List of WAKO Amateur World Championships


held its first amateur world championships in 1978 in West Berlin, after having previously staged two European championships the two years previously. It followed this with a second world championships a year later in Tampa, Florida. During the 1980s the world championships were held every other year except for in 1985 when a feud within the W.A.K.O. organization led to two versions of the championships being held on the same date – one in London, the other in Budapest.
In the 1990s W.A.K.O. held its world championships intermittently with at least one every other year although, in 1993 the organization again had a temporary political dispute which like 1985 meant two championships in one year. Additionally, the outbreak of the Balkan War resulted in the 1995 world championships being moved to Kiev and in 1997 to Gdańsk. By the turn-of-the-twentieth-century, the organization began introducing two different world championships every two years - one typically covering forms of kickboxing such as full-contact, semi-contact and musical forms, while the other types such as Thai-boxing, low-kick kickboxing and later K-1 rules. Of late, W.A.K.O. have begun to get involved with the SportAccord World Combat Games, hosting male and female full-contact, semi-contact and low-contact kickboxing competitions at the 2010 event, with the 2009 world championships being used as qualifiers.

List of World Championships

WAKO World Championships (Seniors and Masters)

W.A.K.O. Amateur Kickboxing World Championships
EditionYearHost CityCountryEvents
11978West Berlin7
21979Tampa14
31981Milan7
41983London16
51985London22
51985Budapest20
61987Munich24
71990Mestre32
81991London28
91993Atlantic City34
91993Budapest30
101995Kiev
111997Gdańsk
121999Bishkek
121999Caorle66
132001Maribor39
132001Belgrade42
142003Paris+37
142003Yalta
152005Agadir
152005Szeged
162007Belgrade
162007Coimbra
172009Villach
172009Lignano
182011Skopje
182011Dublin
192013Guarujá
192013Antalya
202015Belgrade
202015Dublin
212017Budapest136
222019Sarajevo
222019Antalya

EditionYearHost CityCountryEvents
11996
21998
32000
42002
52004
62006Zadar
72008Naples
82010Belgrade
92012Bratislava
102014Rimini
112016Dublin230
122018Jesolo238

EditionYearHost CityCountryEvents
12014Ufa