International Taekwon‑Do Federation

The 8th IMGC Games will be held in Italy from 30 October to 3rd November, 2019.

The International Martial Art Games Committee is a non-governmental and non-profit international martial art organization contributing to Martial Art Sports, on educational, scientific and technical levels through the international and regional martial art events.

The International Martial Art Games Committee provides all martial art organizations over the world with an opportunity to demonstrate their martial art skills and values through the international and regional martial art games and endeavors to preserve and develop martial art sports as a common asset of humanity along with social progress, irrespective of political belief, religion, sex, nationality and martial art styles. 

The official abbreviation of the International Martial Art Games Committee is IMGC.  

At the initiative of Gen. Choi Hong Hi, 1st President of the International Taekwon‑Do Federation, IMGC was founded in Buenos Aires, Argentina on September 2, 1999.

Twenty-three representatives participated in the inaugural meeting from 19 countries (Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Burkina-Faso, Cambodia, Canada, Croatia, DPR Korea, Ireland, Kyrgyzstan, Malaysia, Mongolia, Paraguay, Russia, Scotland, Spain, United States, Turkey and Zimbabwe).

The meeting adopted the Declaration and Statutes of IMGC and elected Gen. Choi Hong Hi to its President.  

Here is the excerpt from Gen. Choi's speech at the inaugural meeting. "The martial art aims to cultivate moral culture to win oneself rather than beat down the opponent and to promote physical fitness to stop any fight with righteous strength. … It is with great pleasure to organize together with you, the martial artists, the International Martial Art Games Committee ... for the benefit of not only the people in this era but the future generations." 

The supreme governing organ of the IMGC is the congress.

According to the Statutes, IMGC holds the Congress every 2 years and more than one Executive Board meeting every year.

IMGC has 5 Commissions; Verification and Ethics Commission, Competition Commission, Umpire Commission, Information Commission and Finance and Marketing Commission.

Since its foundation IMGC has continuously expanded its membership and organized 7 international martial art games in 2004, 2006, 2008, 2011, 2013, 2015 and 2017 in Asia, Europe and Oceania.

IMGC has its Logo, Flag, Torch-tower and Song.

The Torch-tower was set up in Pyongyang, DPR Korea which is the motherland of Gen. Choi Hong Hi, the founder of IMGC, and also the place where the torch of martial arts Olympic was lit for the first time.

All flames to be lit in International Martial Art Games shall be carried to the International Martial Art Games venues from the torch tower in Pyongyang.

The Headquarters of the IMGC is located in Pyongyang, DPR Korea and it has some departments which deals with organizational development, competition and public information.

IMGC celebrated its 10th anniversary of its foundation in 2009 on a large scale and it greets its 20th founding anniversary in 2019.

IMGC seeks to preserve and develop every martial art sport of the world as valuable cultural heritage and to promote friendship, cooperation and development for all the martial artists throughout the world.

Source: https://www.imgc-99.org/