World Association of Kickboxing Organizations
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WAKO amateur logo | |
| Abbreviation | WAKO |
|---|---|
| Formation | 1976 |
| Type | Federation of national associations |
| Legal status | Swiss Law as founded in Zurich on February 6, 1988 |
| Purpose | [1] |
| Headquarters | Italy |
| Location | |
Region served | Worldwide |
Membership | National association |
Official language | English |
| Affiliations |
SportAccord WADA |
| Website | http://www.wakoweb.com/en/ |
| Remarks | WAKO was established as "World All Style Karate Organization". |
The World Association of Kickboxing Organisations (W.A.K.O or just WAKO) is one the international organizations of kickboxing, and the governing body of Amateur kickboxing sport certified by SportAccord. It is formed of two organizations: WAKO for amateur sports and WAKO PRO for professional sports. Besides holding world championships, W.A.K.O sanctions the champions of kickboxing in six rules.
History
W.A.K.O started its activities in Europe in 1976[2] and created the rules and regulations for the new fighting sport and acted, as the Kickboxing Federation of the World. It was founded by American kickboxing promoter Mike Anderson and his friend German kickboxing promoter George Bruckner. WAKO is a democratically statutes driven world governing body of sport and is officially registered in Zurich, Switzerland. Today, W.A.K.O is the largest unified kickboxing organization in the world. In 2006, the International Amateur Kickboxing Sports Association (I.A.K.S.A) and W.A.K.O merged under the unmerella of WAKO, making it possible for its acceptance by the General Association of International Sports Federations (G.A.I.S.F) as the governing body for the sport of Kickboxing.[3] W.A.K.O offers 7 different styles: Point Fighting, light-contact, full-contact, kick-light, low-kick, K1-style and musical forms. Today W.A.K.O can count on 126 affiliated nations in the five continents, with 95 officially recognized by their respective Sports or Olympic Council. W.A.K.O id the only International Federation and governing body of sport of Kickboxing as a member of Sport accord. W.A.K.O is officially recognized by Sport Accord, Olympic Council of Asia, WADA and International World Games Association as been the official Kickboxing governing body of sport. The sport of Kickboxing was included in World Combat Games, Asian Indoor Games the Martial Arts Games promoted by OCA and is a demonstration sport in the 2017 International World Games . WAKo Has five continental divisions functioning under the auspices fo WAKO International Federation: WAKO Europe, WAKO Pan America, WAKO Asia, WAKO Oceania and WAKO Africa.
Styles
W.A.K.O offers 7 different styles:
Tatami Sports
Musical forms
A musical form is a sort of imaginary fight against one or more opponents in which the performer uses techniques coming from Oriental Martial Arts to specifically chosen music. The choice of music is personal
Point Fighting
Semi-contact is a fighting discipline where two fighters fight with the primary goal of scoring Defined points / using controlled legal Techniques with speed agility and focus.
- Opponents are allowed to hit each other with punches and kicks, striking above the waist.
- Elbows and knees are forbidden.
- Clinch fighting and throws are forbidden
- Foot sweeps are allowed
- Bouts:
light-contact
Light contact has been created as an intermediate stage between semi and full contact kickboxing.
- Opponents are allowed to hit each other with punches and kicks, striking above the waist and Below Ankle/mid-calf
- Elbows and knees are forbidden.
- Foot sweeps are allowed
- Clinch fighting and throws are forbidden.
- Bouts:
kick-light
Kick-Light has been created as an intermediate stage between semi and low-kick kickboxing.
- Opponents are allowed to hit each other with punches and kicks, striking the Thigh (only from outside to inside and vice versa) which can be attacked using the shin
- Elbows and knees are forbidden.
- Foot sweeps are allowed
- Clinch fighting and throws forbidden.
- Bouts:
Ring Sports
full-contact
Full contact is a discipline of kickboxing where the intention of a fighter is to beat his opponent with full power and strength.
- Opponents are allowed to hit each other with punches and kicks, striking above the waist and below Ankle/mid-calf
- Elbows and knees are forbidden.
- Foot sweeps are allowed
- Clinch fighting and throws are forbidden.
- Bouts:
low-kick
full contact kickboxing in which there is also the possibility of attacking the opponent’s legs with clean kicks.
- Opponents are allowed to hit each other with punches and kicks, striking the Thigh (only from outside to inside and vice versa) which can be attacked using the shin
- Elbows and knees are forbidden.
- Foot sweeps are allowed
- Clinch fighting and throws forbidden.
- Bouts:
K1-style
Elbow techniques are forbidden, Clinching must be less than 5 seconds,
- Opponents are allowed to hit each other with punches and kicks. Legs, any part, which can be attacked using the shin.
- Elbows are forbidden.
- Foot sweeps are allowed
- Throws are forbidden.
- Clinching must be less than 5 seconds, it is allowed to hold opponents neck with both hands in order to attack ONLY with KNEE. You are only allowed one knee strike per clinch exchange.
- Bouts:
Competitions
W.A.K.O holds a world championships every two years, with youth (18 and under) and adults (18–45) on 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 recognised 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 will again be participating in the World Combat Games, in St. Petersburg Russia in September 2013, under the patronage of the IOC and SportAccord. It will have three styles at the Combat Games - Low Kick, Point Fighting (formally called Semi Contact), and Full Contact.
Notable WAKO Pro world champions
- K-1 - Freddy Kemayo, Vladimir Mineev, Redouan Cairo,, Grégory Tony, Ivan Strugar, Nenad Pagonis, Alexei Papin, Batu Khasikov, Loren, Azem Maksutaj, Abraham Roqueñi
- Thai Boxing - Mike Bernardo, Musashi, Dmitry Shakuta, Dmitry Valent
- Full Contact - Alessandro Riguccini, Marek Piotrowski, Roberto Cocco, Abdallah Mabel, Bruce Codron, Antonio Sousa
See also
- List of WAKO Amateur World Championships
- List of WAKO Amateur European Championships
- Wako-Pro World Grand Prix
- List of male kickboxers
References
External links
- World Association of Kickboxing Organizations (W.A.K.O International)
- World Association of Kickboxing Organisations (W.A.K.O Pro)
- WAKO IF News
- WAKO Europe
- WAKO Asia
- WAKO Oceania
- WAKO Africa
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