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Martial Arts Canada held its annual competition on April 27th at Tillsonburg Community Centre.
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“This is a small, intra-club tournament,” Instructor Marylyn Ockers said. “Our students are the only ones who come from all over the place.”
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After a short but dramatic demonstration of black belt karate, including plank splitting and nail driving, about 100 children sparred and performed kata on stage.
“As we near the end of the season, our younger students have the opportunity to learn kata and show off what they have learned,” Ockers said. “The end of the third session is the end of June. Some places will take vacations during the summer, while others will continue training during the summer.”
The Canadian Martial Arts family includes dojos in Tillsonburg, St. Thomas, Sparta, Teeterville and Straffordville.
“During the coronavirus we have continued to operate online as much as possible, but we are in a really interesting period of restructuring right now. Interest is very high and the club is at least returning to its pre-coronavirus state.
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Although the Tiny Tigers program still draws a lot of attention, martial arts isn't just for young kids, she said.
“You can start martial arts at any age,” Ockers says. “My husband (Jay Okers) started when we met 15 years ago, and he's also a black belt now. That's what's really great about martial arts.”
Over the years, Ockers said, MAC's black belt base and their collective knowledge has “become very extensive.”
“We've really grown as a club in that regard, which is great and we can all share that. We didn't even have a clue how many black belts we had now.”
Next year, 2025, will be our 50th anniversary.th Canadian Martial Arts Foundation Day.
“We’re looking forward to having some kind of celebration to commemorate it.”
cabbott@postmedia.com
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