Martial artists spar in tourney

    HOULTON, Maine  — More than 20 dojos from across Maine and eastern Canada were on hand at the 16th annual Graves Summer Kickoff Karate and Ju-Jitsu Tournament, held recently.     The day-long event featured students ranging in age from 5 to 60 at all karate levels and in several different forms of fighting.  Nearly 200 competitors were divided into age, gender and belt levels for fairness, and took part in kumite, or point sparring; form kata; weapons kata; and ju-jitsu, or throwing competitions.
More than a dozen participants came from the Kung Fu dojo in Grand Falls, New Brunswick, as well as several competitors from a newly-formed karate school in Medway.
There are eight branches of the Graves’ Institute of Self Defense throughout Aroostook County and another in Perth-Andover, New Brunswick. The institute features 15 active black belt instructors.
The classes are held year-round and students can work from novice, or white belt, through 10 levels of black belt.
For more information, contact ninth-degree Black Belt Sensei Bill Graves at 764-1497.