Generally speaking, when a karateka (karate practitioner) goes up against a muay Thai fighter, the former is usually going to be in for a long night, due to the eight limbs of the latter. Though karate can be effective, muay Thai is usually going to have a stylistic advantage.
However, in this old school special rules kickboxing bout, we see a very high-level karate practitioner and legendary kickboxer Andy Hug take on muay Thai champion Changphuak Kiatsongrit. These special rules appear to be more karate centric, as punches to the head appear to be disallowed.
Through the bout, Hug lands many axe kicks, a karate technique that he was well-known for. This technique can be quite devastating as you are quite literally slamming your heel into your opponent’s face much like swinging an axe.
The Thai fighter is a slow starter as is characteristic of the style, but does land some good round kicks towards the end. Interesting to note that when he attempted to clinch it was quickly broken up, which hugely hamstrings a muay Thai practitioner.
Hug is declared the victor at the end of the contest, as he landed the more effective strikes throughout the bout. But it would be interesting to see how it would go with a more balanced ruleset.
ABOUT ANDY HUG:
Andreas “Andy” Hug (September 7, 1964 – August 24, 2000) was a Swiss karateka and kickboxer who competed in the heavyweight division. Considered to be one of the greatest heavyweight kickboxers of all time, along with Mirko Filipović, Peter Aerts, Remy Bonjasky, Ernesto Hoost and Semmy Schilt, Hug was renowned for his ability to execute numerous kicking techniques rarely seen in high level competition and although he was usually smaller than his opponents, standing at 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) and being barely a heavyweight, weighing around 98.0 kg (216.1 lb; 15.43 st) in his prime, he made up for his lack of size with his tremendous athleticism and speed. A southpaw, his trademark kicks included the axe kick and the “Hug Tornado”, a low spinning heel kick targeting his opponents’ thighs. [Source: Wiki]
