I have always loved watching martial art movies when I was a kid, and even tried taekwondo for few years. But I was always curious why there are different competitions, when goal each sports goal is to win either by knockout or by gaining points. What is the difference between karate, taekwondo, kickboxing? Same kicks and punches with just little priority for punches in karate and kick in taekwondo. Boxing is different, mixed martial art is different, but those 3 mentioned looks the same. You dont need to be master in karate when you are kickboxer, and you can freely visit competitions and participate there.