President Uhuru Kenyatta flags off the Tong-Il Moo-Do national martial arts team who are representing the country at the 2019 Chungju World Martial Arts Mastership in Korea.

Kenyan team are keen on bagging five gold medals when the World Martial arts Tong Il Moo Do Championships kicks off at Chungju in South Korea today.

In the last edition in 2016, Kenya won one gold, two silver and five bronze medals to finish third behind Iran and Philippines in Martial Arts.

However, Kenya Tong Il Moo Do Federation President Clarence Mwakio said they will strive to win five gold medals that guarantees them the top spot.

“In our first appearance in 2016, we claimed the third spot but this year, our aim is to go for the top position, “ said Mwakio in an interview at Seoul City before the team headed to Chungju.

“We have taken Tong Il Moo Do to the next level and we want to win this year’s event,” said Mwakio.

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He said the team has prepared well and expects good results owing to their preparedness.

“Our players are in good shape. We have had enough exposure to tackle the world best,” said Mwakio.

Salma Ali, one of the women players, said she is ready for the task ahead. “We had good training in Mombasa and we hope this will translate into good results,” she said in an earlier interview.

Secretary General of the 2019 Chungju World Martial Arts Masterships Organising Committee, Lee Jae Young, said the event has attracted over 4,000 participants from 100 countries who will compete in 20 different martial arts.

“The World Martial Arts Masterships is the world’s only comprehensive martial arts competition event that promotes world peace, bringing world martial family together,”  said Young.

Apart from hosts South Korea and Kenya, other strong contenders are Philippines, Iran,Thailand, Japan, Korea, Nepal, Cambodia, India, Taiwan, DRC Congo, Congo Brazzaville, Nigeria, Zambia, Ethiopia, Cote de’ Ivoire, Benin, Senegal, Burkina Faso, Brazil, Paraguay, USA and Argentina.

The event is co-hosted by the World Martial Arts Masterships Committee, Chungcheongbuk-do Province and Chungju city in Republic of Korea.

Mwakio said the Korean tournament is a precursor to the annual Mombasa International Championship set for December in Mombasa.