Pinoys brace for war in Asian martial arts

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines gears up for the first Asian Martial Arts Games in Bangkok, Thailand on April 25-May 1, hoping to produce winners for the inaugural World Martial Arts Games set in China next year.

Judo head and Asian Martial Arts Games chief of mission Dave Carter said they have started selecting the members of the RP team to the Bangkok meet where each country is allowed to field in a maximum of 68 competitors.

The event features jujitsu, judo, wushu/kung fu, karatedo, taekwondo, pencak silat, kickboxing, muay thai and kurash.

“Martial arts is now popular in the world and we will participate in it to show that our Filipino athletes can compete with the best,” said Carter.

“We have informed all the National Sports Associations involved and we’ve started our preparations,” said Carter.

RP is tipped to field competitive squads in wushu/kung fu, taekwondo and judo.

Beijing Olympics gold medal winner Willy Wang of wushu, Olympic veterans Tshomlee Go and Toni Rivero of taekwondo and eight-time SEA Games gold medalist John Baylon of judo are expected to head the RP team in the Asian meet.

Carter said the event will also serve as part of the country’s preparations for the SEA Games set Dec. 9-18 in Laos.

“It’s going to be tough event because the strength is in the Asian level. But it will definitely help us in our buildup for the Laos SEA Games late this year,” said Carter.

Expected to lord it over the field are countries where some of the sports have originated like China (wushu/kung fu), Japan (karatedo, kickboxing and judo), Korea (taekwondo), Thailand (muay thai), Uzbekistan (kurash) and Indonesia (pencak silat).