International Martial Arts Games Committee
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International Martial Arts Games Committee (IMGC)
The IMGC
The International Martial Arts Games Committee (IMGC) is an organization created so that the martial arts community had a vehicle to bring together all martial art styles in the form of demonstrations / competition and not be hampered by affiliation or politics.
The inaugural meeting was held in Buenos Aires on Sep. 2, 1999 and six martial arts were selected for events: Tae Kwon Do, Karate-Do, Wushu, Judo, Jiu-Jitsu and Aikido.
According to Grandmaster Jacobsen, in mid-2007, Tang Soo Do and Haedong Kumdo were added to the list of "accepted member" martial arts by the IMGC. The body that was accepted is the International Haedong Kumdo & Tang Soo Do Confederation.
The IMGC Goal
The main goal is to promote and showcase all martial arts worldwide, gain international recognition and eventually be sanctioned by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). To accomplish these goals, the IMGC organized its games in an Olympic format where you have all martial arts competing at the same time but in different venues (Karate with Karate, Kung-Fu with Kung-Fu, etc.).
- The first Games were held in Pyongyang, DPR Korea in September 2004
- The second Games were also held in Pyongyang in August 2006
- The 3rd Games is scheduled to be held in Bangkok in April 2008
Other Information
The current President of the IMGC is Professor Chang Ung who is also a senior member of the IOC.
Professor Chang Ung was the president but vacated his position as active President due to him being appointed as head of the Martial Arts Commission for the IOC. The current President of the IMGC is Mr. Jong Jae Hun of Korea.
The IOC has appointed Professor Ung to look into the Games with the goal of getting full Olympic status for Martial Arts.
The IMGC will be sanctioned by the General Association of International Sports Federation (GAISF), which is a member of the International Olympic Committee.
