EDINBURGH is to host a major taekwondo championship for the first time, bringing 500 competitors from the across the globe.

The Sixth Commonwealth Taekwondo Championships will be held in the Meadowbank Stadium in November, with athletes from 64 countries invited to take part. Malta, Canada, Singapore, Kenya, Malaysia and Australia plan compete.

Taekwondo, the national sport of South Korea, is the world's most popular martial art since becoming an Olympic sport in 1988

The Championships' Event Director, Seventh Dan David Bailey, said: "It cultivates the mind as well as trains the body. And it's an inclusive sport too - whether you're four or 84, male or female, you can still enjoy it to the full at any level."