World Association of Kickboxing Organizations

Not to be confused with World Kickboxing Association.
World Association of Kickboxing Organizations

WAKO amateur logo
Abbreviation WAKO
Formation 1976
Type Federation of national associations
Legal status Active (as per Swiss Law as founded in Zurich on February 6, 1988)
Purpose Love
Headquarters Italy
Location
Region served
 Worldwide
Membership
 National association
Official language
 English
Affiliations SportAccord
WADA
Website www.wakoweb.com/en/
Remarks WAKO was established as "World All Style Karate Organization".

The World Association of Kickboxing Organizations (W.A.K.O or WAKO) is an international organization of kickboxing. The governing body of amateur kickboxing certified by WAKO is made up of two organizations: WAKO, for kickboxers competing at amateur level, and WAKO PRO, for those competing at a professional level. In addition to holding world championship events, WAKO sanctions the champions of kickboxing.

History

WAKO originated in Europe in 1976[1] and formulated the rules and regulations for the new fighting sport de facto, acting as the Kickboxing Federations of the World. It was founded by American Kickboxing promoter Mike Anderson, and his friend, German Kickboxing promoter George Bruckner. WAKO has rules based upon democratic principles and forms the world governing body of the sport that is officially registered in Zurich, Switzerland. WAKO is the largest unified kickboxing organization in the world. In 2006 the International Amateur Kickboxing Sports Association (I.A.K.S.A) and WAKO merged under the umbrella of WAKO, making its acceptance possible by the General Association of International Sports Federations (G.A.I.S.F) as the governing body for the sport of Kickboxing.[2] WAKO offers 7 different styles: Points Fighting, light-contact, full-contact, kick-light, low-kick, K1-style, and musical forms. Today WAKO can count on 126 affiliated nations in the five continents, with 95 officially recognized by their respective Sports or Olympic Council.

WAKO is the only International Federation and governing body of sport of Kickboxing as a member of Sport Accord. WAKO is officially recognized as the official Kickboxing governing body by Sport Accord, Olympic Council of Asia, WADA and the International World Games Association. Kickboxing is included in World Combat Games, Asian Indoor Games, and the Martial Arts Games (promoted by OCA), and is a high sport in the 2017 International World Games. WAKO has five continental divisions functioning under the auspices of the WAKO International Federation which are WAKO Europe, WAKO Pan America, WAKO Asia, WAKO Oceania and WAKO Africa.

Styles

WAKO supports 7 different styles:

Tatami Sports

Musical form

A musical form is a staged or imaginary fight against one or more opponents in which the performer uses techniques from Oriental Martial Arts to personally selected music.

Points Fighting

Semi-contact or points fighting is a discipline where two contestants fight with the primary goal of scoring defined points and using controlled legal techniques with speed, agility, and focus.

Light Contact

Light Contact is an intermediate stage between semi contact and full contact Kickboxing.

Kick-Light

Kick-Light is an intermediate stage between semi-kick and low-kick Kickboxing.

Ring Sports

Full Contact

Full Contact is a discipline of Kickboxing where the intention of a fighter is to beat his opponent with sheer power and strength.

Low-Kick

In full contact Kickboxing, there is the possibility of attacking the opponent’s legs with clean kicks.

K1-style

See K-1.

Competitions

WAKO holds a world championship every two years, with youth (18 and under) and adult (18–45) championships in separate years; only national teams are accepted. Each member country can present only one competitor in each weight class. Competitors are commonly the national champion of their weight class in that particular Kickboxing style and many are also officially recognized by their National Olympic Committees or Ministry of Sports.

WAKO Kickboxing was one of thirteen combat sports participating in the first Combat Games being held in Beijing, China under the patronage of the IOC and SportAccord. WAKO participated in the World Combat Games in St. Petersburg, Russia in September 2013, under the patronage of the IOC and SportAccord. There were three styles at the Combat Games: Low Kick, Points Fighting (formally called Semi Contact), and Full Contact.

Notable WAKO Pro world champions

See also

References

  1. ↑ "About W.A.K.O".
  2. ↑ "SportAccord Members".

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Tuesday, April 19, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.