In 2014, HMBIA for the first time initiated the introduction of women’s categories into the official table of the World Championship in HMB, Battle of the Nations. Since then, the number of both the categories themselves and the announced participants has been exponentially growing from year to year. Of course, the quantitative and qualitative gap between men and women fighters is still tangible, but to the same extent there is steady progress.

These brave warriors that are full of initiative and energy are eager to fight and the whole world can see it. Representatives of various countries took part in Battle of the Nations 2019 in the All vs All category, which was held outside of the official program. This decision was made because the number of active fighters among women does not allow at the current stage to introduce the official 12 vs 12 or 30 vs 30 into the World Championship tournament bracket, although we believe that this day will come too.

Who would have thought a few years ago that each country would have its own national representative responsible for the development of HMB sports among women? And today it is a reality! Already 34 countries have joined the project to form a dedicated structural unit HMB Women. At the current stage, within a closed group, representatives of various countries get to know each other, share their local situations, discuss solutions and make plans for the future. Of course, it will take some time for HMBIA representatives to analyze in detail the situation in each country in order to develop a single global work plan for the new structural unit. But already now, an information space is being formed that is ideal for discussing upcoming international projects.

We are pleased to announce that HMBIA is once again considering holding an extraordinary female All vs All category as part of the HMB World Championship Battle of the Nations 2021. Organizational issues are already being discussed by the representatives of the women’s HMB both within the relevant community and in negotiations with the HMBIA.

Today, representatives of more than 20 different countries have volunteered to take part in the battles. Among them are athletes from North America, Europe, South America, Middle East and the countries of the Asia-Pacific region. To coordinate the All vs All category, HMB New Zealand President Dayna Berghan-Whyman has created a proposal document that is actively and collaboratively discussed by country representatives.

“I am assisting in organising it and there is a planning document currently under discussion with the HMB Women’s Representatives.  Things are in draft stages currently. There are a lot of things to discuss for now”, Dayna told us.

Among these suggestions are:

– possible formats of fights;
– a list of countries and female representatives  who are interested in participating in these battles;
– total number of conditional team (depending on the format);
– team identification and much more.

On October 22, in the format of an online conference, Dayna met Ivan Koryagin, the head of the HMBIA Tournament Committee to discuss the coordination process of women fighters for the All vs All category:

“Timely discussion and coordination of actions will help to properly plan the conduct of the category, ensure the safety of the participants and their timely information,” said Ivan Koryagin.

The last item in terms of preparation for battles in the category All vs All on day X is marked “To have fun!” It is absolutely obvious that the more thorough and versatile the preparatory work before Battle of the Nations is carried out, the more pleasure the warriors will get during the fights! That’s what we sincerely wish them! Of course, all of us have to be ready to support these wonderful, strong and courageous athletes in all official and extraordinary women’s categories.