2018 Wekaf host gears up

At this early, Hawaii has set up everything that’s needed for its hosting of the World Eskrima Kali-Arnis Federation (Wekaf ) World Championship in July of 2018.

David Cordero, the director of Doce Pares-Hawaii and the chairman of the organizing committee for the Wekaf 2018 championship announced that their preparation is on schedule for the biennial event.

“Our preparation is on schedule. We already have set the dates, identified the venue and already sent out invitations to the countries who want to participate. The (tournament) venue will be in Waikiki, so basically that is a tourist attraction,” Cordero told sports reporters.

Hawaii was unopposed in its bid to host the 2018 Wekaf as other countries who intended to compete for the hosting rights backed out at the last minute to give way to the US state, last July.

Cordero and 15 other Hawaiians are here both for business and to train at the Doce Pares International headquarters in Sto. Niño Village in Banilad.

Some of the members of the entourage include arnisadors who are taking promotion examination last Friday.

“We are hoping that with the current setup of the Philippine Sports Commission right now, the Philippine could send a good number of participants in what we consider as the biggest martial arts event in Hawaii,” added Cordero.

Hawaii is also expecting more countries to join the competition and more than 250 arnisadors to compete for the world titles.

“The council of Honolulu is supporting us as we hope to generate millions of dollars to our tourism industry. Because after the closure of the last sugar mill (last December), Hawaii is basically now a tourism-based economy,” added Cordero. /