Difference between regular kick boxing and muay thai kickboxing?

Question

What is the difference between regular kick boxing and muay thai kickboxing?

Answer 1

American Kickboxing, or full contact karate, has diffrent rules. Some rules allow leg kicks, but above the knee. Some allow knee strikes, some dont. I've never seen any that allow elbows. Muay Thai allows almost all points of the body to be used for striking. The real hardcore matches allow sweeps and sometimes headbutts.

Answer 2

In kickboxing you have what they call American rules and also European rules.  The difference is that there are no leg kicks or knees in American rules kick boxing and in European rules kick boxing there are knees to the body and leg kicks.

In Muay Thai you have leg kicks as well as knees allowed in the United States and in International rules you also have the use of elbows allowed.  The United States does not allow International rules Muay Thai.  Because of the use of knees and elbows it changes the strategy and way fighters fight and in Muay Thai it is very hard to clinch and rest or smother your opponent because knees are allowed and if outside the US, so are elbows.  Also the leg kicks can take their toll on a fighter and restrict his ability to move, react, and punch and make him want to drop his arms some to protect his bruised, damaged legs and for his opponent to more easily score a knockout then.

Answer 3

Kick Boxing is not an actual Martial Discipline, it describes a set of rules to fight under.  It is actually a blend of Karate and other disciplines.   Muay Thai or thai boxing is a matrial discipline indigenous of Thailand and it is known "The Science of Eight Limbs", as the hands (2), shins (2), elbows (2), and knees(2) are all used extensively in this art.  Muay Thai is similar to say Kung Fu.  While Kick Boxing can be a mix of Karate and Muay Thai, you can't fight Muay Thai with say  Kung Fu they are two different diciplines.  

Now some people call a specific mix of Karate, and Muay Thai kickboxing as if it were a discipline on its own.  But to me is like calling MMA a discipline and it is not it is a mix as the name suggests.  

I recomend Akido if you only want to defend yourself and not hurt people, but if you want to hurt people Muay Thai is vicious; Jujutsu if you want to have the ability to pick between  both options LOL