W.A.K.O. held its firstamateur world championships in 1978 inWest Berlin,[1] after having previously staged two European championships the two years previously. It followed this with a second world championships a year later inTampa, 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 inLondon, the other inBudapest.[2]
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.[3] Additionally, the outbreak of the Balkan War resulted in the 1995 world championships being moved toKyiv and in 1997 toGdańsk.[4] 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 asThai-boxing, low-kick kickboxing and laterK-1 rules. Of late, W.A.K.O. have begun to get involved with theSportAccordWorld Combat Games, hosting male and female full-contact, semi-contact and low-contact kickboxing competitions at the 2010 event,[5] with the 2009 world championships (both events) being used as qualifiers.[6][7]
W.A.K.O. Amateur Kickboxing World Championships
| Edition | Year | Host City | Country | Events |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1996 | |||
| 2 | 1998 | |||
| 3 | 2000 | |||
| 4 | 2002 | Budva |  Serbia and Montenegro | |
| 5 | 2004 | |||
| 6 | 2006 | Zadar |  Croatia | |
| 7 | 2008 | Naples |  Italy | |
| 8 | 2010 | Belgrade |  Serbia | |
| 9 | 2012 | Bratislava |  Slovakia | |
| 10 | 2014 | Rimini | Italy | |
| 11 | 2016 | Dublin |  Ireland | 230 |
| 12 | 2018 | Jesolo | Italy | 238 |
| Edition | Year | Host City | Country | Events |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2014 | Ufa |  Russia |
