“Guyana, South America Undiscovered” martial arts championships set for March 31

The Korean International Martial Arts Guyana, intent on developing the sport of martial arts in Guyana, has launched its sixth edition of the annual “Guyana, South America Undiscovered” martial arts championships, which are set to be run off on March 31 at the National Gymnasium on Mandela Avenue in Georgetown.
These championships would see Trinidad and Tobago fielding 75 participants; Suriname fielding 30-35; and Guyana, vying for supremacy, fielding 84. Competitors would be engaging in traditional kata form, point sparring, and team kata; while the Freestyle segment would see the empty-hand kata, weapons’ hand kata, points sparring, team kata/ form, and team sparring.
Speaking at the launching ceremony on Friday morning, Chief Instructor of Korean International Martial Arts Guyana, Roland Eudoxie, disclosed that the aim is to develop the sport as an art of discipline, rather than as an extracurricular activity.

He said, “It is our dream at Korean International Martial Arts Guyana to develop the art, which is not only seen as an extracurricular activity, but an art for discipline to be taught as an important life lesson, one that teaches discipline, focus, dedication, commitment, and teamwork; because it is our responsibility as leaders to value sportsmanship.”
He explained that competition has been the primary focus of the tournament, and he recognized stakeholders in the competition. He said, “Every year, the level of anticipation is not only increasing, thus it makes us, as hosts, excited to see what is coming ahead. The primary focus over the years has been on competition, which certainly is an important aspect of building each championship level, but many times we fail to recognize the importance of celebrating the level of commitment of our sponsors, competitors, media operatives and supporters.”
Representatives of the sponsors, speaking at the launch of the event, stressed the importance of sponsorship of this tournament.
Categories to be contested are: U-6, 7-9, 10-12, 13-15, 17-19, 20-34, and over-35. Further broken down into the belt categories, they are Novice, Intermediate, Advanced, and Blackbelt.
Admission to the event varies, with adults paying $1000, children paying $500, and U5 children entering free of cost. The event is set to start at 9am.
The organizers have acknowledged that this event would not have been possible without sponsorship from Team Mohammed’s, Starbucks Guyana, Gupta Group, Hand-in-Hand Trust, Quick Pro Printing, National Sports Commission; Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport; and Guyana Tourism Authority.