Editing Kickboxing (section)

=== North America ===
{{Further|Full contact karate#American}}
[[Image:Kickboxing right hook landing.jpg|thumb|250px|Hook-punch]]

[[Count Dante]], Ray Scarica and [[Maung Gyi]] held the [[United States]]' earliest
cross-style full-contact style martial arts tournaments as early as 1962.
Between 1970 and 1973 a handful of kickboxing promotions were staged across the US. The first recognized bout of this kind occurred on January 17, 1970, and came about when Joe Lewis, a Shorin Ryu stylist who had also studied [[Jeet Kune Do]] with the legendary [[Bruce Lee]], and noted champion in the Karate tournament circuit, grew disillusioned with the point-sparring format and sought to create an event that would allow martial artists to fight to the knock out. Enlisting the help of promoter Lee Faulkner,<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.worldwidedojo.com/sport-based/lewis-joe/ |title=Lewis, Joe |publisher=World Wide Dojo |access-date=2016-09-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160923115343/http://www.worldwidedojo.com/sport-based/lewis-joe/ |archive-date=2016-09-23 |url-status=dead }}</ref> training in boxing and combining the techniques of boxing and Karate for the first time in America, Lewis arranged the bout to be held at the 1st Pro Team Karate Championships. Lewis faced Kenpo stylist Greg "Om" Baines,<ref name="starsystemkickboxing.net">{{cite web |url=http://www.starsystemkickboxing.net/Pages/JoeLewis.aspx |title=Joe Lewis |access-date=2016-08-08 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160716152336/http://www.starsystemkickboxing.net/Pages/JoeLewis.aspx |archive-date=2016-07-16 }}</ref> who had defeated two opponents in years pasts. Lewis won the fight by knockout in the second round. The event was advertised as "Full contact" but the announcers referred to it as Kickboxing, and rules included knees, elbows and sweeps.<ref name="starsystemkickboxing.net"/> Lewis would defend his U.S. Heavyweight champion title 10 times, remaining undefeated until he came back from his retirement. In the early days, the rules were never clear; one of the first tournaments had no weight divisions, and all the competitors fought off until one was left. During this early time, kickboxing and [[full contact karate]] are essentially the same sport.

The institutional separation of American full-contact karate from kickboxing occurred with the formation of the [[Professional Karate Association|Professional Karate Association (PKA)]] in 1974 and of the [[World Kickboxing Association|World Kickboxing Association (WKA)]] in 1976.
They were the first organised body of martial arts on a global scale to sanction fights, create ranking systems, and institute a development programme.

The [[International Kickboxing Federation|International Kickboxing Federation (IKF)]] and the [[International Sport Kickboxing Association|International Sport Kickboxing Association (ISKA)]] have been the only organizations to have thrived in the modern era.

The [[International Kickboxing Federation|International Kickboxing Federation (IKF)]] was founded in 1992 by Steve Fossum and Dan Stell. Stell eventually stepped down to go back to fighting while Fossum continued with the organization. In 1999 Fossum and Joe Taylor of Ringside Products created the first amateur open North American tournament for Kickboxing and Muay Thai, now the IKF World Classic.

After ending its venture with K-1 in 2006, ISKA co-operated the [[World Combat League]] with [[Chuck Norris]], and [[Strikeforce (mixed martial arts)|Strikeforce]] MMA in partnership with Silicon Valley Entertainment (SVE), an investor group who also own the San Jose Sharks. Norris passed the WCL to his son-in-law Damien Diciolli in 2007, and it has since become inactive. Strikeforce MMA was sold to UFC in 2011.

The ISKA expanded into sport (tournament) martial arts about 15 years ago,{{When|date=November 2014}} and is a co-operator along with WAKO and Global Marketing Ventures (GMV) in the global Open World Tour (OWT) the first worldwide pro circuit of sport karate professional competitors. It sanctions and assists in the annual US Open & ISKA World Championships that anchors the OWT and the North American-based NASKA Tour. The US Open & ISKA World Championships is broadcast live on ESPN2 and ESPN3 each year.

Other kickboxing sanctioning bodies include [[World Association of Kickboxing Organizations]] (primarily amateurs) and KICK International.