A downed opponent (also called a grounded opponent) is a combatant that is on the ground, as compared to a combatant that is in a standing position. This commonly implies that the downed combatant is lying on the ground, but can technically refer to any position in which anything except the soles of the combatants feet are touching the ground. In many

combat sports 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 oppo ...

featuring striking, such as

boxing Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermined ...

taekwondo ''Taekwondo'', ''Tae Kwon Do'' or ''Taekwon-Do'' (; ko, 태권도/跆拳道 ) is a Korean form of martial arts involving punching and kicking techniques, with emphasis on head-height kicks, spinning jump kicks, and fast kicking techniques. T ...

, it is illegal to strike a downed opponent. The referee will promptly bring the downed opponent to his or her feet to resume the bout standing. The only combat sport which allows strikes when the opponent is down is mixed martial arts. The majority of MMA organizations follows the common rule of prohibiting knee strikes and kicks to the head of a grounded opponent, but fighters are allowed to strike their opponent's body. Hand and elbows strikes to the head are considered legal. There are many MMA organizations that still follows the roots of MMA which is no-holds-barred fighting. Brazil, Japan and Russia are the three main countries that allow soccer kicks to the face/head when the opponent is down as well as knees to the head of a downed opponent. Pride Fighting Championship was the first large organization which adopted soccer kicks, knees and stomps to the face/head of downed opponent.

References

* Canadian Martial Arts Centre
CMMAC Rules & Regulations
''www.mixedmartialarts.ca''. URL last accessed February 11, 2006 Combat sports {{martialart-stub