The Jesolo Lido will play host to the WAKO Youth European Championship this week, as the best up-and-coming kickboxers on the continent go for gold in Italy from September 12-21.
The competition is a showcase of the very best rising talent across the full gamut of kickboxing disciplines, with as many as 2,500 athletes representing nations across Europe arriving at the Italian seaside town looking to test their mettle in their quest for gold.
RDX Sports sponsors WAKO Youth European Championship
RDX is proud to be a part of the action as Gold Sponsors of both the tournament and the Italian national team Federkombat, with the team having access to RDX Sports’ elite-level training and sparring equipment.
The sponsorships continue RDX Sports’ commitment to supporting world-class competitions and organisations that serve to showcase the best in combat sports and martial arts. RDX Sports previously sponsored the WAKO Italian World Cup tournament in 2024.
WAKO Kickboxing: Know your disciplines
WAKO kickboxing spans six different competition kickboxing disciplines, with three contested in a ring, and three taking place on a tatami (matted area).
Ring Disciplines
FULL CONTACT
Full Contact kickboxing allows competitors to throw strikes with full power, but under the organisation’s most restrictive ruleset.
Strikes must be targeted above the waist, with punches and kicks allowed. Knees, elbows, clinch fighting, and throws are forbidden.
LOW KICK
Low Kick sits one grade up from Full Contact, with more striking techniques permissible under the rules.
In addition to the techniques from Full Contact, competitors have a broader target area, with strikes to the thigh using the shin also permitted.
K-1
The most complete full-power kickboxing discipline available in WAKO competition, K-1 offers a comprehensive ruleset that tests the full gamut of kickboxing techniques.
K-1 is the only category of WAKO competition where knees are permitted, and the expanded ruleset also allows for limited clinch work, with athletes allowed to clinch for 5 seconds in order to land one knee or sweep.
In addition to the wider range of striking techniques allowed, K-1 also has a wider target area for those strikes, with full-power punches, kicks and knees allowed to the head, torso and legs.
Tatami Disciplines
POINT FIGHTING
Point Fighting is sometimes referred to as “semi-contact” kickboxing, with competitors aiming to rack up as many points as possible during the course of a bout.
Strikes must be targeted above the waist, with punches and kicks allowed. Knees, elbows, clinch fighting, and throws are forbidden.
The key differentiating factor in Point Fighting compared to Full Contact is that competitors are prohibited from throwing full-power shots.
LIGHT CONTACT
Light Contact sits one grade up from Point Fighting in terms of the techniques allowed.
In addition to the techniques from Point Fighting, competitors have a broader target area to work with, with strikes permitted above the waist and below the ankle/mid-calf area.
Like Point Fighting, and as its name suggests, full-power strikes are not permitted in Light Contact bouts.
KICK LIGHT
Kick Light sits another grade higher in the WAKO kickboxing ruleset hierarchy, with the same ruleset as Light Contact, but with a broader target area.
In addition to strikes above the waist and below the ankle/mid-calf area, competitors are also allowed to kick the thigh.
As with Light Contact and Point Fighting, elbows, knees, clinch fighting and throws are forbidden, and power strikes are not permitted.
WAKO Kickboxing: Building the next generation of elite strikers
WAKO kickboxing tournaments have been the proving ground for a plethora of world-class combat sports athletes, who have enjoyed success under the WAKO banner before achieving global success in kickboxing and mixed martial arts.
Here are just five examples of world-class WAKO medallists who went on to gain international stardom on the world stage.
Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson
A multi-time champion in Full Contact kickboxing, Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson captured the Full Contact cruiserweight gold medal at the 2005 WAKO World Championships in Szeged, Hungary, and defeated Latvia’s Mairis Breidis – who went on to become a three-time cruiserweight boxing world champion – in the semi-finals on his way to winning gold.
“Wonderboy” eventually swapped kickboxing for MMA, where his spectacular striking style and mastery of distance saw him become a huge fan-favourite in the UFC’s welterweight division, where he became a two-time title challenger.
Thompson, who trains youngsters alongside his father at their gym, Upstate Karate in Simpsonville, South Carolina, is still in the UFC and is currently the oldest active fighter on the UFC roster.
Michael “Venom” Page
Michael “Venom” Page captured the Semi-Contact (now referred to as Point Fighting) gold at 89kg the 2007 WAKO World Championships in Coimbra, and claimed silver in the 84kg Semi-Contact class two years later.
Page transitioned his flashy striking style to the cage and scored a viral knockout in his professional debut at UCMMA 26 in February 2012, and in the 13 years since he’s been bolstering his highlight reel with a plethora of jaw-dropping knockouts.
Now a dual threat in the UFC, where he operates in the welterweight and middleweight divisions, the charismatic “MVP” remains one of the most dangerous, and tricky, athletes in the world, and a legitimate threat to the best in the world in both weight classes.
Alex Pereira
He’s one of the biggest stars in the UFC in 2025, but before he reached superstardom in the Octagon, Alex Pereira cut his teeth in kickboxing, where he would capture world titles in a host of organisations.
In WAKO competition, “Poatan” captured K-1 world championship silver at 91kg in 2013, and captured
WAKO 91kg K-1 silver at the 2013 World Championships, and took gold in the 2013 WAKO Pro Panamerican K-1 championships at 85kg.
He went on to capture world championships at middleweight and light heavyweight for professional kickboxing organisation GLORY before moving into MMA full-time and eventually becoming a two-weight world champion in the UFC, at middleweight and light heavyweight.
Dricus Du Plessis
He may be known as a heavy-handed cardio machine in the UFC, but before former UFC middleweight champion Dricus Du Plessis became a household name in the Octagon, he was a junior world champion under the WAKO banner.
South Africa’s Du Plessis competed in the 2012 WAKO Junior World Championships in Bratislava, where he claimed K-1 gold in the 86kg category.
The following year, he switched to mixed martial arts, and captured the welterweight and middleweight titles for leading South African promotion EFC and the welterweight title for Polish organisation KSW before moving to the UFC, where he became the undisputed UFC middleweight champion.
Cedric Doumbe
French striking sensation Cedric Doumbe has consistently backed up his fighting moniker of “The Best” by capturing a host of kickboxing world titles across multiple categories.
In 2016, Doumbe won the WAKO Pro K-1 world middleweight championship, and eventually went on to become the GLORY welterweight world champion.
Doumbe then decided to take his elite striking skills into mixed martial arts, and after reeling off four straight wins, he signed with the PFL, where his star power has made him must-see TV whenever he competes.
The 2025 WAKO Youth European Kickboxing Championship takes place in Jesolo, Venice, from September 12-31. For more information, check out WAKO.sport.
