Graves Karate — Ju-Jitsu Tourney this Saturday in Houlton

The only remaining martial arts tournament north of Bangor takes place this Saturday, June 13 at the Houlton High School gym. Head instructor Bill Graves and the black belts and students of all nine branches of Graves Institute of Self Defense host their 18th  annual event this weekend. Competitors from several Maine Ketsugo and Karate Association dojos throughout Maine will attend as will students from a trio of Canadian Kung Fu and karate schools.
Throughout the day many men, women and children ages 5 to 64, from beginner to black belt will vie their skills to win one or more of the 250 trophies to be awarded. Competitors will include point sparring, form kata, weapons kata, Ju-Jitsu, and power impactor, and the many divisions of each will be set up by sex, age, weight, and belt levels to assure fairness.
Several Black Belt divisions will offer special Grand Championship trophies; each four and a half foot tall, multi-tiered award is sponsored by a regional business. Men’s fighting, lightweight and heavy weight division grand championship is donated by York’s of Houlton, the only contributor to have been part of all 18 Graves’ events. This year’s women’s black belt fighting trophy is sponsored by TD BankNorth while the grand awarded for the winning fighter from men’s senior and executive divisions is donated by Sargent’s Trucking of Mars Hill.
One of the most exciting and entertaining events of the day is the Ju-Jitsu competition. Pairs of martial artists of the same belt level perform routines they have created to imitate an attack and self defense situation that might occur on the street. Each person performs three throws in random order and a panel of five judges score the pair on attitude, precision, difficulty and effectiveness. While all belt levels are highly competitive, the black belt division vying for the pair of grand championship trophies remains the highlight of the division. Mars Hill IGA, Burtchell Trucking and TWB Speech Pathology Inc. sponsored this year’s set of grands for black belt Ju-Jitsu. The grand championship trophy for combined form and weapons kata total points is donated by Patrick Hunt, attorney of law in Island Falls.
Doors open at 9:30 a.m. for spectators and action gets under way at 10:30 a.m. with eight rings running throughout the day. A wide variety of concessions will be available to competitors and spectators all day. “Everyone from the region is invited to attend this Saturday’s unique event, and whether you know the competitors or not, entertainment is guaranteed during Aroostook’s only Karate and Ju-Jitsu tournament,” said Graves.