Ferguson Oluigbo, a Grand Master in the Martial Arts, on Thursday harped on the need to go back to the grassroots to revive the dwindling fortunes of combat sports in Nigeria.

Oluigbo said in Lagos that before now, athletes and officials were passionate about developing themselves while belt-grading events pulled crowd across the country.

Martial Arts is one of the methods of fighting without weapon; its sports include Taekwondo, Karate, Kung Fu, Judo, Karate, Boxing, Mixed Martial arts, Kick Boxing and Wrestling.

Oluigbo said: “I remember those days when Martial Arts Sports were booming, like Wushu Kung Fu was everywhere, passion was high for athletes and technical officials to feature in competitions.

“The development and success level was so significant and suddenly, Kung Fu was accepted into the National Sports Festival and everyone ran to the states for employment.

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“The awareness of Kung Fu was everywhere, and I must declare that it paid off because, it gave opportunity to up and coming talents, particularly those at the grassroots.

“Now, Kung Fu is going down, not much is being heard about it. I, therefore, submit that we go back to the grassroots, because the talents are there.”

According to him, support for expansive grassroots promotional activities of the Martial Arts for athletes and instructors will go a long way to reawakening the sports.

“When there is widespread of events capturing young athletes at the grassroots and championships at all levels, then, it becomes easy to have pools of talents to draw from for national and international assignments.”

The grand master noted that Martial Sports’ enthusiasts had always patronised stands, and no doubt they were looking forward to the events at the Edo 2021 National Sports Festival in April.

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