In America in the 1960s, karate contests were won on points. A fighter landed a controlled technique, the referee stopped them, and the judges gave a point. Nobody was hit hard. 1,6
Joe Lewis was a champion at that kind of karate. He wanted something different: contests that could be won by a knockout. 1,9,40 His first kickboxing fight, against Greg Baines, was in 1970. 1,9,40
Los Angeles, 1974
In 1974 the first world championships of were held in Los Angeles. 1,5,40,54 The first four champions were Isaias Duenas, Bill Wallace, Jeff Smith and Joe Lewis. 5,40,54
The PKA became the biggest professional kickboxing group of the 1970s, in America, in Britain and in much of Europe. 5
The rules
American full contact had one big rule: you could punch and kick above the waist only. 1 There was another rule too. Fighters had to throw a certain number of kicks every round, so they did not just box. 5,41
The kick to the leg
In October 1976 Howard Hanson founded the World Karate Association, the . 4,58 Its rules let fighters kick the outside of the thigh. Its own history says why: fighters from Asia would not fight without that kick. 1,58 Its first event was in Los Angeles on 12 March 1977. 4,58
That kick is called the . 1,41
Later the PKA faded, and a new group called ISKA took its place in 1986. 3,54 By then people in Europe were watching, and one of them was about to call a meeting.