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 on May 1978 in the border town of Wolfsburg, West Germany.
W.A.K.O. World Championships 1979 were the second ever world kickboxing championships hosted by W.A.K.O., organized by American Mike Anderson. They were open to amateur men only from across the world, with two styles of kickboxing - Full-Contact and Semi-Contact - on offer. This was the championships where the (now) world famous martial artist turned actor Jean-Claude Van Damme was supposed to have competed – although reports on the event and from participating fighters give no confirmation of Van Damme ever participating. By the end of the championships West Germany was the strongest nation, Italy were second, Great Britain third. The event was held at the Hillsborough Community College in Tampa, Florida, USA between November 3 and 4 in 1979.
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 amount 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. World Championships 1983 were the fourth world kickboxing championships hosted by W.A.K.O. and were organized by British P.K.A. principal Mike Haig. It was the second W.A.K.O. event to be held in London and was open to amateur male kickboxers only and featured two forms of kickboxing - Full-Contact and Semi-Contact. By the end of the championships West Germany was the top nation in terms of medals, with USA a close second and hosts Great Britain just behind in third. The event was held at the Wembley Centre in London, England, UK on Saturday, 22 October 1983.
W.A.K.O. European Championships 1984 were the seventh European kickboxing championships hosted by the W.A.K.O. organization arranged by Peter Land. The championships were open to amateur men based in Europe with each country allowed only one competitor per weight division, with the styles on offer being Full-Contact and Semi-Contact kickboxing. Regular European leaders West Germany were the top nation by the end of the championships, followed by Italy in second and hosts Austria in third. The event was held in Graz, Austria on Saturday, 22 September 1984.
W.A.K.O. European Championships 1986 were the eighth European kickboxing championships hosted by the W.A.K.O. organization arranged by Simon Zahopoulos. The championships were open to amateur men and women based in Europe with each country only allowed one competitor per weight division. The styles on offer were Full-Contact and Semi-Contact kickboxing. West Germany were easily the strongest nation overall by the end of the championships, with hosts Greece in second and Great Britain third in the medals table. The event was held in Athens, Greece on Saturday, November 29 to Sunday, November 30, 1986.
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 1990 were the seventh world kickboxing championships hosted by the W.A.K.O. organization arranged by W.A.K.O. president Ennio Falsoni. It was the second W.A.K.O. championships in a row to be hosted in Mestre, and the fourth time overall in Italy, involving amateur men and women from twenty-eight countries from across the world. Originally, world championships were scheduled to take place in the USA in October 1989, but due to errors in event planning Italy saved the championships by organizing the tournament 3 months later. There were four categories on offer; Full-Contact, Semi-Contact, Light-Contact and Musical Forms, with each country typically allowed one competitor per weight division. Competitors were allowed to participate in more than one category, however, with double winners in Light and Semi-Contact. By the end of a competitive championships, USA were the top nation, with Poland a close second, and Canada in third. The event was held over three days at the Palasport Taliercio in Mestre Italy, starting on Friday 19 January and ending on Sunday 21 January, 1990.
W.A.K.O. European Championships 1990 were the tenth European kickboxing championships hosted by the W.A.K.O. organization and the first ever to be held in Spain. The event was open to amateur men and women from twenty-four countries across Europe, with four styles on offer; Full-Contact, Semi-Contact, Light-Contact and Musical Forms, with women participating in Light-Contact for the first time ever. Each country was allowed one competitor per weight division per category, although fighters could take part in more than one style. By the end of the championships, Great Britain was the top nation in terms of medals won, with West Germany second and Italy third. The event was held over three days in Madrid, Spain, from Friday 16 November to Sunday 18 November, 1990.
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. European Championships 2000 in Jesolo were the joint fifteen European kickboxing championships hosted by the W.A.K.O. organization and the sixth championships to be held in Italy. The event was open to amateur men and women from across Europe and there were three styles on offer; Low-Kick, Light-Contact and Semi-Contact. By the end of the championships the most successful nation was the hosts Italy, followed by Hungary in second and Kyrgyzstan in third. The event was held over five days at the Palasport Cornaro in Jesolo, Italy starting on Wednesday, 18 October and ending on Sunday, 22 October 2000.
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. 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 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 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. World Championships 2005 in Szeged were the joint fifteenth world championships held by the W.A.K.O. organization and the third ever to be held in Hungary - with the other event having been held a couple of months earlier in Agadir, Morocco. The championships in Szeged were open to amateur men and women from across the world with around 720 athletes from 48 countries across five continents taking part.
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.
