Kickboxing Equipment

The WAKO Board of directors and WAKO Technical Committee approves all safety equipment produced by the sertified producers, which will be used at all WAKO competitions and tournaments.

Kickboxer’s safety equipment

Personal safety equipment of the kickboxer is consisted of:

• Head guard, which is mandatory to be worn in all kickboxing disciplines except in Forms
• Face mask, mandatory in Point fighting discipline, in the categories of children and younger cadets as additional face protection.
• Elbow protection, only for Point fighting
• Mouth-guard, as the teeth protection, made from soft and pliable rubber-plastic or silicone material, for only the upper teeth or on both upper and lower teeth, is mandatory for all fighting disciplines, in all age categories.
• Gloves, in two types: for Point fighting with open palm which have weigh of 8 Oz (226 grams) and for all other fighting disciplines: Light contact, Kick light, Full contact, Low kick and K1 style, which have weight 10 Oz (283 grams).
• Hand and foot wraps (bandages) are used for wrapping the fist and the foot to avoid injuries
• Breast protection, mandatory for all female competitors in older cadets, junior and senior categories and is mandatory in all fighting disciplines, made from hard plastic and it can be in one piece and cover all the chest or in two pieces for insertion into bra to cover each breast individually.
• Groin protector, mandatory for all male and female competitors in all kickboxing disciplines (instead Forms), made of hard plastic material and fully covers genital organs to protect from injury
• Shin guards, made from hard foam-rubber material, in two types: for tatami disciplines and full contact, and for low kick and K1 Style
• Foot protection, mandatory for tatami disciplines and for full contact, which covers the upper part of the foot (instep), lateral and medial malleolus and heel – all in one piece – with open sole of the foot.
• Ankle support is optional in all disciplines, and is using for preventing ankle twisting, but is mandatory when foot wraps are used.

Kickboxer’s clothes

• Kickboxer clothes are uniforms, which are different for each kickboxing discipline.
• Kickboxer’s uniforms must be dry, clean, of appropriate size and in good repair.
• Uniforms must not have any hard solid parts (metal, wooden, plastic), built-in wires or other enhancers, clasps, patent shutter, buttons or built-in protection (protectors or pads).
• Uniforms for each discipline are described in WAKO rules and in the Equipment book.