The first W.A.K.O. Amateur European Championships were organized by George Bruckner and held in Vienna in 1977 [1] and between 1977 and 1982 the organization held a European Championships each year. W.A.K.O. began to change the timing of the championships after 1982, making sure that they were every two years, thus (generally) falling between world championships. In 1994 W.A.K.O. first started introduce two European championships to be held in the same year.
| Edition | Year | Host City | Country | Events |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2007 | Faro |  Portugal | |
| 2 | 2009 | Pula |  Croatia | |
| 3 | 2011 | Lignano |  Italy | |
| 4 | 2013 | Krynica-Zdrój |  Poland | |
| 5 | 2015 | San Sebastian |  Spain | |
| 6 | 2017 | Skopje |  North Macedonia | 222 |
The World Association of Kickboxing Organizations is an international kickboxing organization counting over 120 affiliated countries representing all five continents. 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. WAKO is recognized by the Global Association of International Sports Federations (GAISF) and the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
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. European Championships 1978 was the second European kickboxing championships hosted by the W.A.K.O. organization and organized by the pioneer of German karate Georg Brueckner. The 1978 W.A.K.O. European championships were open to amateur men based in Europe only, with each country allowed more than one competitor in an individual weight category. The event also heralded a new category, Semi-Contact, which was introduced to feature alongside the existing Full-Contact category. At the championships end, West Germany was by far the most successful nation, with the previous year's top nation, the Netherlands, finishing way behind in second, and Italy came third - more detail on the winners and medal tables can be found in the sections below. The event was held in May 1978 in the border town of Wolfsburg, West Germany.
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.
W.A.K.O. European Championships 1979 was the third European kickboxing championships hosted by the W.A.K.O. organization, organized by the Italian Ennio Falsoni. As with previous European championships the 1979 W.A.K.O. championships were open to amateur men based in Europe only, with each country allowed more than one competitor in an individual weight category. Two styles of kickboxing were on offer – Full-Contact and Semi-Contact. By the championships end West Germany was yet again the strongest nation, with Yugoslavia in second place, and hosts Italy in third - more detail on the winners and medal tables can be found in the sections below. The event was held in 1979 in Milan, Italy.
W.A.K.O. World Championships 1981 were the third world kickboxing championships hosted by W.A.K.O. and were organized by Italian Ennio Falsoni. It was the second time that W.A.K.O. had held a championships in Italy and heralded the beginning of the organizations having its world championships every two years as opposed to once a year. The event was open to amateur men only from across the world, and featured two categories; Semi-Contact kickboxing and the newly introduced Musical Forms, and for the first time ever there was no Full-Contact kickboxing. By the end of the championships, West Germany were the top nation, with the USA in second and host nation Italy in third. The event was held in Milan, Italy in 1981.
W.A.K.O. European Championships 1981 were the fifth European kickboxing championships hosted by the W.A.K.O. organization organized by one of the pioneers of Irish kickboxing George Canning. The championships were open to amateur men based in Europe only although each country was allowed more than one competitor per weight division, with the styles on offer being Full-Contact and Semi-Contact kickboxing. By the end of the competition regular leaders West Germany were the top nation with the largest number of medals, with Great Britain in second and Italy third. The event was held in 1981 in Dublin, Ireland.
W.A.K.O. European Championships 1982 were the sixth European kickboxing championships hosted by the W.A.K.O. organization organized by Jean-Pierre Schupp and heralded the beginning of W.A.K.O. having its European championships every two years as opposed to once a year. The event was open to amateur men based in Europe and featured only one style of kickboxing - Semi-Contact. By the end of the championships, Italy was the top nation, with regular leaders West Germany beaten into second and Great Britain third. The event was held in Basel, Switzerland in 1981.
W.A.K.O. European Championships 1988 were the ninth European kickboxing championships hosted by the W.A.K.O. organization arranged by W.A.K.O. president Ennio Falsoni. The event was open to amateur men and women based in Europe only, with two categories on offer; Semi-Contact and Light-Contact, with Light-Contact being introduced for the first time ever at a W.A.K.O. event. As decided by WAKO's world congress in Munich 1987, international championship are to be split up into two events and locations to accommodate fighters for newly added Light-Contact and later Low-Kick. Therefore, European championships for Full-Contact kickboxing and Forms took place at a separate event in Trogir, Yugoslavia. Each country was allowed one competitor per weight class per category. By the end of the event, hosts Italy were the top nation across all categories, with Great Britain second and regular European leaders West Germany in the third. It was held at the Palasport Taliercio in Mestre, Italy in 1988.
W.A.K.O. World Championships 1993 in Budapest were the joint ninth world kickboxing championships hosted by the W.A.K.O. organization arranged by Hungarian kickboxing president Richard Leyrer. As with the 1985 world championships the organization had suffered a temporary split due to political differences, and a previous event had been held in Atlantic City earlier in the month. These political differences would be resolved in the near future and the organization would be re-united.
W.A.K.O. European Championships 1996 were the thirteenth European kickboxing championships hosted by the W.A.K.O. organization arranged by the Serbia and Montenegro kickboxing president Borislav Pelević. The event was the first ever to be held in Serbia and Montenegro and welcomed the country back into the international community after the devastation of the Bosnian War. It was open to amateur men and women representing thirty-seven countries in Europe - more detail on the participating nations is provided in the relevant section below.
W.A.K.O. European Championships 1998 in Leverkusen were the joint fourteenth European kickboxing championships hosted by the W.A.K.O. organization and the fourth championships to be held in Germany. The event was open to amateur men and women based in Europe only and there were just the two styles on offer; Full-Contact and Light-Contact kickboxing. By the end of the championships Russia was by far the dominant nation in terms of medals won, with Poland second and Hungary third. The event was held in Leverkusen, Germany over six days starting on Tuesday, 1 December and ending on Sunday, 6 December 1998.
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 second championships to be held in Serbia and Montenegro and was open to amateur men and women across the world.
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 2003 in Paris were the joint fourteenth world championships held by the W.A.K.O. and the first ever to be held in France. The other (joint) world championships were to be held in November of the same year in Yalta, Ukraine. The event was open to amateur men and women with approximately 780 athletes from 63 countries across the world taking part.
W.A.K.O. European Championships 2006 in Skopje were the joint eighteenth European kickboxing championships held by the W.A.K.O. organization. It was the first event to be held in the country of Republic of Macedonia and was organized by the nation's kickboxing president Ljupčo Nedelkovski, involving (mainly) amateur men and women from 31 countries across Europe.
W.A.K.O. European Championships 2008 in Varna were the joint twenty European kickboxing championships held by the W.A.K.O. organization arranged by the Bulgarian kickboxing chief Boyan Kolev, with the second event to be held the next month in Oporto, Portugal. It was the second W.A.K.O. event to be held in Varna and Bulgaria and involved around 500 amateur men and women from 35 countries across Europe.
W.A.K.O. European Championships 2012 in Bucharest were the joint twenty-three European kickboxing championships held by the W.A.K.O. organization arranged by the Romanian Full-Contact Martial Arts Federation (F.R.A.M.C.) president Dorel Bulearcă. The first event was held the previous month in Ankara, Turkey. It was the first W.A.K.O. event to be held in Bucharest and Romania and involved over 550 amateur men and women from 35 countries across Europe.
