Serbian Kickboxing Federation

Kickboxing Federation of Serbia is a branch sports federation responsible for the sport of Kickboxing in the Republic of Serbia.

The Kickboxing Association of Serbia unites kickboxing clubs and related sports organizations registered in accordance with the Law, which in their founding act (Statute) have Kickboxing as their activity.

The Kickboxing Federation of Serbia is a member of the Sports Federation of Serbia and is in the second group of sports.

The Kickboxing Association of Serbia is a member of the World Association of Kickboxing Organizations, as well as a member of the European organization WAKO Europe and WAKO Balkans.

Competitors of the Kickboxing Federation of Serbia who want to try out in the professional league, participate exclusively in events organized by the WAKO PRO organization with which the Kickboxing Federation of Serbia has signed a cooperation agreement.

Historical review

The Kickboxing Association of Serbia first operated within the Yugoslav Kickboxing Association YUKICK. The Yugoslav Kickboxing Association was an organization that was founded on December 20, 1988 in Rijeka (Croatia) and operated on the territory of the entire former Yugoslavia. Although the country in which he operated changed (Yugoslavia, FR Yugoslavia, Serbia and Montenegro-SCG), YUKICK did not change its name and activity.

The first president of YUKICK was Hari Đurović (Croatia) and in 1992 Dr. Borislav Pelević was elected President, who remained at its helm until its termination, when the state union of Serbia and Montenegro (SCG) was abolished. 2005.

The Serbian Kickboxing Association was founded on December 24, 1991 under the name “Association of Kick Boxing Clubs of Serbia”. The re-registration of the Association was done when the Federation changes its name to “Kickboxing Association of Serbia”.

In the period from its establishment until 2005, the Association of Kickboxing Clubs of Serbia operated within the umbrella organization YUKICK, together with the Kickboxing Association of Montenegro.

The first president of the Association of Kickboxing Clubs of Serbia from 1991-1998 was Božidar Tadić from Zemun.

The next president of the Kickboxing Association of Serbia from 1998-2004 was Siniša Janković from Ćuprija.

With the closure of the state union of Serbia and Montenegro in 2005, the activities of the YUKICK organization ceased and then the Kickboxing Association of Serbia continued its activities independently.

Dr. Borislav Pelević was elected the president of the Kickboxing Association of Serbia at that time, and he was in that position until May 2018.

Dr. Borislav Pelević was later elected president of the world WAKO organization for a term of four years (2015-2019) and worked as a university professor of Management in Sports.

At the election assembly held in September 2018, Srdjan Bugarcic from Belgrade was elected the new president.

During the extraordinary assembly on 6th March 2021, Miodrag Jotic was elected as the new president for the mandate 2021-2025.

Organization

Within the Kickboxing Association of Serbia, the clubs are territorially united in the Kickboxing Association of Vojvodina, the Kickboxing Association of Belgrade and the Kickboxing Association of Central Serbia. The Kickboxing Association of Serbia unites their work through the established policy of development of Kickboxing on the territory of the Republic of Serbia. On the territory of Serbia, there are more than 90 registered kickboxing clubs that are members of the Kickboxing Association of Serbia and participate in the competition system of the Kickboxing Association of Serbia. The number of clubs is changing, some are closing and new ones are opening.

Kickboxing is officially the most trophy-winning non-Olympic sport in the Republic of Serbia.

The Kickboxing Federation of Serbia has so far successfully organized a large number of international championships, the most important of which is certainly the European Championship in 1996, three World Championships for seniors (2001 and 2007 and 2015), as well as the World Championship for cadets and juniors (2010). ). In addition to these Championships, the Kickboxing Association of Serbia every year organizes the European Cup called “Serbia Open” in the discipline K1 Style, Kick Light and Point fighting as well as the prestigious tournament “Golden Kick Boxer” which is held at the end of each calendar year and is the crown of previous year.

The pioneers of kickboxing in Yugoslavia and Serbia were Miodrag Jotic, competitor, long-term selector, coach and sports director, Neven Dondur, long-term coach and selector, Nebojsa Milosevic, long-term coach and selector, and Borislav Pelevic, long-term president of KBSS. By attending kickboxing seminars across Europe, studying at the National Institute of Sport in Paris INSEP and participating in kickboxing competitions organized across Europe, they acquired the first knowledge about kickboxing and passed it on to practitioners in Serbia. Their contribution to the creation of this sport in Serbia is huge.

By joining the World Kickboxing Organizations (WAKO), the Kickboxing Association of Serbia realizes the right to participate in world multi-sport championships where sport kickboxing participates within the world WAKO organization.

  • Membership in TWG The World Games (formerly IWGA: International World Games Association), has enabled kickboxing to be one of 37 sports at the planetary sporting event The World Games. It is held every 4 years and as a counterpart to the Olympics, it brings together recognized sports that are not yet on the Olympic program. Kickboxing is presented with the K1 style discipline.
  • Membership in FISU (International University Sport Federation) has enabled kickboxing to participate in world University Championships every 4 years.
  • Membership in the EUSA (European University Sport Association) has enabled kickboxing to participate in the European University Championship every other year, where kickboxing students make up University teams rather than national teams. Kickboxing participates in the disciplines Point Fighting, Kick Light, Full Contact and K1 style.
  • EUSA membership also provides the opportunity to participate in kickboxing every two years at the EUSA Combat Games, a university martial arts championship (Karate, Judo, Kickboxing). Kickboxing is also presented here with the disciplines Light contact, Point fighting and K1 style.
  • Membership in the GAISF (Global Association of International Sport Federations) has enabled kickboxing to be one of the 15 martial arts participating in the World Combat Games in the maintenance cycle every 4 years. This is where kickboxing is presented with the Full contact discipline.

The World and Continental Senior Championships are qualifying tournaments for these championships.

During the General Assembly of International Olympic Committee held in Tokyo 20th July,  the sport of Kickboxing has been accepted with full recognition under the auspices of the World Governing Body, WAKO (World Association of Kickboxing Organizations). Then a long journey finally came to an end. Since 30th November 2018 when WAKO has been provisionally recognized by the IOC, kickboxing is now fully incorporated within the Olympic family of sports.

Sport Kickboxing has 7 competitive disciplines.

Some take place on the tatami and some in the ring.

The tatami is an open arena (without ropes), which has its edges that determine the place where the fight takes place, while the kickboxing ring is identical to the boxing ring.

Throughout history, the disciplines have changed their names in order to better define the differences between them, so that today the disciplines of kickboxing are called:

  • Low Kick
  • Full Contact
  • K1 Style
  • Kick Light
  • Point Fighting
  • Light Contact
  • Musical Forms

The first three disciplines take place in the ring (Low Kick, Full Contact and K1 style) while the other four take place on the tatami (Kick Light, Point Fighting, Light Contact, Music Forms).