W.A.K.O. World Championships 1985 (London)

W.A.K.O. World Championships 1985 London were the joint fifth world kickboxing championships hosted by the W.A.K.O. organization arranged by British karate master Joe Johal – who had been made W.A.K.O. president earlier that year. The organization was facing some turmoil at the time with it splitting into two separate factions due to political differences which meant there were two separate world championships being held – with an event in Budapest that very same weekend. These political differences would, however, be resolved the following year and the organization would come back together. It was the second world championships to be held in the city of London and third overall (the Europeans had been held in 1980, the worlds in 1983).

The event was open to amateur men, and for the first time ever, women were allowed to compete (as they would in Budapest event also). The men had three categories, Full-Contact, Semi-Contact and the newly introduced Musical Forms (which had been unofficially part of the W.A.K.O. World Championships 1981). In contrast, the women had just the one category; Semi-Contact. Each country had one competitor per weight division in men's Full-Contact and Semi-Contact, although some competitors in the men's events competed in two different categories, while the women's Semi-Contact and men's Musical Forms categories were allowed more than one participant per country due to limited numbers. By the end of the championships, the top nation were West Germany, narrowly shading the USA by virtue of an extra silver, with host nation Great Britain behind in third. The event was held at the Wembley Centre in London, England, UK, on Saturday, 2 November 1985.