Westview Elementary School’s gymnasium was turned into a martial arts dojo for Battle of the Dojos on Saturday, June 11.
The traditional karate competition, with all ages participating in four disciplines, was the 30th anniversary of an event sensei Frank Clayton created in 1986. This was the first time Powell River has hosted it.
“Battle of the Dojos is a competition I originally created so three dojos can compete against each other in friendly competition,” said Clayton.
Experience in the competition went all the way up to members of the Canadian Karate Association national team, from light belt to third-degree black belt; ages ranged from five years old to 55.
Four dojos took part this year, including 123 competitors from Powell River, Vernon, Chilliwack and Mission.
Each person representing a school who received a bronze, silver or gold medal in a particular discipline received points for their dojo. Gold was worth five points, silver three and bronze one.
Powell River won the battle and the trophy with 439 points, well ahead of second place Chilliwack with 135 points. Mission received 106 points and Vernon had 54.
Clayton said Powell River beat the competition, simply because of the odds.
“It’s because of the numbers,” said Clayton. “We had 81 competitors participate and the next closest school had 26.”
Attendance for the event was about 250 people, who were mostly parents, friends and relatives.
“I’m not sure we got a lot of people from outside our normal group,” said Clayton. “But it’s really good for the morale of the school. It’s good for the parents to see their kids compete, because they’re always practising and practising.”
For more information about the Canadian Martial Arts Academy in Powell River, go to cmaakarate.com.
