World Kickboxing Association

In 1976, the WKA was founded by Howard Hanson in the United States and originally named World Karate Association. The organization was the first non-profit governing body to use an independently controlled rating list and the first to establish a world championship division for women and the first to include countries from Asia. The organization secured network broadcast in the US and Japan and became a major sanctioning body for professional karate. Early stars of the WKA included Benny Urquidez, Don "The Dragon" Wilson, Kevin Rosier and Graciela Casillas. According to martial arts author John Ritschel, "The WKA became successful by finding common ground between Western and Eastern full-contact fighting culture, thereby creating and defining a culture for the sport that improved the recognition of full-contact competitions." The WKA reported that it had had 52 of its events in televised syndication worldwide in 1981, compared to 48 events broadcast by rival federation PKA (the Professional Karate Association) that year. Although PKA and WKA tried to expand their promotional presence in Europe, their success was limited. In contrast to the U.S., the development of full-contact karate (kickboxing) in Europe has been more significantly influenced by nationalism and governmental interference than by the pursuit of television revenues. Nevertheless, by 1982, European organizations had sanctioned approximately 20% of all events worldwide. The WKA later developed on the European continent with Champions like Rob Kaman and Fred Royers. In 1991, Howard Hanson sold the WKA to Canadian Dale Floyd which was followed by a fade in the organization's North American activities, only having tournament champions such as Tony LoCoco. By 2011, the WKA had 129 offices worldwide and was the best known governing body among the rival federations in kickboxing. In 2013, it had 40 member nations. WKU split In 2012, the manager of the WKA split away to form World Kickboxing and Karate Union (WKU), sponsors such as KWON, which formerly supported the WKA, also moved to the WKU. Paul Ingram took the WKU too court in Germany winning several decisions to take ownership of the WKU name causing the WKU to become WKUWORLD/GCO. From 29 September 2012 WKA had new management: Michele Panfietti began serving as World President and Cristiano Radicchi began serving as General Secretary. From December 2016,the WKA headquarters was transferred back to Birmingham, England. A New ERA of the WKA In December 2018, Dave Sawyer, a martial artist and administrator based in New Zealand, became World President of the World Kickboxing and Karate Association (WKA). The organization accepted its first constitution on July 17, 2025. The World Kickboxing Association sanctions fights worldwide fought under the WKA ruleset. From October 31 to November 4, 2022, the organization is set host the 2022 WKA World Championships in North Wales. ==Ruleset==