Joe Corley, Chief Executive Officer of Professional Kickboxing Association (PKA) Worldwide Discusses the Return of the Promotion.
Karate legend and the man who brought professional kickboxing to the United States, Joe Corley, Chief Executive Officer of PKA Worldwide discusses the return of the promotion’s resurgence.
(L-R) Kickboxing legend Jeff Smith, Ulrika Ericsson, Joe Corley, Gena Norris, Jimmy Anderson, Chuck Norris and Aaron Norris at the United Fighting Arts Federation.
PKA, originally known as Professional Karate Association has returned as Professional Kickboxing Association, as the foundation for all striking arts within the North America.
For those unfamiliar with Joe Corley by name, Corley is responsible legendary line-ups of combat sports veterans, event promoters and entrepreneurs, who led professional kickboxing to historic heights more than 40 years ago and set the stage for the spectacular growth of mixed martial arts, have joined forces to revive and reintroduce the sport of professional kickboxing.
Corley, often referred to by some as the founding father of modern-day MMA, first introduced the sport of professional kickboxing to the U.S. sports public nearly 50 years ago. His six-decade career in the sport has seen him evolve from a champion points fighter to a professional kickboxer, and then to Co-Owner of the PKA where he produced and commentated upon more than 1,000 hours of championship bouts on leading cable and broadcast networks that included ESPN, ABC and CBS.
According to Corley, the PKA mantra is simple — Punch … Kick … Repeat.
What made PKA unique was its rule set, which does not allow leg kicks, knees or elbows. Making all strikes above the waist like traditional Western Boxing and French Savate. The three primary reasons for all strikes needing to be above the waist is to allow the fighters to have far longer careers, experience less physical problems in their older years and most importantly, make it more entertaining for the fans in the fanciful strikes, especially with the spinning heel kicks.
(L-R) are Jeff Smith, Joe Corley, Tommy Bottone, Dan Stell, Jim Thomas, Chris Algieri, Jamie Cashion and Darrell Henegen
The difference between the PKA of the 1970s, ’80s and ’90s is that instead of a boxing ring, the fights will be set in a steel cage. Corley acknowledges that most young fight fans are only familiar with the UFC and various other MMA organizations and switching to that type of display will not only bring in the casual fans, but allow the strikers to move around the cage more smoothly than they would if caught in a 90 degree angle corner in a traditional boxing ring, known as the PKA Striker Cage.
PKA has begun a national and international search to identify and sign the greatest strikers on the planet. PKA will finally give the millions of strikers trained in kickboxing and other martial arts their own platform to fight. As a result, kickboxers who have had to compete in hybrid versions of their skillset will now have a sport of their own to exclusively showcase their punching and kicking skills on the sport’s biggest stage.
We actually have our next Striker Search scheduled for August 27, 2022, in Fort Worth, Texas. The search then continues in San Diego on September 24, 2022. To register — https://www.pkaworldwide.com/
Visit PKA’s official website at www.pkaworldwide.com. Follow PKA on Twitter @PKA_Worldwide and Instagram @pka_worldwide.
