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World Association of Kickboxing Organizations
Abbreviation	WAKO
Formation	1977
Type	Federation of national associations
Legal status	Active (as per Swiss Law as founded in Zurich on 6 February 1988)
Purpose	Global Development and governance of the sport of Kickboxing
Headquarters	Monza, Italy
Region served	Worldwide
Membership	National association[clarification needed]
Official language	English
Affiliations	SportAccord; WADA; International World Games Association
Website	wako.sport
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 kickboxing organization counting over 120 affiliated countries representing all five continents.^[1] WAKO is a major governing body of amateur kickboxing and is responsible for the development of kickboxing worldwide. The organization was officially recognized as an official kickboxing governing body by Sport Accord.^[2] WAKO is recognized by the Global Association of International Sports Federations (GAISF) and the International Olympic Committee (IOC).^[3]^[4]

History

In 1977, WAKO was founded in Europe^[1] and formulated the rules and regulations acting as the Kickboxing Federation of the World.^[5] It was founded by American Kickboxing promoter Mike Anderson, and his friend, German Kickboxing promoter Georg Brueckner. WAKO was officially registered in Zurich, Switzerland and become the largest unified kickboxing organization in the world.^{[citation needed]} 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.^[6] 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.^{[citation needed]}

WAKO became a member of Sport Accord and was officially recognized as the official Kickboxing governing body by Sport Accord,^[2] 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. WAKO hosts its ordinary General Assemblies in Antalya, Turkey.^[7]

In 1991, WAKO PRO was officially established during a WAKO Board meeting in Spain. After a their career as amateurs in the organization, fighters were now able to continue as professional fighters in WAKO Pro.^[8]

Olympic recognition

On the 20th of July 2021, the International Olympic Committee officially recognised kickboxing as an Olympic sport, and recognised WAKO as the world governing body for the sport.^[9]^[3]^[4]

Styles

WAKO supports 7 different styles: four of them are on the tatami and three of them are in the ring.^[10]

Tatami Sports

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

In the past Light Contact was seen as an intermediate stage between semi contact and full contact Kickboxing. Modern Light Contact has evolved into its own unique style of 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.

Ring sports

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, knees and kicks. Legs and any other part of the body can be attacked using the shin.
Foot sweeps are forbidden.
Elbows 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 and are only allowed one knee strike per clinch.

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

Male champions

Weight class	K-1 Rules	Low Kick Rules
Atomweight (52.7 kg)	Vacant	Vacant
Flyweight (54.5 kg)	Vacant	Vacant
Bantamweight (56.4 kg)	Luca Cecchetti	Vacant
Featherweight (58.2 kg)	Vacant	Vacant
Lightweight (60.0 kg)	Silviu Vitez	Vacant
Super lightweight (62.2 kg)	Rémi Parra	Vacant
Light welterweight (64.5 kg)	Václav Sivák	Manuel Garcia
Welterweight (66.8 kg)	André Santos	Thiago Santos
Super welterweight (69.1 kg)	Giorgio Petrosyan	Jonathan Mayezo
Light middleweight (71.8 kg)	Žiga Pečenik	Johan Silva
Middleweight (75.0 kg)	Davide Armanini	Vacant
Super middleweight (78.1 kg)	Nikola Todorović	Vacant
Light heavyweight (81.4 kg)	Sergej Braun	Nikola Stošić
Light cruiserweight (85.1 kg)	Bilal Bakhouche-Chareuf	Andrei Chekhonin
Heavyweight (88.6 kg)	Gregory Grossi	Bojan Džepina
Cruiser heavyweight (94.1 kg)	Enrico Pellegrino	Romain Falendry
Super heavyweight (+94.1 kg)	Mohamed Bensalem	Antonio Plazibat

Female champions

Weight class	K-1 Rules	Low Kick Rules
Flyweight (50.0 kg)	Silvia La Notte	Erivan Barut
Featherweight (55.0 kg)	Sarah Moussaddak	Vacant
Lightweight (59.0 kg)	Loli Munhoz	Vacant
Welterweight (62.0 kg)	Vacant	Vacant
Middleweight (65.0 kg)	Teodora Manić	Vacant
Light heavyweight (68.0 kg)	Vacant	Vacant
Heavyweight (71.0 kg)	Alexandra Filipová	Vacant
Cruiserweight (74.0 kg)	Vacant	Vacant
Super heavyweight (+74.0 kg)	Vacant	Vacant