of the Bermuda Martial Arts Society (BMAS) this month.

Under prompting from the Ministry of Youth, Sport and Recreation, the two former leading bodies -- Martial Arts Commission and Bermuda Karate Association -- were dissolved to better foster relationships with Government.

"Among the many objectives of BMAS is the regulation of the practice of martial arts in Bermuda,'' said public relations officer Dwayne Williams, "to liaise with Government bodies, and select coaches and teams to compete in international competitions.

"This last objective is very important in that Karate has been accepted as a sport at the 1993 Pan Am Games next summer.'' Bobby Smith was elected president of the governing body on June 10 with the remainder of the executive being Paget Wharton (vice-president); Richard Smith (secretary); Nigel Williams (treasurer) and Dwayne Williams (PRO).

The BMAS currently comprises 11 clubs with six or seven others still to join.

The members are: Traditional Academy of Martial Arts, Samurai Karate Club, Tae Kwon Do Bermuda, Bermuda Ju Jitsu Karate Club, Bermuda Scientific Martial Arts, Uechi Goju, Shotokan Karate Club, Bermuda Shotokan Karate Club, Bermuda Karate Institute, Bak-Sil-Lum and Uechi Ryu Karate-Do.

Four sub-committees are to be set up to administer to the needs of the individual disciplines as each have their own agenda. The sub-committees will be Karate, Kung Fu/Wu Shu, Tae Kwon Do and Ju Jitsu/Aikido.

These matters and more will be discussed at a general meeting to be held on July 8 at 7 p.m. at the Department of Youth, Sport and Recreation.

Any clubs that are not yet members, which wish to join, should be present at the meeting or contact Dwayne Williams at 292-5639.

DWAYNE WILLIAMS -- Public relations officer of the newly-formed Bermuda Martial Arts Society.