Summer karate tourney Saturday

Contributed photograph
PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT — Senseis Jerod Kingsbury, left, and Jay Peavey practice sparring for this weekends martial arts tournament in Houlton.
    Graves 19th annual Summer Kick-Off Karate and Ju-Jitsu Tournament takes place this Saturday at Houlton High School  gym.
    Head instructor, Grand Master Bill Graves, the black belts and students of all nine branches of Graves Institute of Self Defense host the event, the only martial arts tournament north of Bangor.
    Competitors from several Maine Ketsugo and Karate Association dojos throughout Maine, as well as a number of Canadian Kung Fu and karate schools will be on hand to vie for trophies. More than 225 trophies and 100 medals will be awarded throughout the day to top placing competitors in point sparring, form kata, weapons kata, ju-jitsu pairs and power impactor.
    Each event will have several divisions set up by sex, age, weight, and experience level (belt color) to assure fairness and the most challenging matches. One head judge and four referees, all black belts, will oversee each of the eight rings to insure safety and enforce the same guidelines for all competitors.
    All of the black belt fighting and ju-jitsu divisions will culminate in grand championship matches to determine the best of the best. Men and women black belts will have the opportunity to spar and demonstrate high level throwing and falling techniques against other random opponents. The top winner in each event will be awarded a four foot tall, three-tier, four post, ornate trophy with an engraved plaque, each sponsored by a regional business.
Contributed photograph
UP AND OVER – Jack Shaffer throws Aiden Churchill during practice for Saturday’s karate tournament to be held in Houlton.
    York’s of Houlton, a local auto dealer and service center is the only business to have contributed a grand championship trophy for all 19 Graves’ events. This year’s award from York’s will go to the final winner of men’s black belt light, middle and heavy weight fighting events.
    This year’s women’s senior black belt point sparring grand championship trophy is provided by TD Bank, with branches throughout Maine.
    Patrick Hunt, a well known Island Falls attorney, provides a grand trophy for the sixth straight year, this one for black belt form kata and weapons kata.  
    Burtchell Trucking and TWB Speech Pathology Inc. of Mars Hill donated the women’s open black belt grand.
    One of the most exciting and entertaining events of the day is always the ju-jitsu competition. Pairs of martial artist of the same belt levels perform routines they have created to imitate an attack and a self defense situation that might occur on the street. Each of the duo executes 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 event.   
    Sargent’s Trucking of Mars Hill and Steelstone Industries of Houlton combine to sponsor two grand championship trophies for the winning ju -jitsu pair.  
    General admission opens to the public at 9:30 a.m. and all martial arts fans, as well as folks who have never experienced one of these thrilling competitions, are invited to attend. A concession stand with a wide variety of food and beverages will operate throughout the day’s events.
    “Plan on attending Aroostook’s largest and oldest martial arts tournament from 10:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. this Saturday at Houlton High School to see the county’s youngest, oldest, smallest and most talented karate students compete,” said organizer Sensei Bill Graves.