The eighth annual Abominable Snow Slam Open Martial Arts Tournament was hosted by the Yorkton Martial Arts Training Centre (YMATC) at Dr. Brass School Saturday. Tournament coordinator YMATC chief instructor Mike Forster says the tournament featured eight events including empty hand forms, weapon forms, point sparring, weapon sparring, light kick boxing, as well as power brick and board breaking for black belt competitors. Empty hand forms involves floor exercise against imaginary opponents. Weapon forms are similar but with a weapon rather than an empty hand, Forster explains. Point sparring involves gloves and boots where opponents try to touch/strike each other to score points. Weapons, again is the same thing with weapons. Light kickboxing is sparring using 70 per cent contact with leg kicks on the outside only while wearing boxing gloves. Team sparring is point sparring with teams of five competitors. Brick breaking is for males while board breaking involves females. The person who breaks the most bricks or boards wins, Forster continues.
This year Forster estimates about 130 athletes were on hand for the tournament from Saskatchewan and Alberta.
