The Estevan Tae-Kwon-Do Club hosted its sixth annual tournament on Saturday at Estevan Comprehensive School, with 106 competitors hitting the Energy City for the event.
Estevan head instructor Wayne Brown said the tournament drew athletes from clubs in Saskatoon, Prince Albert, Osler, Weyburn and Lampman, along with the local club.
Three karate clubs and a kickboxing club from Weyburn also attended to perform their martial arts styles. The karate participants were judged on their kata.
The tae-kwon-do segment of the tournament focused on patterns, sparring and power breaking, running from about 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
"It went really well. The opening was great, with the different clubs getting piped in by bagpipes," said Brown.
"Power breaking is always the most entertaining for the fans and this year was no exception," Brown said. "We had eight or nine men and two women enter. I thought the board breaking was impressive. There were some nice techniques and it's always exciting."
Results from the day's events were not available at press time, but Brown said he was impressed by how evenly the medals were distributed amongst the clubs.
"The young competitors were extremely good," he said. "They had some good techniques for a younger age."
He added that the judges did well to evaluate both tae-kwon-do and karate.
"The judging was extremely well done. We had judges from all the different clubs and it was very impartial. It's difficult when you are dealing with two different styles, but they did an extremely good job on measuring the basics of power and skill level," Brown said.
"Sparring is sparring, whether you're doing karate or tae-kwon-do. The objective is to go in and score points."
Brown also commended the executive that put the tournament together for taking the time for meetings and prep work to ensure the event ran smoothly.
