Benny Urquidez is an American former professional kickboxer, martial arts choreographer and actor. Nicknamed "The Jet", Urquidez was a non-contact karate competitor who later pioneered full-contact fighting in the United States. He made the transition from point to full-contact karate in 1974, the year of its inception in the US, frequently fighting in bouts where the rules were ambiguous and contrasts in styles were dramatic. Urquidez is also known for once holding the rare achievement of six world titles in five different weight divisions, and remained largely undefeated in his 27-year career. His only loss came in a Muay Thai match which was shrouded in controversy, as Urquidez had only agreed to a no-decision exhibition, a clause which was ignored when the fight had ended.
Kashmir Singh Gill popularly known as Kash "The Flash" Gill, is a retired British professional kickboxer who is a former four-time world champion.
Jeffrey Ryan "Duke" Roufus is an American former kickboxer and head coach of the Roufusport based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. He is a well-known striking coach in North America.
Stan "The Man" Longinidis is an Australian retired heavyweight kickboxer and 8-time world kickboxing champion. Born in Melbourne of Greek ethnicity, Longinidis is one of the few fighters to win world titles in four different styles of kickboxing competition: international rules, Oriental rules, full contact and Muay Thai. He holds notable victories over Branko Cikatić, Adam Watt, Peter Graham, Musashi and Dennis Alexio.
Dale Cook is an American former kickboxer who competed in the middleweight, super middleweight, light heavyweight and cruiserweight divisions. With a background in karate and taekwondo, Cook debuted professionally in 1977 and spent the early part of his career as a full contact rules fighter. In the 1980s, he began fighting under Oriental and Muay Thai rules and took two world titles under the WKA banner. A short stint in shoot boxing towards the end of his career in the mid-1990s resulted in another world title in that discipline.
The World Kickboxing Association (WKA) also known as World Kickboxing and Karate Association, is one of the oldest and the largest amateur and professional sanctioning body for kickboxing and Karate.
Marek "The Punisher" Piotrowski is a Polish retired heavyweight kickboxer and boxer. He is a former ten time kickboxing world champion.
Peter "Sugarfoot" Cunningham is a retired Canadian 7-time World Champion Hall of Fame kickboxer, boxer, martial artist, actor and author. Rated by experts as one of the greatest full contact fighters of all time, Sugarfoot was a superb technician who possessed high fighting I.Q. and lightning speed. He retired from kickboxing in 1996 with a record of 50-1-1, having avenged the only draw of his career but only one defeated Peter, the undefeated Richard Sylla at the WKA World Title in Paris. Cunningham's skills in the ring have been praised by many martial arts legends, including Benny "The Jet" Urquidez, Bill "Superfoot" Wallace, Chuck Norris, Dan Inosanto, Rigan Machado, Don "The Dragon" Wilson and many others. Cunningham maintained a high level competition throughout his career as most of his opponents were either current or former champions. In 1998 in San Jose, California, Peter was honored as the inaugural inductee in the I.S.K.A. Hall of Fame.
Robert Schrijber is a Dutch former mixed martial artist and kickboxer. He currently runs his own MMA and Muay Thai team in Krommenie, Netherlands called Sports Academy Schreiber. His most famous students at the moment are UFC fighter Stefan Struve, and professional wrestler Tom Budgen.
Andrei "Bullet" Kulebin is a Belarusian Muay Thai welterweight kickboxer fighting out of Minsk, Belarus for Gym "Kick Fighter". He is an 18 time Muay Thai and kickboxing world champion who has won international titles both at amateur and professional level from 51 kg to 67 kg and is considered one of the top pound for pound Muay Thai fighters outside of Thailand. In 2007 he was the first Muay Thai fighter in Belarus to be awarded the "Honored Master of Sport" by the countries president.
W.A.K.O. European Championships 1977 were the first ever W.A.K.O. European kickboxing championships introduced by the pioneer of German Karate Georg Brueckner and the first ever event hosted by the W.A.K.O. organization – then known as the W.M.A.A. who itself had only just recently been founded in 1976. There had actually been an amateur kickboxing European championships held a year previously but this event was not officially recognized by any federation. The W.A.K.O. championships were open to amateur men based in Europe only and all bouts were fought under Full-Contact kickboxing rules, with each country allowed more than one competitor in each weight category. By the end of the championships the Netherlands were the most successful nation, with West Germany second, and Norway a distant third - more detail on the winners and medal tables can be found in the sections below. The event was held in 1977 in Vienna, Austria.
W.A.K.O. World Championships 1978 were the first ever W.A.K.O. World kickboxing championships introduced by the pioneer of German Karate Georg Brueckner and the third major event hosted by the W.A.K.O. organization – formerly known as the W.M.A.A.. The W.A.K.O. championships were open to amateur men only from eighteen countries across the world and all bouts were fought under Full-Contact kickboxing rules - differing from modern rules in that there was a platform instead of a ring and fighters wore no protective clothing or head guards. Semi-Contact, which had been introduced at the 1978 European championships, would have no place at this event. At the end of the championships, the USA was the top nation, with hosts West Germany a close second, and the Dominican Republic in third. The event was held in West Berlin, West Germany on November 5, 1978.
Vasily "Torero" Shish is a Belarusian Muay Thai middleweight kickboxer fighting out of Minsk, Belarus for the Chinuk Gym. He is a five time world and five time European Muaythai and kickboxing champion who has won titles at both amateur and professional level. Vasily has fought for several notable promotions such as K-1 MAX and Thai & Kickbox SuperLeague.
Batu Sergeyevich Khasikov is a Russian politician, activist and former kickboxer who has served as Head of the Republic of Kalmykia since 2019. He previously served as a Russian Federation Senator from 2012 to 2014 and Member of the People's Khural from 2008 to 2012.
Lorenzo Javier Jorge, also known as Jorge Loren, is a retired Spanish professional kickboxer and K-1 veteran. Loren was the Super Cruiserweight Champion of the Superkombat Fighting Championship. He is also the 2014 Superkombat World Grand Prix tournament champion and fought for the It's Showtime 95MAX world title, losing to Danyo Ilunga by decision after 5 rounds. He has also fought in Enfusion.
Denis Alexandrovich Grachev is a Russian boxer, kickboxer, and mixed martial artist residing in the United States. Grachev was the IKF Muay Thai world light cruiserweight champion.
Gabriel Varga is a Canadian kickboxer who competes in the Lightweight division of Karate Combat. He is a former Bellator KB Featherweight champion, former two time Glory Featherweight champion, and former WKN lightweight champion.
Vladislav Valdimirovich Tuinov ; more known as Vlad Tuinov is a professional Russian kickboxer who competes in the lightweight division.
Zarrukh Adashev is an Uzbek professional kickboxer and professional mixed martial artist who competes in the Flyweight division and formerly in the Bantamweight division. He has previously competed in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and Bellator MMA.
Kensaku Maeda is a Japanese former professional Kickboxer, former K-1 WORLD GP Japan producer. He is also renowned as the founder and head trainer of the successful kickboxing gym Team Dragon.
