Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, December 14, 2024: Thomas Fan Wai-kong is the President of the fledgling Hong Kong Jiu-Jitsu Association. He is also an osteopath by profession.
A proud holder of a 3rd degree jiu-jitsu black belt, Fan, a referee at the OCA jiu-jitsu development programme, jokes: “I break backs and then fix them.”
At present, Fan is bending over backwards to try and convince the Sports Federation and Olympic Committee of Hong Kong, China (SFOC) that his association is capable of carrying the flag and representing the city on the international jiu-jitsu scene.
“Hong Kong wasn’t represented in jiu-jitsu at the Hangzhou Asian Games and we want to be able to send athletes to the next 2026 Games in Aichi-Nagoya, but I know we have to become a member of the Hong Kong Olympic Committee first,” Fan revealed.
“We are a small and new association, and we have had a little communication with the Olympic people in Hong Kong. I hope with the support of the Olympic Council of Asia and the Jiu-Jitsu Asian Union, we can become a full member of the Hong Kong Olympic Committee,” he adds.
The OCA sent invitations to all 45 NOCs in Asia to send two referees and two coaches, men and women in equal numbers, for this inaugural jiu-jitsu programme in Abu Dhabi.
The SFOC permitted the Hong Kong Jiu-Jitsu Association to represent the city.
“We are very grateful for this opportunity, even though we are not an official member yet. Hong Kong has a diverse martial arts community, judo, wushu, taekwondo to name a few. Our association is new, although there are many jiu-jitsu practitioners in Hong Kong,” explained the Birmingham-born Fan.
Fan, who arrived in Hong Kong in 2002, is trying to make the new association the focal point for the jiu-jitsu community in the city. At present there are only around 200 members.
“I was involved in MMA (mixed martial arts) for a long time and was a referee too. But today a small band of us are trying to promote jiu-jitsu as it is growing in popularity in Hong Kong, and there are many competitive events in Asia and internationally.
“These past few days in Abu Dhabi have made me realise how big this sport is in Asia, and we in Hong Kong want to be a part of this. This has been a great opportunity for us and we are thankful to the OCA and the JJAU,” he added.