Ottawa region hosts Canada's premier martial arts tournament
- Ottawa Travel Guide
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- Monday, 18 March 2013 05:04
From March 22-23, Ottawa will host the 2013 Canadian Open, Canada's premier martial arts tournament. The competition will be held at the Palais des congrès in Gatineau, Québec. For the past two years, siblings Trevor and Chelsea Nash have won the Elite men's and women's sparring titles, respectively.
For the 2013 tournament, the competition adds a new division for martial artists seeking to prove their skills with kata or weapons. Kata are pre-arranged combinations of martial arts techniques, many of which have historical meaning and multiple interpretations and applications. Kata can be performed empty-handed or with weapons such as sai, tonfa or bo staff. There will be a kata and weapons division for both adults and juniors. The athletes will compete in a random order to determine the top eight.
This year, a total of $10,000 in prize money is offered to winners of the Elite divisions, Elite men's sparring, Elite women's sparring, team fighting, and Elite kata and weapons. There is also more than $1,800 in prize money for regular black belt divisions. The Open will also feature under belt divisions for martial arts students.
