Professional Karate Association
| Company type | Martial Arts Organization |
|---|---|
| Industry | Karate & Kickboxing |
| Founded | 1974 |
| Founder | Don Quine, Judy Quine, Mike Anderson, Mike Haig (UK) |
| Headquarters | United States |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people | Don Quine, Judy Quine, Joe Corley, Jeff Smith, Bill Wallace, Joe Lewis, Rich Rose, Howard Dolgon, Jerry Piddington |
| Services | Organization of karate and kickboxing professionals and promoters |
| Owner | Joe Corley |
| Website | PKA Worldwide Website |
The Professional Karate Association (PKA), later Professional Karate & Kickboxing Association, and now effective from March 1, 2022 PKA Worldwide was originally a martial arts sanctioning organization, now transformed into a martial arts promotion company.
Through the 1970s, the PKA was the largest and most successful professional kickboxing organization in the United States and in the UK and much of Europe, featuring such fighters as Bill "Superfoot" Wallace, Joe Lewis, Benny "the Jet" Urquidez, The Iceman Jean-Yves Thériault, Dennis "the Terminator" Alexio, Rick "the Jet" Roufus, Jerry Trimble and Jeff Smith.
The original design of the PKA logo is a silhouette of Bill "Superfoot" Wallace performing a roundhouse kick.
The PKA introduced Kickboxing to the world when it originated in the 1970s and was brought to prominence in September 1974, when the Professional Karate Association (PKA) held the first World Championships. American Kickboxing was first known as Full Contact Karate before becoming known or referred to as Kickboxing as it amalgamates Karate & Boxing and aspects of various other Martial Arts into one sport. The pro full-contact version of karate is akin to boxing in that the fighters wear boxing gloves within a roped ring. Its resemblance to pure karate is that the fighters wear pads on their feet and must deliver a minimum of eight above-the-waist kicks in each two-minute round.