Why Tong-Il Moo-Do championship hangs in the balance

The 12th edition of the Mombasa Open Tong-Il Moo-Do International Martial Arts Championship 2024 hangs in the balance due to funding delays.

Tong-Il Moo-Do is a Korean martial art that combines techniques from karate, taekwondo, tai chi, aikido, and judo that focuses on the unification of all martial arts.

The event failed to kick off on Sunday at the Aga Khan Academy in the coastal city of Mombasa due to what officials termed as lack of resources to hold the much anticipated tournament.

The tournament is open to all styles and martial arts federations from all countries and runs under the auspices of ‘martial arts federation for world peace’.

Elvis Malipe the Assistant Secretary General, Kenya Tong Il Moo-Do Federation told the press that the championship failed to kick off on Sunday as scheduled due to what he termed as failures by the government through the ministry of sports to avail funds.

Malipe said it is the second time that the much anticipated championships failed to kick off in the port city, the first being in August 2024 due to the same reasons.

He said they have been lobbying for funds disbursement in the run up to the tournament to no avail.

Malipe says teams from Japan, Paraguay, India and Uganda had already arrived in the coastal city with more teams expected in readiness for battle.

He warned that Kenya Federation of Tong il Moo Do risks a hefty ban and fines from its parent, World Tong Il Moo Do Federation, if it fails to host this year’s competition.

“As we speak we are on the verge of being banned by the World Tong Il Moo Do Federation due to failure to host the championships for the second time in a row," said Malipe.

He says the government has been the key financier of the championships and that they are now demoralised by the inordinate delay in funding that has cast a dark shadow on Kenya.

“As Tong-IL Moo-Do fraternity we feel our rights are being violated by bureaucratic and funding delays and we appeal to President William Ruto to intervene and salvage the situation,” said Malipe.

He went further ‘its only the president who can now intervene and help resolve the impasse we have with the ministry of sports officials and allow the championships to continue as planned’.

He said they hope sport enthusiasts and Kenyans in general will rally behind the Kenya Tong-il Moo-Do and save the tournament from being sabotaged.

Malipe stated that the national team “Jasiri” is second in the World Tong-IL Moo-Do Federation ranking.

“The team is composed of multi-talented players of genders, young kids and adults and have been winning medals in all international assignments since 2006,” he said.

Carlos Nuñez the President of the Paraguayan Federation of Tong-Il Moo-Do who arrived on Sunday in Mombasa for the championship expressed hope that the games could still take place.

He says the Paraguay team in Mombasa has a clear goal of defending their podiums achieved in 2023.

Nuñez who is a gold medalist athlete in the Tong Il Moo Do world cup in 2022 said they are disappointed that the championship may fail to kick off after all.

Salma Abdalla, a member of the Kenya team dubbed ‘Ujasiri’ noted that Tong-Il Moo-Do is a self-defense practice that can also teach discipline and self-control to young people.

Aalma said Kenya are the defending champions, having clinched 46 gold, 54 silver and 93 bronze at last year’s competition at Aga Khan Hall.

She said with the high cases of femicide being recorded in the country it's time more women embraced the sport for self-defence.