GSBA BACKGROUND

Last Updated: 09/18/2018

 

 

The Global Stick and Blade Alliance (GSBA) International, whose mission is the promotion and development of weapons based martial arts worldwide, was established in July 2012 with five member countries including Australia, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, and the USA. By 2018, it has grown to include seventeen member countries with the additional of Canada, France, Greece, India, Ireland and Northern Ireland, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Philippines, Spain, and Switzerland.

 

The roots of GSBA actually started with the World Eskrima Kali Arnis Federation (WEKAF) which was established in 1989. The original concept of that organization was to have an international organization, governed by its member countries. When it started changing to a more controlled direction, six key members from the original countries, including Country Directors and four former Presidents of the Executive Board, decided to establish a new organization following the original principles of an International Governing Board.

 

The founding members of GSBA brought their extensive knowledge, background and personal commitment to the organization. The caliber of professionalism and integrity that they have instilled in GSBA continues to attract new memberships as demonstrated by tremendous growth we've seen in the number of participating countries.

 

Each member country is represented on our governing board that is committed to providing competitors with tournaments that are efficiently run with established rules and qualified judges. We welcome all competitors including those that are part of other organizations. We never ask our members to choose one organization over another nor do we restrict them from participating in tournaments hosted by other groups and many of our members continue to participate in the European Championships that have been held in Spain, Great Britain and Poland.

 

GSBA offers Forms, Live Stick and Padded Stick Competitions at the Regional, Country and World Championship level. We've hosted the GSBA World Championships in: Las Vegas, Nevada (USA), Rome, Italy, Honolulu, Hawaii (USA) and recently Lisbon, Portugal. Our 2020 World Championship will be hosted in Florida, USA.