Trail Martial artists kick up their collective heels Saturday as the club hosts its Trail Tae Kwon-Do championship at the Trail Memorial Centre.
Close to 100 competitors from across western Canada will compete this weekend, including about 30 from the Trail Martial Arts club.
Competitors from age six to 76 face off in three different disciplines: sparring, patterns, and flying sidekicks.
“I think we’re going to do really well, we’re well practiced and well prepared, but time will tell,” said head martial arts instructor Jason Ayles.
Last year was the club’s first tournament and it was a great success, with most of the local competitors taking home medals.
“It went really well, surprisingly smoothly for a first tournament, so this year should be even easier,” said Ayles. “When you have a good team, it makes a big diffence that’s for sure.”
Tae kwon-do is a relatively new art, emerging from Korea in the late 1950s as an attempt to unify different forms of martial arts like Karate and Tang su do.
Tae kwon-do techniques are based on centuries old knowledge that, for adults, combines exercise, skill, self-discipline and concentration that develops ones ability to defend oneself as much as it helps reduce stress and incorporate a high ethical standard.
The all-day tournament starts at 8 a.m with the young martial arts aficionados going until about noon, and adults and black belts from then until 5 or 6 p.m.
Trail Martial Arts has grown to about 100 students and offers a variety of classes five days a week at its location on Bay Avenue.
Visit trailmartialarts.com for more information.