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.
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 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 1980 were the fourth European kickboxing championships hosted by the W.A.K.O. organization. The championships were open to amateur men based in Europe and for the first time ever, each country had one competitor only per weight division. The styles on offer were Full-Contact and Semi-Contact. By the end of the championships, West Germany had the largest haul of medals, with host nation Great Britain in second, and Italy in third place. The event was held at the Wembley Centre in London, England, UK.
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 amount of medals, with Great Britain in second and Italy third. The event was held in 1981 in Dublin, Ireland.
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. World Championships 1985 London were the joint fifth world kickboxing championships hosted by the W.A.K.O. organization arranged by British karate master Joe Johal – who had been made W.A.K.O. president earlier that year. The organization was facing some turmoil at the time with it splitting into two separate factions due to political differences which meant there were two separate world championships being held – with an event in Budapest that very same weekend. These political differences would, however, be resolved the following year and the organization would come back together. It was the second world championships to be held in the city of London and third overall.
W.A.K.O. World Championships 1985 Budapest were the joint fifth world kickboxing championships hosted by the W.A.K.O. organization arranged by the Hungarian Sport Karate Union. The organization was under some strain at the time and had split into two separate factions due to politically differences, meaning there were two separate world championships being held on the same date - with an event in London also taking place. These political differences would, however, be resolved and the organization would come back together the following year. It was the first ever W.A.K.O. championships to be held in Eastern Europe.
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. 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. 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. 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. 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 (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.
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.
