WKA USA’s annual tournament and
evolution
The World
Kickboxing Association is one of the world's oldest and
most recognized governing bodies for various forms of
kickboxing worldwide.
In 1998,
the WKA appointed Edgerton ’’Edge“ Brown, former WKA
world-ranked fighter as the WKA US Representative for
the Professional Ring Sports Division. Brown, a former
student and fighter in England with Master Toddy, moved
to the US and began once again sanctioning kickboxing in
the United States. In 2001, Brown recruited former PKA
and WKA fighter, Brian Crenshaw, to set up the first WKA
US Amateur National Championships and Team Trials, which
included Muay Thai and Kickboxing (Low Kick). Finalists
from the event comprised the first US Team, which
traveled to Vienna, Austria (August 21-26th) and
competed with eighty-three countries and a total of 2500
competitors, between ring and mat sports. Team USA,
coached by Brian Crenshaw and Mike Moses, captured four
gold medals, three silver medals, and three bronze
medals. During these World Championships, at a meeting
of the WKA’s country representatives, Brian Crenshaw was
appointed WKA US Representative for the Amateur Ring
Sports division. On February 7, 2003, the General
Council for the New York State Athletic Commission
granted the WKA authorization to sanction martial
arts/kickboxing events in the state of New York as
prescribed under Section 8905-a of the Unconsolidated
Laws of New York. This was an important breakthrough
for the kickboxing community, as such events had been
outlawed for several years preceding this ruling. Also
in 2003, Full Contact (kicks above the waist) was added
as a division of the US Amateur National tournament. In
2004, Brown resigned his position to Brian Crenshaw, who
became the US representative for both Professional and
Amateur Ring Sports. Also in 2004, the WKA Home Office
in the UK allowed WKA USA to “officially” sanction Mixed
Martial Arts (MMA) events. Since 2001, WKA USA has
successfully sent US Teams to Austria, Italy, Belgium,
Switzerland, Canada, Spain, and Germany to compete in
the WKA World Championships. The WKA USA has also
sanctioned many world titles on home ground in the US,
as well as sending US fighter worldwide to vie for
various intercontinental and world title matches. WKA
USA saw several breakthroughs in 2005, when the US
Amateur National Championships introduced two levels of
competition to their annual event. Competitors were
separated into the novice class and the open class in
order to make the tournament more competitive. The
novice class includes competitors with three wins or
fewer, and the open class includes those with more than
three wins. Second, the sports of MMA (mixed martial
arts), Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, and No Gi Grappling were
added into the tournament. In 2006, the WKA USA
National Championships and Team Trials were expanded
into the WKA North American Combat Sports Championships
and opened the competition to other countries.
Beginning in 2008, the North Americans began featuring a
cage for all mixed martial arts matches and left the
ring for the Muay Thai bouts. The North American
Championships consistently feature top amateur fighters
from around the world, rivaling its sister competition,
the European Championships.
View WKA USA Nationals/North Americans/Worlds News | View Archived News
