W.A.K.O. European Championships 1977

W.A.K.O. European Championships 1977 were the first ever W.A.K.O. European kickboxing championships introduced by the pioneer of German Karate Georg Brueckner[1] and the first ever event hosted by the W.A.K.O. organization – then known as the W.M.A.A. (World of Mixed Martial Arts Association) who itself had only just recently been founded in 1976.[2] There had actually been an amateur kickboxing European championships held a year previously but this event was not officially recognized by any federation.[3] The W.A.K.O. championships were open to amateur men based in Europe only and all bouts were fought under Full-Contact kickboxing rules, with each country allowed more than one competitor in each weight category. By the end of the championships the Netherlands were the most successful nation, with West Germany second, and Norway a distant third - more detail on the winners and medal tables can be found in the sections below. The event was held in 1977 in Vienna, Austria.

W.A.K.O. European Championships 1977
The poster for W.A.K.O. European Championships 1977.
Information
PromotionW.A.K.O.
Date1977
City Vienna, Austria
Event chronology
W.A.K.O. European Championships 1977 W.A.K.O. European Championships 1978

Men's Full-Contact Kickboxing

The first European championships were sparse when compared with the present day version, hosting only one style – Full-Contact kickboxing – for men only. In terms of weight categories there were seven weight divisions ranging from 57 kg/125.4 lbs to over 84 kg/+184.8 lbs. More detail on Full-Contact's rules-set can be found at the W.A.K.O. website, although be aware that the rules have changed since 1977.[4] The medal winners of each division are shown below.[5]

Men's Full-Contact Kickboxing Medals Table
Event Gold Silver Bronze
-57 kg Max Mankowitz Ali Pehlivan Jérome Canabate
-63 kg Hansi Jaensch Martin Giesselmann Ivan Menes
-69 kg Ron Kuyt Kemal Zeriat Jorg Schmidt
-74 kg Peter Harbrecht Serge Metz Aalstede
-79 kg H. Rompa Bert de Frel J. Schepers
-84 kg Gerad Bakker Maurice Moore Vittorio Caselli
+84 kg Jan de Graf Kunibert Back Gianni Rugliancic

Overall medals standing (top 5)

The Netherlands was the most dominant nation at the 1977 W.A.K.O. European Championships picking up four gold, two silver and three bronze medals.[6]

Ranking Country Gold Silver Bronze
1 Netherlands 4 2 3
2 West Germany 2 5 1
3 Norway 1 0 0
4 Italy 0 0 2
5 Switzerland 0 0 1
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See also

References
  1. "George Bruckner - . : WAKO World Association of Kickboxing ..." www.wakoweb.com. Retrieved 2011-03-30.
  2. "PKA, WAKO, WKA and other associations". karate-in-english-lewis-wallace.blogspot.com. Retrieved 2011-03-30.
  3. "First European WAKO championships in 1977 1978 and 1979". karate-in-english-lewis-wallace.blogspot.com. Retrieved 2011-03-30.
  4. "WAKO Full contact Rules" (PDF). www.wakoweb.com. Retrieved 2011-03-19.
  5. "1st WAKO EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS (Medals Standing)" (PDF). www.wakoweb.com. Retrieved 2011-03-30.
  6. "1st WAKO EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS (Medals Standing)" (PDF). www.wakoweb.com. Retrieved 2011-03-30.
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