World Martial Arts Masterships Committee (WMC, President Si-Jong LEE) has announced to host the annual WMC Convention 2021 (www.wmc-convention.com) on October 28th, 2021 through October 30th, 2021 in a hybrid format with limited on-site participation at the Grand Plaza Cheongju Hotel in Cheongju City, Chungcheongbuk-do Province, Republic of Korea.
This year’s Convention will again invite WMC Council members, members, commission members, martial art experts from the academia, martial artists and fans from around the world to gather as one via online for the main events such as the 6th WMC General Meeting, 5th World Martial Arts Leaders Forum, 7th Academic Conference, and 2nd Martial Arts Industry Fair.
Even though a physical participation for this Convention is limited to 50 people due to COVID-19 preventive measures, but will be welcoming everyone through an online platform. To highlight, the WMC Convention 2020 was held in a hybrid format for the first time and attracted 30,000 people from 61 countries online.
In addition to this event, Mr. Battulga Khaltmaa, who served as the 5th President of Mongolia from 2017 to 2021, was officially invited to visit Korea to physically attend the 6th WMC General Meeting. Along with the former President, the Mongolian Martial Art, Combat Sport Committee (MMACSC) President Mr. Bukhbat Mashbat, will also attend the same meeting to officially represent Mongolian delegation and make a presentation as the sole candidate city for the 2023 World Youth Martial Arts Masterships. Mongolia’s candidacy is expected to be approved at the WMC General Meeting as an official host of the 2023 World Youth Martial Arts Masterships in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.
Over the past 20 years, the Chungcheonbuk-do Province has been striving to build a groundwork and disseminate the values of martial arts around the world. As a result, the WMC, as a governing body for the World Martial Arts Masterships and the Masterships Movement, has been officially founded in 2016 with its headquarters in Cheongju City, Chungcheongbuk-do Province, Republic of Korea.
WMC is composed of 51 members from 23 countries who are gathered to achieve the objectives to globalize martial arts and to harmonize the world through martial arts. Some of the major projects and achievements since its establishment include: hosting of the 1st World Youth Martial Arts back in 2017 at Jincheon, 2016 Cheongju and 2019 Chungju World Martial Arts Masterships, which the 2019 edition has been held under the official patronage of GAISF.
This year, the WMC launched 2021 Online World Martial Arts Masterships, a first ever multi-martial arts event held online where 10 different martial arts will be presented to compete with about 3,300 participants from 100 countries joining the event.
In a daily basis, the WMC has been supporting International Federations recognized by GAISF, such as World Taekwondo (WT), International Judo Federation (IJF), United World Wrestling (UWW), International Federation of Muaythai Associations (IFMA) to name a few.
WMC as an integral part of the global sport community, they have been approved as an NGO in official partnership with UNESCO (consultative status) from September 30th, 2020 and a Permanent Consultative Member (PCM) of Intergovernmental Committee for Physical Education and Sport (CIGEPS) in UNESCO since March 1st, 2021. With this active engagement, UNESCO has also approved to patronage for the WMC Convention 2021 and 2021 Online World Martial Arts Masterships.
Most recently, the WMC became one of the World Anti-Doping Code signatories under the Olympic Movement since June 11th, 2021, and the WMC committed to the UNFCCC – Sports for Climate Action as a signatory from September 1st, 2021.