PATU — Pan American Taekwondo Union

What is PATU?

PATU, the Pan American Taekwondo Union (Unión Panamericana de Taekwondo), is the continental body for taekwondo in the Americas under World Taekwondo (WT). Its About page describes it, in its own words, as “una organización sin fines de lucro y una asociación continental”, a non-profit organisation and continental association, acting in conformity with the principles of World Taekwondo, and “una organización establecida por los Miembros de la WT” — an organisation established by WT’s members.^[2] The same page gives its purpose as promoting the interests of World Taekwondo on the continent in order to improve and develop the sport and the martial art in the Pan American region, coordinating international events and advising members on taekwondo as a sport, a business and a martial art; those are PATU’s descriptions.^[2] It covers the WT disciplines: kyorugi (sparring), poomsae (forms) and para taekwondo in both.^[6] PATU links a Spanish-language statutes file, dated 2025 in its file name, from its site; the file could not be read in a form that allows its articles to be quoted, so PATU’s legal form is given here as PATU itself states it.^[1]

What does PATU govern or do?

PATU does not write the rules of competition. Its championship documents apply World Taekwondo’s: the outline for the 2026 senior Pan American Championships states that “The latest updated WT Competition Rules shall apply”, and requires every athlete to hold a valid WT Global Athlete License for 2026.^[7] Rankings are WT’s: PATU’s senior championships are graded G4 and count, in the same outline’s words, for “World Ranking and Olympic Ranking – G4 (Senior)”.^[7] Entries are taken through World Taekwondo’s registration platform.^[6]

What PATU does is run the continental calendar and its own events. Its calendar lists the senior, cadet and junior Pan American Championships, Pan American Open championships, the Pan Am Series PATU12 (2026 rounds in Lima, Quito, Sogamoso, Tegucigalpa and Buenos Aires), the WT President’s Cup for the Americas (Lima, 26–28 August 2026) and a Copa de Naciones.^[5][6] It also briefs national associations on the taekwondo qualification process for regional Games: in December 2025 its Secretary General, Mario Mandel, presented the qualification guidelines for the Santo Domingo 2026 Central American and Caribbean Games to member associations.^[9] The governance of the sport as a whole is set out on the taekwondo page.

When was PATU founded and where is it based?

PATU’s About page, council page and news pages, as retrieved, give no founding date, founding place or list of founders, and its statutes could not be read; no independent source for its founding could be retrieved either. The founding date is therefore not given here.^[2] PATU’s own documents do carry one historical marker: the official documents of its 2022 senior championships in Punta Cana are titled “XXll Campeonato Panamericano de Taekwondo”, numbering that edition the twenty-second.^[10]

PATU’s address, as printed on its website, is General Guadalupe Victoria 214, Zona Centro, 20000 Aguascalientes, Mexico.^[1] Its current leadership, from its council page, is President Juan Manuel López Delgado, Secretary General Mario Mandel Vaisman and Treasurer Alina Garza Herrera.^[3] In December 2025 PATU announced that it was beginning “un nuevo ciclo institucional” — a new institutional cycle — under López Delgado’s leadership, when it presented its 2026 calendar.^[8] No renaming of the body is recorded on the pages retrieved.

How is PATU recognised?

The recognising act for a continental taekwondo union is World Taekwondo’s. PATU’s About page states that it is “una de las cinco uniones continentales reconocidas globalmente por la WT” — one of the five continental unions recognised globally by World Taekwondo — and its home page carries the same statement.^[2][1] World Taekwondo’s own site, including its statutes, is closed to automated retrieval, so the WT article that establishes the continental unions, and its edition, could not be quoted from a primary source. PATU has no IOC recognition of its own; the IOC-recognised federation for the sport is World Taekwondo.

The continental multi-sport tie runs through the taekwondo events of the Pan American Games family. In June 2026 PATU reported that its Secretary General, Mario Mandel Vaisman, visited the Villa Deportiva Nacional (VIDENA) in Lima, reviewing operational aspects of the planning and running of the taekwondo competitions at the Lima 2027 Pan American Games, which Panam Sports schedules for 23 July–8 August 2027.^[11][14] A Panam Sports document naming PATU as the confederation for taekwondo could not be retrieved, and PATU’s role in the Lima 2027 qualification system is not stated on the pages retrieved.

What does PATU organise?

PATU runs a senior continental championship: the Pan American Taekwondo Championships. Its calendar lists the senior championships in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic (2–5 May 2022), in Rio de Janeiro at the Arena Carioca 1 (poomsae 1 May, kyorugi 2 May and para taekwondo 3 May 2024) and again in Rio de Janeiro in May 2026, which is the most recent completed edition.^[10][12][6] The 2026 edition, the “Campeonato Panamericano Adultos G4 – 2026”, was held on 7–8 May with the Brazilian Taekwondo Confederation as organising committee; the para taekwondo poomsae and kyorugi championships, also graded G4, were held on 7 and 10 May.^[6][7] PATU’s calendar shows senior championships in 2022, 2024 and 2026, and as retrieved on 1 October 2026 names no host for the next edition.^[5]

PATU also runs age-group championships, such as the Cadet-Junior Pan American Championship for national teams (Querétaro, 3–6 April 2025), Pan American Open events alongside the championships, and the Pan Am Series PATU12.^[6] In December 2025 it announced an awards ceremony for the best of 2025 to be held in Las Vegas.^[4]

Who are its members?

PATU’s members are national taekwondo associations of the Americas, which PATU calls Member National Associations (MNAs). Its About page states: “Cuarenta y cinco Asociaciones Nacionales Miembros nos integran” — forty-five member national associations make it up; the English home page gives the same figure, undated, as retrieved on 1 October 2026.^[2][1] Its MNAs page shows the members as a list of national flags without a stated total, covering North America, Central America, the Caribbean and South America.^[13] No independent count from World Taekwondo could be retrieved.

The four regions are reflected in PATU’s council, which has a vice-president each for North America, Central America, the Caribbean and South America, four further vice-presidents, council members from across the continent, a male and a female athletes’ representative and an auditor.^[3] PATU’s site also carries pages for its General Assembly (Asamblea General) and its council board (Junta del Consejo).^[1]