Fri, March 20, 2009
BANGKOK, March 20 (Xinhua) -- Thailand will host the first "Asian Martial Arts Games" during April 25 to May 3, 2009 in Bangkok.
The sporting event is set up by the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA), in which around 1,372 athletes from 41 nations throughout Asia will participate in, according to a news report by the website of the government's Public Relation.
There will be nine different kinds of martial arts namely Muai, Kickboxing, Kurash, Jujitsu, Judo, Karatedo, Wushu and Kungfu, Pencak Silat and Taekwondo for competing 112 gold medals.
The competition will be organized at three Bangkok's venues namely, Indoor Stadium Huamark of the Sports Authority of Thailand, Nimibutr Gymnasium Supachalasai National Stadium, Bangkok Youth Center (Thai-Japanese) Stadium, while another one will be held at Sports School in Suphan Buri Province.
The opening and closing ceremony will take place at Indoor Stadium Huamak on April 25 and May 3, respectively. The motto of the 1st Asian Martial Arts Games 2009 is "The Game of Spirits-The Land of Smiles" and the mascot is Hanuman who is the legendary King Ape from Ramayana epic.
