W.A.K.O. European Championships 2008 in Varna were the joint twenty European kickboxing championships held by the W.A.K.O. organization arranged by the Bulgarian kickboxing chief Boyan Kolev, with the second event to be held the next month in Oporto, Portugal. It was the second W.A.K.O. event to be held in Varna and Bulgaria (the last was in 1992) and involved around 500 amateur men and women from 35 countries across Europe. There were four styles on offer at Varna: Full-Contact and Semi-Contact kickboxing, Musical Forms and Aero-Kickboxing. Only one competitor per weight division were allowed to participate in the Full and Semi-Contact divisions and this also applied for Aero-Kickboxing (which had no weight divisions), while Musical Forms was allowed two maximum per country. The other styles (Low-Kick, K-1, Light-Contact) would be available at the later event in Portugal. The top nation by the end of the championships was Hungary, with regular leaders Russia in second and Ukraine in third. The event was held over four days at the Palace of Culture and Sports in Varna, Bulgaria, starting on Wednesday, 22 October and ending on Saturday, 25 October 2008. Full-Contact Full-Contact is a style of kickboxing where punches and kicks are allowed to be thrown by the participants at full force, with strikes below the waist prohibited. Most fights result in a judge’s decision or stoppage victory and as with most other forms of amateur kickboxing, head and various body protection must be worn. More information on Full-Contact and the rules can be found at the official W.A.K.O. website. The men had twelve weight divisions in Varga ranging from 51 kg/112.2 lbs to over 91 kg/+200.2 lbs while the women had seven ranging from 48 kg/105.6 lbs to over 70 kg/+143 lbs. Unlike previous W.A.K.O. championships there was not an influx of talent at the Varga event with only several repeat winners such as Alexey Tokarev, having won gold at the world championships in Coimbra the previous year, and Serhiy Cherkaskyy and Hamza Kendircioğlu, having won gold medals at the Europeans in Lisbon two years before. Russia were the strongest nation in the style, pipping neighbours Ukraine into first place by virtue of having won five golds, two silvers and two bronze. Men's Full-Contact Kickboxing Medals Table Women's Full-Contact Kickboxing Medals Table Semi-Contact Semi-Contact is the least physical of the contact kickboxing styles available at W.A.K.O. events. It involves the participants throwing