Joseph Henry Lewis was an American martial artist, actor, karateka, and kickboxer. As a fighter, Lewis gained fame for his matches in the 1960s and 1970s, and was nicknamed "the Muhammad Ali of karate." He has twice been voted the greatest fighter in karate history, having won innumerable karate tournaments, and has attained the titles of "United States Heavyweight Kickboxing Champion," "World Heavyweight Full Contact Karate Champion," and "United States National Black Belt Kata Champion."
Masaaki Satake is a Japanese former heavyweight karateka, kickboxer, professional wrestler and mixed martial artist. He is one of the pioneering heavyweight fighters in K-1, having been a member of Kazuyoshi Ishii's Seidokaikan school.
Elisa Au is an American martial arts instructor and karate practitioner.
Raymond Lee Daniels is an American Kenpoist, Karateka, Tae Kwon Do practitioner, kickboxer and mixed martial artist known for his flashy and aggressive style of fighting. He currently competes for Karate Combat in the Welterweight division. He has formely competed for Bellator MMA and Bellator Kickboxing, where he was the Bellator Kickboxing Welterweight Champion.
Gregorio Di Leo is an entrepreneur, psychologist and professional Italian Kickboxing World Champion in Points Fighting. He is the co-founder of Wyde, a leadership school based in Milan, Italy.
A. J. Verel is an American kickboxer, martial artist, actor, stuntman and inductee into the Pro Martial Arts/MMA Hall of Fame. Verel is a former Light Heavyweight & Middleweight sport karate and kickboxing Champion. In 1992 he won the World Kickboxing Association's (WKA) Middleweight title. Verel holds black belts in five different martial arts and as co-captain of the U.S. National Martial Arts and N.A.C.K. Demonstration Teams won two gold medals.
Anthony Young is an American martial artist, teacher, and practitioner of the Goju Ryu Karate style and founder of the Tony Young All-Star Karate Academy. He is also a sport karate competitor.
Derek Panza is an American kickboxer and boxer from Queens, New York. He was the ISKA World Heavyweight Kickboxing Champion and is undefeated as a professional boxer with a record of 7-0. He currently trains fighters at Panza MMA, located inside world champion power lifter and bodybuilder Bev Francis' Powerhouse Gym in Syosset, New York.
Randall Kleck is an American martial artist and three time world champion. In a martial arts career spanning over 40 years he has been a student, competitor, judge, instructor, and author.
W.A.K.O. World Championships 1987 were the sixth world kickboxing championships hosted by W.A.K.O. arranged by the German Karate pioneer Georg Brueckner and Carl Wiedmeier. The event was open to amateur men and women, with 290 competitors from 29 countries taking part. The styles on offer were Full-Contact, Semi-Contact and Musical Forms. Typically, each country was allowed one competitor per weight division, although in some incidences more than one was allowed. Participants were also allowed to compete in more than one style. By the end of the championships, USA was the top of the medals tables, with hosts West Germany in second and Canada way behind in third. The event was held at the Olympiahalle in Munich, Germany over two days and were attended by an estimated 11,000 spectators.
W.A.K.O. World Championships 1991 were the eight world kickboxing championships hosted by the W.A.K.O. organization. It was the third world championships to be held in London, involving amateur men and women from twenty-eight countries across the world. There were three styles on offer; Semi-Contact, Light-Contact and Musical Forms, and for the first time since Milan 1981, there would be no Full-Contact kickboxing competition at a W.A.K.O. world championships. Each country was allowed one competitor per weight division per category, although participants were allowed to participate in more than one category.
W.A.K.O. World Championships 1993 in Atlantic City were the joint ninth world kickboxing championships hosted by the W.A.K.O. organization arranged by W.A.K.O. USA president Jim Lantrip. As with the 1985 championships the organization had suffered a temporary split due to political differences, and a second event was planned later in the month in Budapest, although the differences would be resolved in the near future.
W.A.K.O. World Championships 1999 were the joint twelfth world kickboxing championships hosted by the W.A.K.O. organization. It was the fifth championships to be held in Italy and was open to amateur men and women from fifty countries across the world.
W.A.K.O. World Championships 2001 were the joint thirteenth world kickboxing championships hosted by the W.A.K.O. organization. It was the first ever W.A.K.O. championships to be held in Slovenia and involved amateur men and women from across the world. There were three styles on offer at Maribor; Light-Contact, Semi-Contact and Musical Forms – the more physical styles would be available later on in the year at the Belgrade event. By the end of a competitive championships Italy were first in terms of medals won, Germany a close second and Hungary third. The event was held in Maribor, Slovenia over seven days starting on Wednesday, 17 October and ending Tuesday, 23 October.
W.A.K.O. European Championships 2002 in Jesolo was the sixteenth European championships to be held by the W.A.K.O. It was the second championship to be held in Jesolo and the seventh to be held in Italy. W.A.K.O. had originally hoped to have a joint event that year like they had with the last world championships, with an event in Greece in October and another in Hungary in November, but due to the difficulties involved they scrapped the idea and resorted to Jesolo which had held a successful event two years previously.
W.A.K.O. World Championships 2005 in Agadir were the joint fifteenth world championships held by the W.A.K.O. organization and the first ever to be held in Morocco and the continent of Africa - with the other event to be held later that year in Szeged, Hungary. The championships were open to amateur men and women from across the world, with about roughly 48 countries providing around 350 athletes, who all attended despite initial fears about potential terrorist attacks.
W.A.K.O. European Championships 2006 (Lisbon) were the joint eighteenth European kickboxing championships held by the W.A.K.O. organization and the second to be held in Portugal and the city of Lisbon. The event was open to amateur men and women from across Europe although a number of professional fighters such as Luis Reis would take part. All in all, in was the largest ever European championships with around 560 athletes from 31 countries taking part. One of the reasons for the higher numbers being that W.A.K.O. had merged had recently merged with the I.K.A.S. and took on many of the I.K.A.S. organization's fighters. Another reason was that some countries were allowed multiple competitors per weight division in the Full-Contact and Semi-Contact categories.
Carlos Tearney is an American martial artist from Central New York. He's a nationally recognized karate instructor and 14-time Karate World Champion.
Anzhelika Terliuga is a Ukrainian karateka competing in the kumite 55 kg division.
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