The U.S. Haedong Kumdo Association is now affiliated with the International Haedong Kumdo and Tang Soo Do Confederation. The confereration consists of both Haedong Kumdo and Tang Soo Do organizations in several countries including South Africa, Holland, Scotland, Germany, Greece, Poland and Great Britain. The Confederation was founded by Grandmaster Edward Jacobsen of South Africa as a means to promote frienship and unity among the various Haedong Kumdo and Tang Soo Do associations and federations.

The IMGC Connection

The International Martial Arts Games Committee (IMGC) is an organization created so that the martial arts community had a vehicle to bring together all martial art styles in the form of demonstrations / competition and not be hampered by affiliation or politics.

The inaugural meeting was held in Buenos Aires on Sep. 2, 1999 and six martial arts were selected for events: Tae Kwon Do, Karate-Do, Wushu, Judo, Jiu-Jitsu and Aikido.

According to Grandmaster Jacobsen, in mid-2007, Tang Soo Do and Haedong Kumdo were added to the list of "accepted member" martial arts by the IMGC. The body that was accepted is the International Haedong Kumdo & Tang Soo Do Confederation.

The IMGC Goal

The main goal is to promote and showcase all martial arts worldwide, gain international recognition and eventually be sanctioned by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). To accomplish these goals, the IMGC organized its games in an Olympic format where you have all martial arts competing at the same time but in different venues (Karate with Karate, Kung-Fu with Kung-Fu, etc.).

    * The first Games were held in Pyongyang, DPR Korea in September 2004

    * The second Games were also held in Pyongyang in August 2006

    * The 3rd Games is scheduled to be held in Bangkok in April 2008

IOC senior member, Professor Chang Ung was the president but vacated his position as active President due to him being appointed as head of the Martial Arts Commission for the IOC. The current President of the IMGC is Mr. Jong Jae Hun of Korea.

The IOC has appointed Professor Ung to look into the Games with the goal of getting full Olympic status for Martial Arts.

The IMGC will be sanctioned by the General Association of International Sports Federation (GAISF), which is a member of the International Olympic Committee.