Saskatchewan's longest-running martial arts tournament will enter its 17th year this weekend at the Weyburn Comprehensive School.
Hosted by Vilcu's Karate Klub, the massive Prairie Spring Open - open to all martial arts styles and schools - begins Friday evening and continues all day Saturday. Sensei Harold Vilcu said the tournament has attracted as many as 300 competitors in the past and organizers expect about 260 participants this year.
Two extraordinary individuals will be among those in attendance: Grand Master Stan Lee of the Ging-Wu Association based in Edmonton and Margie Hilbig, who in the 1960s was the first woman in Canada to earn a black-belt ranking and currently trains members of the Edmonton police department.
Both Lee and Hilbig, who are bringing students for competition and will assist in judging this weekend, are sifu (the equivalent of the Japanese sensei) whose rankings are among the highest possible in their disciplines.
"Having these people come down is quite an honour," Vilcu said, adding that one of Hilbig's former students, Ed Bateson, was Vilcu's own instructor.
Another potential attraction at the Prairie Spring Open will be second-degree black belt Lee Sluser. One of Vilcu's own students, Sluser earned the congratulations of his fellow club members after joining Weyburn's Soo Line Boxing Club this past year and winning a gold medal in the heavyweight division at the Canada Winter Games in Newfoundland earlier this month.
Sluser will be competing in the junior-black-belt division at this weekend's tournament.
Admission will be free for Friday night's competition at Knox Hall, which gets underway at approximately 8:30 p.m. and will feature grappling, continuous fighting and weapons fighting.
The tournament will shift to the Comprehensive School gymnasium on Saturday. Opening ceremonies are scheduled for approximately 10:30 a.m., followed by black-belt kata and weapons competition and other events.
Admission on Saturday will be $7 for adults and free for children under six.
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