World Association of Kickboxing Organizations

World Association of Kickboxing Organizations
	WAKO amateur logo
Abbreviation	WAKO
Formation	1976
Type	Federation of national associations
Legal status	Active (as per Swiss Law as founded in Zurich on February 6, 1988)
Purpose	Global Development and governance of the sport of Kickboxing
Headquarters	Italy
Location	Monza, Monza and Brianza, Lombardy;
Region served	Worldwide
Membership	National association
Official language	English
Affiliations	SportAccord; WADA International World Games Association
Website	www.wakoweb.com/en/
Remarks	WAKO was established as "World All Style Karate Organization".

The World Association of Kickboxing Organizations (W.A.K.O or WAKO) is an international organization of kickboxing. The governing body of amateur kickboxing certified by WAKO is created to develop support and govern at an amateur level In addition to holding world championship events, WAKO sanctions the champions of kickboxing. WAKO is the only organisation worldwide that is recognised by the GAISF (Global Association of Sports Federations) and the IOC (International Olympic Committee).

History

WAKO originated in Europe in 1976[1] and formulated the rules and regulations for the new fighting sport de facto, acting as the Kickboxing Federations of the World. It was founded by American Kickboxing promoter Mike Anderson, and his friend, German Kickboxing promoter Georg Brueckner. WAKO's rules are based on democratic principles and are forming the governing body of the sport that is officially registered in Zurich, Switzerland. WAKO is the largest unified kickboxing organization in the world. In 2006 the International Amateur Kickboxing Sports Association (I.A.K.S.A) and WAKO merged under the umbrella of WAKO, making its acceptance possible by the General Association of International Sports Federations (G.A.I.S.F) as the governing body for the sport of Kickboxing.[2] WAKO offers 7 different styles: Points Fighting, light-contact, full-contact, kick-light, low-kick, K1-style, and musical forms. Today WAKO can count on 126 affiliated nations in the five continents, with 95 officially recognized by their respective Sports or Olympic Council.

WAKO is a member of Sport Accord and is officially recognized as the official Kickboxing governing body by Sport Accord, Olympic Council of Asia, WADA and the International World Games Association. Kickboxing is included in World Combat Games, Asian Indoor Games, and the Martial Arts Games (promoted by OCA) in the 2017 International World Games. WAKO has five continental divisions functioning under the auspices of the WAKO International Federation which are WAKO Europe, WAKO Pan America, WAKO Asia, WAKO Oceania and WAKO Africa.

Styles

WAKO supports 7 different styles: four of them are on the tatami and three of them are in the ring,[3]

Musical form

A musical form is a staged or imaginary fight against one or more opponents in which the performer uses techniques from Oriental Martial Arts to personally selected music.

Point Fighting

Also known as semi-contact. Point fighting is a discipline where two contestants fight with the primary goal of scoring defined points and using controlled legal techniques without using full force.

Opponents are allowed to hit each other with punches and kicks. striking above the waist.
Foot sweeps are allowed.
Elbows and knees are forbidden.
Clinch fighting and throws are forbidden.

Light Contact

Light Contact in the past was recognised as an intermediate stage between semi contact and full contact Kickboxing. Modern Light Contact has evolved into its own unique style fast and dynamic continuous kickboxing. Unlike Point Fighting, athletes will fight continuously amassing scores over 3x2 minute rounds.

Opponents are allowed to hit each other with punches and kicks. striking above the waist and below ankle/mid-calf.
Foot sweeps are allowed.
Elbows and knees are forbidden.
Clinch fighting and throws are forbidden.

Kick-light

Kick-light is an intermediate stage between semi-kick and low-kick kickboxing.

Opponents are allowed to hit each other with punches and kicks, striking the thigh (only from outside to inside and vice versa), which can be attacked using the shin.
Foot sweeps are allowed.
Elbows and knees are forbidden.
Clinch fighting and throws forbidden.

Full contact

Full Contact is a discipline of Kickboxing where the intention is to mimic the pressure felt during a real fight.

Opponents are allowed to hit each other with punches and kicks, striking above the waist and below the ankle/mid-calf.
Foot sweeps are allowed.
Elbows and knees are forbidden.
Clinch fighting and throws are forbidden.

Low-kick

In low-kick Kickboxing, there is the possibility of attacking the opponent's legs with clean kicks.

Opponents are allowed to hit each other with punches and kicks, striking the thigh (only from outside to inside and vice versa) which can be attacked using the shin.
Foot sweeps are allowed.
Elbows and knees are forbidden.
Clinch fighting and throws forbidden.

K1-style

See K-1.

Opponents are allowed to hit each other with punches and kicks. Legs and any other part of the body can be attacked using the shin.
Foot sweeps are allowed.
Elbows on the head are forbidden.
Throws are forbidden.
Clinching must be less than 5 seconds. Kickboxers are allowed to hold the opponent's neck with both hands in order to attack only with the knee. You are only allowed one knee strike per clinch exchange.

Competitions

WAKO holds a world championship every two years, with youth (18 and under) and adult (18–45) championships in separate years; only national teams are accepted. Each member country can present only one competitor in each weight class. Competitors are commonly the national champion of their weight class in that particular Kickboxing style and many are also officially recognized by their National Olympic Committees or Ministry of Sports.

WAKO Kickboxing was one of thirteen combat sports participating in the first Combat Games being held in Beijing, China under the patronage of the IOC and SportAccord. WAKO participated in the World Combat Games in St. Petersburg, Russia in September 2013, under the patronage of the IOC and SportAccord. There were three styles at the Combat Games: Low Kick, Points Fighting (formally called Semi Contact), and Full Contact.

World Champions

Men's divisions

Style	52.7 kg	54.5 kg	56.4 kg	58.2 kg
Low Kick	Gianpietro Marceddu	Vacant	Michał Królik	Yury Trogiyanov
Full Contact	Ivan Sciolla	Alexey Trifonov	Ilnaz Sayfullin	Johannes Wolf
K1 Rules	Vacant	Vacant	Franck Gross	Astemir Borsov
Style	60 kg	62.2 kg	64.5 kg	66.8 kg
Low Kick	Ruslan Tozlyan	Miloš Anić	Aleksandar Konovalov	Kenan Gunaydin
Full Contact	Kamel Bacha	Giuseppe Di Cuia	Sergey Lipinets	Dieter Leclercq
K1 Rules	Antoine Habash	Ruben Almeida	Eddy Nait Slimani	Mohamed Galaoui
Style	69.1 kg	71.8 kg	75 kg	78.1 kg
Low Kick	Evgeni Grychishkin	Husnu Sari	Shpejtim Ahmetaj	Giannis Sofokleous
Full Contact	Edouard Bernadou	Gregor Stračanek	Artur Reis	Artur Reis
K1 Rules	Georgian Cimpeanu	Atanas Bojilov	Aleksandr Zakharov	Aleksandar Menković
Style	81.4 kg	85.1 kg	88.6 kg	94.1 kg
Low Kick	Nikola Stošić	Andrei Chechkonin	Bojan Džepina	Felipe Micheletti
Full Contact	Viktor Fröhlich	Bojan Mišković	Robert Paulsbyen	Eugen Waigel
K1 Rules	Aleksandar Menkovic	Gabriele Casella	Gregory Grosi	Sergej Maslobojev

As of July 14, 2020

Women's divisions

Style	50 kg	52 kg	55 kg	59 kg	62 kg
Low Kick	Valeria Imbrogno	Eva Naranjo	Iwona Neiroda	Vacant	Loli Munoz
Full Contact	Vacant	Vacant	Renata Rakoczi	Thea Næss	Olja Zerajić
K1 Rules	Silvia La Notte	Anissa Meksen	Veronika Petrikova	Loli Munoz	Mallaury Kalachnikoff
Style	65 kg	68 kg	71 kg	74 kg	74+ kg
Low Kick	Vacant	Vacant	Vacant	Vacant	Vacant
Full Contact	Nicole Trimmel	Cristina Caruso	Cathy LeMee	Cathy LeMee	Vacant
K1 Rules	Cristina Caruso	Vacant	Trix March	Vacant	Vacant