| Women's kickboxing in Australia | |
|---|---|
 A women's kickboxing competition | |
| Country | Australia |
| National team(s) | Australia |
Women's kickboxing in Australia is not popular when compared to men's participation in the sport. Women have faced legal challenges in participating in New South Wales, which outlawed their participation in the ring. The sport has been embraced by Muslim women, who can be fully clothed while participating.
In 2010, less than 1% of all Muay Thai kickboxers were female. [1]
In 1985, Neville Wran, the New South Wales Premier, tried to ban a women's kickboxing event from taking place in the state. He said that "women punching and kicking each other is not acceptable to the community.' He sought assistance from the state's Minister of Sport, Mike Cleary, to block the contest. [2] [3] The Boxing and Wrestling and Control Act 1986 was amended in order to prevent women from competing in New South Wales. Specifically, section 62D of the act refers to women. Minister for Sport Michael Cleary said before the New South Wales parliament "The spectacle of women attacking each other" [3] was wrong and that female fighters risked "becoming freaks in some sort of Roman circus disguised as a sporting contest." [3] Holly Ferneley challenged the constitutionality of the ban, citing section 42 of the Sex Discrimination Act in Australia's federal courts. Ferneley lost because the justice, Murray Wilson, ruled she lacked standing as she was not a registered kickboxer because she is disqualified from registering because of her gender. [3] The first woman in New South Wales to be banned from the sport was Penny Gulliver. [4]
During the 1980s and 1990s, women's kickboxing saw a large expansion in the number of competitors. [5] In 1990, the Women World Muay Thai tournament was first held; Lucy Tui represented Australia at the inaugural event. In 1994, at the WMTA, Australia had only one representative, Lucy Tui, who was the only woman at the event. Because of the ban on women's participation in kickboxing in New South Wales, Lucy Tui became a judge in the sport. [6] In 2001, while competing in a Christchurch tournament, Tricia Devellerez was injured and needed to be induced into a coma. [3] In 2008, the sport became legal again in New South Wales. [4] It was reported in 2008 that South Australia saw a rise in female participation in exercise. According to Adelaide Now, Office for Recreation and Sport executive director Paul Anderson "said the reason women were outstripping men was likely because of the introduction of more "fun" options at gyms, such as spin classes and kickboxing." [7]
The International Sport Kickboxing Association-ISKA world cup tournament was held in 2005 in Sydney. Women fighters competed, with a pair coming from Papua New Guinea. [8] In 2007, the Kokoda Track cup was held in order to develop a stronger relationship between kickboxers in Papua-New Guinea and Australia. Papua-New Guinea sent female fighters to compete against the Australians. [9]
Melita Carnarvas is an Australian female kickboxer. The media has intentionally tried to portray her as "the glamour girl of Australian kickboxing", to further an image of the sport being heteronormative within Australia's sporting culture. [10] The Australian media has done similar heteronormative coverage for the American kickboxing champion, Kathy Long. [10]
Kickboxing has become a popular sport for Muslim women in the Australia. Part of the reason for this is Muslim women are allowed to compete while fully clothed which does not conflict with the religious beliefs of the sport's participants. [11] Mariam Farid is a Muslim woman from Sydney. She specialises in Muay Thai kickboxing. As an amateur kickboxer, she has won three bouts. She has faced criticism from the Muslim community following media coverage of her participation, but she also has received support on places like Facebook. [1]
Kickboxing courses are offered in Australia for members of the LGBT community. [12] [13]
Kickboxing is a full-contact combat sport and a form of boxing based on punching and kicking. The fight takes place in a boxing ring, normally with boxing gloves, mouth guards, shorts, and bare feet to favor the use of kicks. Kickboxing is practiced for self-defense, general fitness, or for competition. Some styles of kickboxing include: Karate, Muay Thai, Japanese kickboxing, Sanda, and Savate.
A combat sport, or fighting sport, is a competitive contact sport that usually involves one-on-one combat. In many combat sports, a contestant wins by scoring more points than the opponent, submitting the opponent with a hold, disabling the opponent, or attacking the opponent in a specific or designated technique. Combat sports share a long pedigree with the martial arts.
The International Kickboxing Federation (IKF) is a sanctioning body for kickboxing and Muay Thai based in the United States. The IKF sanctions and regulates all aspects of these sports from Semi Contact to Full Contact in both Amateur and professional levels. The IKF World Headquarters located in Newcastle, California, USA oversees over 2,000 IKF events a year around the world.
Kathy Long is an American kickboxer, mixed martial artist, and actress. She has held various kickboxing championships, including two KICK World Kickboxing titles and the WKA and ISKA world titles.
John Wayne "The Gunslinger" Parr, also known as JWP, is a retired Australian Muay Thai fighter, kickboxer and boxer, fighting out of Boonchu Gym in Gold Coast, Queensland. He is a former 10-time World Champion and was the runner up on The Contender Asia.
Naoko Kumagai is a Japanese female kickboxer and 3-time World Champion in 3 different weight classes. She also had two amateur boxing matches with Russian Elena Karpachova, and one pro boxing match.
Ruqsana Begum is an English professional kickboxer and boxer. She was a British and World Kickboxing Association female Atomweight (48–50 kg) Muay Thai boxing champion and captain of the British Muay Thai Team. In March 2018, Begum made the switch from professional kickboxing to boxing.
Miriam Herbie Nakamoto is an American professional female Muay Thai fighter and mixed martial artist fighting at Bantamweight.
Mixed martial arts (MMA) has developed in Australia from a wide cross-section of sporting and martial arts disciplines to become the most popular combat sport in Australia.
Oléna "Lena" Serhíyivna Ovchýnnikova is a Ukrainian kickboxer and mixed martial artist who competes in the featherweight division in kickboxing and the flyweight division in MMA.
Julie Kitchen is a retired professional English female kickboxer, muay thai fighter and sports commentator.
Jasminka Cive is an Austrian female kickboxer and mixed martial artist, based in Austria. She competes professionally since 2005 and is the current ISKA Flyweight champion and mixed martial artist.
Valentina Anatolievna Shevchenko is a Kyrgyzstani and Peruvian professional mixed martial artist and former Muay Thai fighter. She currently competes in the women's Flyweight division for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where she is the former UFC Women's Flyweight Champion. As of March 7, 2023, she is ranked #1 in the women’s flyweight rankings, and #3 in the UFC women's pound-for-pound rankings.
Annalisa Bucci is an Italian female kickboxer and mixed martial artist, based in Rimini. She has competed professionally since 2005 and is the currently competing in the Bellator Featherweight division and in the SUPERKOMBAT Lightweight division.
Gentiane Lupi is a New Zealand professional boxer, kickboxer, MMA and Muay Thai fighter. Lupi is also the former Women's International Boxing Association World super bantamweight champion and also the third New Zealand born person to have held a world boxing title. Lupi currently holds the WBA Oceania Super Featherweight Title.
Lucy Payne is an English female kickboxer and muay thai fighter based in Cornwall. She is a former WBC Muaythai World Featherweight champion and is the #2 featherweight in the world by WBC Muaythai, as of April 2020.
Women have participated in kickboxing since the 1960s in Thailand. But there has been a superstition and prejudice women have often being prevented from participating in the major tournaments in Thailand.
Orlando Wiet is a Surinamese-French former world champion kickboxer, boxer and mixed martial artist.
Janet Todd, nicknamed "JT", is an American Muay Thai kickboxer. She is a two-time Pan-American Muay Thai Champion and trains out of Boxing Works. Currently, she competes for ONE Championship and is the reigning ONE Kickboxing Atomweight World Champion.
Jazzy Parr is an Australian kickboxer and boxer, fighting out of Boonchu Gym in Gold Coast, Queensland. She currently holds the Women's International Boxing Association world flyweight title.
| Individual sports | |
|---|---|
| Team sports | |
