More than 25 countries are set to grace this year’s 12th edition of the Tong-Il- Moo-Do International Martial Arts Championship, scheduled to run from August 15th to the 28th of August in Mombasa.
This year, Germany, Finland, Sao Tome, Cyprus, Samoa and Benin will participate for the first time.
According to Tong-Il-Moo-Do federation president Clarence Mwakio, the Kenyan team is ready for the tournament and is expected to camp for the days remaining.
“The Kenyan team has been preparing for this championship and in a few days we expect the team to get into indoor camp to prepare for the championship ”
Notable, the big names in Tong-Il-Moo-Do sports
Japan, Thailand, Nepal, Cambodia, Brazil, USA, Nigeria DRC, Zambia, and Angola will also stage a show in the coastal city.
Mwakio also called upon the government to pump in enough support for the yearly tournament to cater for Team Kenya “Jasiri”.
“We have worked with the government of Kenya for the last 11 years, and now we are hopeful that before the tournament, the government will partner with us in this 12th edition to make it successful.”
“We are in communication with the Ministry of Sports and I believe in the next few days we will also have their final word on funding of the event and also taking care of the National team needs”, Mwakio added.
The body is also partnering with other private partners, saying some are ready to come and support them during this year’s edition.
President Mwakio called for the county government of Mombasa to fully support the 12th edition to boost the economy by uplifting the Tourism sector.
“We call upon the county government of Mombasa to come and support us since we intend to have as many visitors as possible during the two-week event, which will act as a boost to our tourism sector.”
The federation called upon the government to have an equal mechanism for rewarding winners in every sport, saying some have been left in the cold for so long.
“We want the government to reward all sports winners equally and on time, 3 weeks ago there was a circular that noted us to name all our winners since 2006 to be rewarded but this should not be the vice, reward us after every tournament”.
Teams are expected to report on August 12 before the official kickoff of the tournament, where more than 500 participants will grace the tournament.
