Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, September 9, 2023: The Asian Kickboxing Confederation celebrated Asian Kickboxing Day on September 9 by sending a congratulatory message to all its members and the entire Asian kickboxing community.
Kickboxing was first recognised by the Olympic Council of Asia during the 24th OCA General Assembly in Guangzhou, China on September 9, 2005, and the Asian Kickboxing Confederation is the governing body of the sport in the continent.
Kickboxing has appeared in the Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games and also in the South East Asian Games, among others.
President Nasser Nassiri said: “We consider the recognition of kickboxing by OCA on 9 September 2005 as a great achievement and a significant milestone on the road to developing kickboxing on the international sports stage.
“This official recognition by OCA brought significant credibility to national kickboxing federations in Asia and in other continents.
“It is obvious that, without this recognition, kickboxing would be completely different and would surely not have been able to occupy the same place among the official sports that it currently occupies.”
President Nassiri added: “In honouring these achievements, the Board of Directors of Asian Kickboxing Confederation during its meeting of 27 September 2019 unanimously decided to assign the day of September 9 as Asian Kickboxing Day, which is celebrated by our members with different programmes.”