Visit Rochester welcomes the World Kobudo Federation to Rochester, N.Y., May 6-8 for the group’s biennial International Martial Arts Conference. 

Over 500 martial arts practitioners of all ages, from over 20 countries will be participating in training workshops and martial arts competitions during the weekend.  Attendees will be visiting Rochester from countries as far away as France, Italy, Germany, Kazakhstan and Australia, along with practitioners from Canada and other parts of the U.S.

International martial arts masters and champions will conduct events for attendees during the conference. There will also be a Martial Arts Demonstration Show open to the public on Saturday May 7th from 8:00 – 10:00 pm at the Hyatt Regency Rochester hotel.

Based out of Ottawa, Canada, the World Kobudo Federation (WKF) has affiliated WKF martial arts schools throughout Canada, Europe and the U.S.  Locally, Mr. Matt Dorsey, owner of the Martial Arts America schools in Rochester, is the U.S. Event Coordinator for the WKF.

Conference organizers selected Rochester as the first U.S. host in a number of years for the World Kobudo Federation for several key reasons.  

“Rochester is a beautiful city that's conveniently located near Montreal, Toronto, Ottawa in Canada as well as American cities such as Buffalo, Syracuse and Albany where we have many martial arts schools that support the World Kobudo Federation,” said Matt Dorsey, master instructor Martial Arts America and conference organizer. “Rochester is also an ideal location for our European attendees to visit in the spring with the Lilac Festival and the many restaurants, museums and cultural sights.”

Meetings and conventions held in Monroe County are critical to bringing visitors to the county and our community, and contribute to the tourism and hospitality industry’s overall economic impact. The economic impact of the tourism and hospitality industry in Monroe County in 2014 (most recently reported data) was over $1 billion.

ABOUT VISIT ROCHESTER
Visit Rochester is the official tourism promotion agency for Greater Rochester and Monroe County. Visit Rochester is a membership organization with over 400 members representing, lodging, retail, restaurants, services, and community organizations. Working together with our members and partners, we strive to provide the best experience to all visitors to our community, including both business and leisure travelers.