First European WAKO championships in 1977 1978 and 1979

Introduction :

The so-called 1976 European Championships Full-Contact, were organized by Georg Bruckner in Gelsenkirchen, see article below "Development of Full-Contact in Europe". They were a selection for the USA vs Europe meeting in Paris and were not recognized by any federation. The WAKO was created only in 1977.

The first European Championships, reserved for amateurs, are an integral part of the WAKO history. The purpose of this article is to detail them and also the various tournaments, which preceded them.

For the WAKO history, please refer to the article "PKA, WAKO, WKA and other federations".

The first European Cup takes place in Rotterdam/Netherlands, around April or May 1977. These partial results are listed in the German Top Ten Karate, published at an unknown date.

For the middleweights final, George Metz/Netherlands is opposed to Slobodan Soboda/Yugoslavia. For the light-heavyweights final, Gerard Bakker/Netherlands is opposed to Lip Van de Meer/Netherlands.

Metz (left) against Soboda

Van de Meer (left) against Bakker

Jorg Schmidt/West Germany (present at Gelsenkirchen and Paris in 1976, see the article cited above) should give up before the final and wins the second place. Hansi Jaensch/West Germany loses against Ivan Menes/Netherlands, in the final for the lightweights. In the flyweights, Lan-Ung Kim/West Germany (present at Gelsenkirchen and Paris in 1976, see the article cited above) loses in the final against the Norwegian Max Mankowitz.

The Dutch dominated the tournament. They are more routine, via their kick-boxing tradition.

The 1st European Championships :

They are organized in 1977 in Vienna/Austria by Georg Bruckner. The results are as follows:

84 + kg:
1) Jan Graf (Netherlands)
2) Kunibert Back (West Germany)
3) Gianni Rugliancic (Italy)

Kunibert Back's career is mentioned in the article "Development of Full-Contact in Europe". Kunibert Back, as Dieter Herdel, Jorg Schmidt and Lan-Ung Kim, has fought against the best professionals in the 1976 tournament USA vs. Europe. They are now present in this amateur competition. It proves an interpenetration of professionals and amateurs at this time.

-84 Kg:
1) Gerad Bakker (Netherlands)
2) Maurice Moore (West Germany)
3) Vittorio Caselli (Italy)

-79 Kg:
1) H. Rompa (Netherlands)
2) Bert de Frel (Netherlands)
3) J. Schepers (Netherlands)

-74 Kg:
1) Peter Harbrecht (West Germany)
2) Serge Metz (Netherlands)
3) Aalstede (Netherlands)

-69 Kg:
1) Ron Kuyt (Netherlands)
2) Kemal Zeriat (West Germany)
3) Jorg Schmidt (West Germany)

-63 Kg:
1) Hansi Jaensch (West Germany)
2) Martin Giesselmann (West Germany)
3) Ivan Menes (Netherlands)

Ivan Menes, right, during the Cup in Basel

-57 Kg:
1) Max Mankowitz (Norway)
2) Ali Pehlivan (West Germany)
3) Jerome Canabate (Switzerland)

Teams competition. The Netherlands are first, West Germany second and Norway third.

According to the German Karate newspaper, published at an unknown date, the 2nd European Cup is held in October 1977 in Vienna/Austria. During the preliminary fights, J. Schepers is disqualified against Daryl Tyler. The latter has to leave the tournament in the future. For the flyweights, the German Ali Phelivan beats the Norwegian Max Mankowitz on points. In the lightweights, the German Hans Jaensch beats the Dutch R. Harinck, on points.

In the lightweights, the German Kemal Zeriat beats Alfred Blum via retirement during the 2nd round. During the preliminary fights, Kemal Zeriat beats Ron Kuyt/Netherlands. Zeriat had already lost twice before, against Kyut. The Germans dominate the tournament.

The 2nd European Championships :

They are organized in May 1978, at Wolfsburg/Est Germany, possibly by Georg Bruckner. The results were as follows:

87 + kg:
1) Tom Rissmann (West Germany)
2) Milan Rokvic (Yugoslavia)
3) Manfred Vogt (West Germany)

-87 Kg:
1) Maurice Moore (West Germany)
2) Flavio Galessi (Italy)
3) Gianni Rugliancic (Italy)

-79 Kg:
1) Daryl Tyler (West Germany)
2) Dieter Herdel (West Germany) (present at Gelsenkirchen and Paris in 1976, see the article cited above)
3) Bernd Eggert (West Germany)

-74 Kg:
1) Peter Harbrecht (West Germany)
2) Klaus Lutze (West Germany)
3) Slobodan Sobota (Yugoslavia)

-69 Kg:
1) Omar Salhi (Norway)
2) Javier Muniz (Netherlands)
3) Tone Spiljak (Yugoslavia)

-63 Kg:
1) Ivan Menes (Netherlands)
2) Rafiq Jamali (West Germany)
3) Gunter Dienstl (Austria)

-57 Kg:
1) Ali Pehlivan (West Germany)
2) Constantinos Goris (West Germany)
3) Johnny Canabate (Switzerland)

Teams competition. West Germany beats the Netherlands and Yugoslavia.

A semi-contact Tournament is also organized during these European Championships.

For the first World Championships in Berlin, organized in November 1978, see the article "The first WAKO World Championships".

The 3rd European Cup takes place in Basel, on 9th December, 1978, a month after the Berlin WC. The French Karate newspaper, published at an unknown date, mentions this tournament, deploring the fights low level. This newspaper also states that some fighters are wearing a head protection. That would have been forbidden by the rules.

Poster of the Cup, in 1978, Basel

The winners of their category are Johnny Canabate - 57 kg (Switzerland), Ivan Menes in - 63 kg (Netherlands), Zenaf in - 69 kg (France) - 73 kg Sobota (Yugoslavia), Jean-Marc Tonus - 79 kg (Switzerland), Flavio Galessi - 84 kg (Italy) and Jean-Luc Widehem + 84 kg (France). Jean-Luc Widehem beats Manfred Vogt in the semi-finals.

Zenaf (right)

3rd European Championships :

They are organized in 1979 in Milan/Italy by Ennio Falsoni. The results were as follows:

84 + kg:
1) Tom Rissman (West Germany)
2) Manfred Vogt (West Germany)
3) Rigo Maurizio (Italy)

Manfred Vogt (right) against Ehmann

-84 Kg:
1) Branko Zgaljardic (Yugoslavia)
2) Flavio Galessi (Italy)
3) Hovelsrud (Norway)

Flavio Galessi (right) at the Basel Cup

-79 Kg:
1) Branko Cikatić (Yugoslavia)
2) Jean-Marc Tonus (Switzerland)
3) Roufs (Netherlands)

-74 Kg:
1) Peter Harbrecht (West Germany)
2) Erling (Norway)
3) A. Tommei (Switzerland)

-69 Kg:
1) Mack Ferdinand (West Germany)
2) Kemal Zeriat (West Germany)
3) Colapietro (Belgium)

-63 Kg:
1) Klaus Friedhaber (West Germany)
2) Jimmie Barletta (Belgium)
3) Jorg Leuk-Emden (West Germany)

-57 Kg:
1) Jerome Canabate (Italy)
2) Boffa (Switzerland)
3) Johnny Canabate (Italy)

The Canabate brothers fought previously for Switzerland.

Teams competition. West Germany beats Yugoslavia and Italy.

A semi-contact tournament is also organized during these European Championships.

In autumn 1979, the 2nd WC is organized in Florida, see article "The first WAKO World Championships".

Where are they now ?

Galessi, Herdel, Tonus, Haller, Tyler and Cikatic are mentioned in the article "The first WAKO World Championships".

Conclusions :

The European Cups and Championships allowed European fighters to improve their abilities. The difference between the Americans and the Europeans was obvious at Los Angeles in 1974 and Paris in 1976.

This progress will appear during the 1979 World Championships in Florida, with the lack of success for the American team.