Inaugural 2010 Beijing SportAccord Comat Games kick off

The inaugural 2010 Beijing SportAccord Combat Games, attracting 1,500 athletes from 60 countries and regions, kicked off here on Saturday.

The Games feature 13 sports: wushu, aikido, boxing, judo, ju-jitsu, karate, kendo, kickboxing, Muaythai, Sambo, sumo, taekwondo and wrestling.

The opening ceremony of the SportAccord Combat Games took place on Saturday, attracting over ten thousand spectators from local and abroad.

Liu Yandong, State councilor of China, declared open of the Games.

"The Beijing Olympics rewarded us with many treasures. I hope we can get the same from the SportAccord Combat Games," said Liu Qi, party secretary of Beijing.

"Beijing is an international city. Citizens are welcoming friends from all over the world."

More than 1,000 actors participated in the opening ceremony, including international kungfu movie stars Cheng Long and Li Lianjie.

World-known artists like Atari Kosuke from Japan, Giorgia Fumanti from Italy and Amita Marie Young from Thailand also appeared on the ceremony.

The ceremony consists of six parts, showing the Chinese traditional Wu culture and the development of world' s combating sports.

Making friends through Wushu and getting encouragement from combating is the aim of the Games.

There will be a SportAccord Combat Forum apart from the competition during the Games. The event will conclude on Sept. 4.

Source: Xinhua