South Korea to Host Major International Martial Arts Competition in September

An international martial arts competition will take place in central South Korea early next month, bringing together some 2,000 fighters and officials from across the world.

The inaugural World Martial Arts Masterships, with a total of 173 gold medals up for grabs, will be staged from 2-8 September in the city of Cheongju, some 130 kilometers south of Seoul, in North Chungcheong Province.

The event will offer programs in 17 non-Western martial arts, including taekwondo, wushu, judo, kendo, muaythai and kickboxing.

Aaccording to the organizers, 1,993 athletes and officials from 87 countries have already signed up for the event, with a total of 1,454 matches to be held.

A World Martial Arts Masterships Committee (WMC) will be established to help manage the competition and build the legitimacy of the event by cooperating with international organizations.

The 30-member WMC will also closely work with the International Centre of Martial Arts for Youth Development and Engagement (ICM) in running the competition and naming future host countries. The ICM is based in Cheongju.

WMC members include former Honduras President Porfirio Lobo Sosa , Sakchye Tapsuwan, president of the International Federation of Muaythai Amateur and Vasily Shestakov , president of the International SAMBO Federation (FIAS).

The organizers are planning to host the second edition of WoMAM in 2018 or 2019, and are mulling a plan to switch the event to odd years starting in 2021 and holding it overseas from the third edition. Chungju, another North Chungcheong Province city some 60 km north of Cheongju, will likely be the host of the second WoMAM. 

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