Paul Hoglund
Position : Ex- Vice President of the IMGCPaul Hoglund, 'the Iron Swede', born on 4th July 1940 in Sweden, was a fine martial arts enthusiast who has given and left much to today's leaders around the world. He was a wado ryu karate practitioner/black belt practitioner and former vice-president of Wuko (World Union Karate Organisation). In 1978, Paul Hoglund became a president of the JJIF (ju jitsu International federation) which he had tried to shape. His JJIF presidency was not renewed and so he founded the WjjConfederation, no doubt in the spirit of not competing with other acronyms. From 2015 he served for IMGC, the International Martial Art Games Committee, the aim of which was to promote friendship, cooperation and development among all martial arts organizations through holding martial arts games on the global scale. He was elected the Vice President of the IMGC in its 9th Congress. It is said that 'health is everything'! Paul Hoglund has suffered a lot due to the amputation of a lower limb. Yet he never stopped working and looking to the future with an innate passion for work and sport and headed straight for new goals until his death in September 2022. He travelled 125 countries during his whole life making great contributions to developing international martial arts movement as well as promoting friendship and cooperation among all martial arts styles. The last country he visited during his lifetime was the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. The wise man used to say 'who are the real friends? They are those who remember you even when they don't need you'. Although he passed away, his achievements made in martial arts field and sports will remain forever.
