| "People
can expect full-contact knockdown fighting. These
are people who break two-by-fours, baseball bats with
their shins. There will be demonstrations with bricks.
There's no gear, there's no shin pads, nothing on
their hands. It's quite a show."
The championships, which
is open to fighters of all martial arts styles,
will feature both semi-knockdown and knockdown divisions,
along with various demonstrations.
Preliminary action will
run from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. The major event of the
day will be the knockdown finals beginning at 6
p.m., which will determine who qualifies for the
world championships.
"That's going to be
the major event and that's where you'll see the
top fighters. It should be very exciting,"
Cormier said.
Cormier said he'll have
12 athletes from his Atlantic Canada Kyokushin Karate
organization competing today. Ones to watch include
world women's heavyweight champion Monelle Richard,
Melanie Tremblay, Robert Poirier, Andre Doiron,
Martin Savoie, J.J. Nowlan, Mathieu Boucher and
Guy Marquis, a RCMP officer from Lameque who is
a five-time Canadian champion.
It's the first time
the North American championships has ever been held
in New Brunswick. Cormier said it's biggest karate
event to ever hit the province.
|
