These GPs were the "USA GP I." - Mayhem at the Mirage, "USA GP II." - Battle at the Bellagio and "Intercontinental GP" - Hawaii. This situation changed with 2006 and two of the American GPs have been relocated to Auckland, New Zealand, hometown of Ray Sefo under the name of "Oceania GP". The new place for the second GP is undecided yet. Also the Paris GP has lost its qualifying right in favor of the "Europe GP" in Amsterdam.

The Final Elimination is an event where the 16 participants compete for the eight place in the Finals. The line-up of the sixteen member is a sum up of the 6 new GP winners the eight finalists from the Final of previous year plus 2 fighters selected by the K-1 organization (from a total of seven best performed fighters during the year). In 2006 there have been some modifications made concerning the number of automatic qualifiers because of last year's exceptional final line-up in the Final. Peter Aerts was substituted by Glaube Feitosa who reached the final match therefore he has been included in the 2006 Final Elimination.

Match-Ups

Usually combatants of the quarter-finals of an 8-men tournament are paired by drawing. In case of the Final in the Tokyo Dome it is widely different. The whole event is combined with a ceremony and a press conference. The process looks like a lottery show in the beginning with all the fighters pulling a ball from a glass bowl. The balls represent numbers 1 to 8, which determines the fighters' order in choosing a position from a giant tournament tree figure by standing in front a drawn bracket (from A to H) on the poster, which represents the fighter's corner-color and the line-number of the match. Next fighter do the same, but he can now choose between challenging the one on the stage or an "empty" section. This procedure goes on until one fighter remains who has no choice just to fill to one slot left next to the one lone fighter. This system gives a freedom of choice and tactics to the fighters with the help of a little luck.

Tactics

The principal object of K-1 is to win by either knockout or by decision. Fights occur inside a ring, as in boxing, and they are fought for three rounds of three minutes each. Extra rounds (also three minutes long) may be fought, if the judges score the fight a draw. Victories are usually achieved by hurting the opponent with kicks to the legs or the head, or using traditional boxing punches, such as the jab, cross or uppercut.

Classic defensive boxing stance is rather ineffective against leg kicks, and fighters are more or less forced to constantly move and counterattack, which is certainly one of the reasons why K-1 fights are seen by many as more dynamic and exciting than boxing fights.

No major K-1 tragedies have been reported; nonetheless, the risk of sustaining a serious injury still exists.

History

The history of K-1 can be called the history of Seido-kaikan, which is a school of karate that started K-1.

Kazuyoshi Ishii founded his own karate organization "New Japan Karatedo Federation Seido-kan" (新日本空手道連盟正道館) in 1980 after he resigned from "Ashihara-Kaikan"(極真会館芦原道場) to which he had belonged for a few months since it (and Mr.Ichii) had broken out of the Kyokushin organization Kyokushin-kaikan earlier the same year.

Mr. Ishii began to send his students to other organizations' competitions to show their ability in 1986.

Mr. Ishii held "K-1 GRAND PRIX 93" on 30 April, 1993. It was a dream meeting because of its concept, which was to decide the strongest martial artist in a night. Croatian karate and kickboxing veteran Branko Cikatić won the tournament after he knocked out Changpuek Kiatsongrit, Masaaki Satake and Ernesto Hoost. The very first K-1 would be the first place that Ernesto Hoost and Peter Aerts would fight with Hoost winning the match by decision. No one would have expected that those two men would go on to win an amazing 7 K-1 WGPs between the both of them and become the figureheads of this legendary sport.

There was "K-2 GRAND PRIX 93", which was a tournament in the light heavyweight class. Ernesto Hoost knocked out Changpuek Kiatsongrit in the final.

In 1994 Peter "The Dutch Lumberjack" Aerts became the youngest WGP Champion at the age of 23 by beating Rob Von Esdonk, Patrick Smith and Seidokan top champion Masaaki Satake. The second annual K-1 WGP was significant not only for Aert's feat but also for the participation of the legendary Karate fighter Andy Hug. Before participating in K-1 Andy Hug was winning karate tournaments all over the world and was becoming the number one name in karate around the world. Many saw Hug as an early lock to win this tournament but amazing was TKO in his first round match against Patrick Smith in 19 sec!!! This would be the first of many initial setbacks for Hug in the K-1 world.

1995 marked the beginning of K-1's expansion. Not only did they have the first K-1 event outside of Japan, (the first K-1 Fight Night which took place in Switzerland, homeland to Andy Hug) they had a qualifier event to determine which 8 competitors will go on to compete in the WGP that year. Defending WGP champion Peter Aerts as well as K-1 vets Ernesto Hoost and Masaaki Satake qualified in easy fashion. They were joined by newbies Sam Greco, Stan the Man and a young power puncher from France, Jerome LeBanner. Andy Hug entered in the K-1 qualifier hoping to get past his sub-par performance in last years WGP and was set to face young boxer turned kickboxer, Mike Benardo. Again Hug was favored and AGAIN the blue eyed Samurai was TKO out of the WGP.

In the 95 WGP Japan's favorite son Masaaki Satake was KO by Jerome Le Banner, who then went on to face Mike Bernardo in an amazing slugfest and putting him down in the second round. On the other side of the tourney Peter Aerts and Ernesto Hoost collided again but this time Aerts got his revenge after going to an extra fourth round decision victory in a solid technical match. In the final Aerts made easy work of the young Le Banner and KO him within 2 min in the first round to become 2 times WGP champion.

In 1996 the qualifier held very few surprises with the usual suspects moving onto the final round including Sam Greco, Mike Bernardo, Ernesto Hoost, Stan the Man, Andy Hug, and defending two times WGP champion Peter Aerts. Along with them was the upcoming Japanese Seidokan superstar MUSASHI who KO his opponent Kit Lytkins in 37 sec in the first. The only surprise was last year's finalist Jerome Le Banner was taken out by a young Croatian named Mirko "the Tiger" Filipovic who would go on to be one of the best MMA stars today.

The 96 WGP is, to many, one of the best K-1 WGPs. The surprises started in the very first match as Mike Bernardo stopped Aert's quest to be the first three time WGP champ with a jaw breaking right hook in the third round. This was redemption for Bernardo as months earlier Aerts got a controversial win over Bernardo via a KO in 40 sec within the first round where the ref stopped the match thinking Bernardo was out cold but seconds later he was up and arguing over the decision. Bernardo then moved on to a decision win over MUSASHI in a very hard fought battle. Meanwhile Young Mirko's hopes of a K-1 final were dashed by a swift kick from Ernesto Hoost who then went onto face Andy Hug in one of the best K-1 fights up to this point. The fight went into an extra round which saw Hug get the decision victory by a slim margin. After two years of disappointing losses Hug finally achieved his dream in K-1 by taking out Mike Bernardo's leg with a stiff kick minutes in the second round and being crowned the K-1 WGP champion.

The 1997 qualifier saw a few new faces including Kyokushin Karate champion Francisco Filho who stunned the world when months earlier he KO defending WGP champion Andy Hug within minutes in his debut K-1 fight. In the qualifier he impressed many again by taking out 7 foot fighter Van Der Merwe again by KO. A few old faces made their return as well. Jerome Le Banner got back on track by beat Rick Roufus by TKO in the third. The first WGP champion Branco Cikatic made his K-1 return but unlike Le Banner he was defeated by Mike Bernardo within seconds by an accidental headbutt which made a deep cut in his head causing the doctors to stop the fight.

In the 97 WGP Francisco Filho continued his amazing victories by KO heavy favorite Sam Greco with a right hook 15 sec in the first round. Ernesto Hoost followed in suit by KO Jerome Le Banner with a right hook of his own. Not to be out done the reigning WGP champion Andy Hug took out Masaaki Satake with a 15 sec left high kick. Meanwhile the Aerts/ Bernardo feud continued with another epic encounter. Up to this point Bernardo has won the last three fights with Aerts (one of them by DQ when Aerts accidentally kicked Bernardo in the groin). Many felt that Bernardo had the edge as he has been the only one to defeat Aerts (other than Hoost who beat Aerts in his very first K-1 fight) but this time Aerts prevailed with a Ko in the first round. In the semis the victories didn't come so swift. Filho's impressive win streak was stopped by Hoost after three rounds while Hug was able to return to the finals with a decision victory over two time K-1 champion Peter Aerts. In the finals, another amazing K-1 battle between future K-1 legends, saw Ernesto Hoost prevent Hug's bid for a second K-1 title after 3 hard fought rounds to win his first K-1 WGP title.

1998 saw the first United States qualifier which took place in Las Vegas. The winner, Rick Roufus, was given a slot into the 98 WGP opening round. Unfortunately for Roufus he was set up against last year’s sensation Francisco Filho who pecked away at Roufus’ left leg through three rounds before he couldn’t go on anymore. Other K-1 veterans also had easy times making to the WGP final including two time K- 1 champion Peter Aerts, Ray Sefo, Sam Greco, ’96 WGP champion Andy Hug, Masaaki Satake and defending WGP champion Ernesto Hoost. The only notable newcomer to the K-1 ranks was Maurice Smith who was an acclaimed kickboxer that a year earlier became one of the first UFC heavyweight champions. Yet Smith’s K-1 career would not be nearly as successful as his MMA career as he was defeated by Mike Bernardo in a five round slugfest.

The 98 WGP is the shortest WGP to date with only one of the fights going to a decision. Francisco Filho tried to pick up where he left off last year but was stopped by a TKO to Mike Bernardo. Both former WGP champions Hug and Aerts made quick work of their opponents Ray Sefo and Masaaki Satake, respectively with TKO victories. Meanwhile defending WGP champion Ernesto Hoost was on his way to a possible back to back WGP victories but an injury obtained during his slugfest with Sam Greco forced him out of the tourney. In the semi finals Peter Aerts and Mike Bernardo met yet again but like in their previous battle the Dutch Lumberjack would come out on top again with a stunning TKO win in the first round. Meanwhile Andy Hug made his way to the finals for a third time in the row (a feat yet to be repeated) by winning a tough decision over Sam Greco. In the final Aerts became the first three time WGP champion by KO Hug with a quick kick to the head within one minute in the first round. Amazingly Aerts is the only K-1 WGP champion to win all three final fights with Kos in the FIRST ROUND. Truly the reason why Aerts is called Mr. K-1.

In 1999 K-1 held three preliminary tournaments to determine six competitors who will face the final eight fighters from last years tourny (plus K-1 would choose two other fighters to fill the final spots). The first torunament was held at the K-1 Braves event where former WFCA kickboxing champion Lloyd Van Dams and Team Hug member, Xhavit Bajrami duked it out in a 5 round decision match that saw Bajrami victorious. Due to the selection process both Van Dams and Bajrami were sent to the Final Elimination round. The next tourny (K-1 Dreams) saw K-1 veteran Stefan Leko and Samir Benazzouz receive a elimination berth. The final preliminary tournamnet held at the K-1 Japan event saw Japan's favorite son, MUSASHI receive a pass along with Nobu Hayashi.

At the 99 Final Elimination event the six winners along with Mirko CroCop and IFKA Superheavyweight champion, Matt Skelton were matched up with the previous years eight finalists (Andy Hug, Sam Greco, Mike Bernardo, Ray Sefo, Ernesto Hoost, Maasaki Satake, Jerome Le Banner who replaced an injured Francisco Filiho and regining WGP champion Peter Aerts). As always the event held a few suprises including Mirko Cro Cop winning an impressive TKO victory in the first minute of the first round over heavy slugger Mike Bernardo.

In the finals grizzly K-1 vet Sam Greco, in his final WGP appearance, took out the young Ray Sefo after three rounds. Mirko Cro Cop TKO MUSASHI with little effort in the second round. IN another amazing battle former WGP champions Andy Hug and Ernesto Hoost slugged it out for three rounds with Hoost getting the nod for victory. In a huge upset the French Cyborg, Jerome Le Banner knocked out defending champion Peter Aerts with a huge left hook in the first round. In the semi finals, Mirko continued his path to the finals with an easy knock out win over Sam Greco while it only took Hoost 2 rounds to dismantle Jerome Le Banner. In the finals Hoost stopped the hot Mirko with a nice body punch that crumbled him in the third round to win his second WGP championship.

Popularity and Criticisms

The sport is popular principally in Brazil, Japan, Europe, and also in the United States, although fightsports are banned in many states. Most K-1 contests in the United States take place in Las Vegas or Honolulu. The sports events are frequently shown on Tokyo Broadcasting System in Japan, Pay Per View television or ESPN 2 in the United States and on Eurosport in Europe. K-1 events are broadcast in other countries by national and sports channels.

The competitions have been met with some fan and fighting pundit criticisms over the past few years due to their increased use of lower quality athletes that headline the events for no other reason than size or real-world status such as former Yokozuna Akebono, Ssireum wrestler Choi Hong-man, and comedian Bobby Ologun. Through this avenue, match quality is sacrificed for spectacality.

Extremely biased judging in favour of Japanese fighters has been observed at many of the major K-1 international tournaments held in Japan. It is perceived wisdom that you must score multiple knockdowns or knockout a Japanese fighter to score a win at Japanese venues. Part of this problem stems from the fact that the judges are exclusively Japanese. The same problem has been seen to occur at the Korean K-1 events with Korean fighters.

On June 30, 2006, K-1 officials reversed the result of a contest between Dutch fighter Remy Bonjasky and French fighter Jerome Le Banner, held on May 13, 2006 at the K-1 World Grand Prix in Amsterdam event. The original result was a slim majority decision for Bonjasky (30-30, 29-28, 30-28). However, Le Banner filed a protest and K-1 officials from Japan and the United States reviewed the match based on current K-1 Grand Prix judging criteria. They made several conclusions, among which was the fact that the composition of the judges - all Dutch - completely ignored the element of impartiality. The result was reversed, giving the win to Le Banner by a score of 30-29. The K-1 website was updated to reflect this decision. Source: [K-1 Website]

K-1 Grand Prix

Throughout the year K-1 holds various 8-man grand prix style tournaments to determine the 16 fighters who will compete in the K-1 World GP. K-1 events most commonly take place in Japan, but they have hosted shows in the Netherlands, Italy, Switzerland, France, South Korea, Australia, Sweden, Russia, Croatia, Hungary, Italy, Spain, Brazil and the USA (Las Vegas).

K-1 Champions and Fighters

date - name - kickboxing rank - titles (May 1,2006)

K-1 World Grand Prix champions to date

K-1 MAX World GP champions to date

Other notable K-1 fighters

Traditional boxing stars at the K-1 tournament

Late in 2003, Bob Sapp challenged Mike Tyson, the former world Heavyweight boxing champion, to a K-1 fight. While Tyson did not accept the offer immediately, he signed with K-1 to be his official Japanese representation on August 23, 2003.[link] A deal to actually fight in K-1 never materialized. In early 2006 another rumour of the re-schedule of this match in August 2006 has been released by the press and had been confirmed by Bob Sapp in an interview. For that reason he also turned down the role for the upcoming movie Bloodsport 2. [link].

Others who have made the transition from traditional boxers to K-1 fighters include:

Other fighters derived from various sports

Fighters temporarly contracted to K-1

External links

 

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