The Martial Arts Warriors Weekend will have a new twist for a very good cause later this month.
Kyoshi Chris Marceau has been spearheading the celebration of Martial Arts in the community for three years now. This year’s event will be taking place February 19th to 21st at the Clarion Pinewood Park Resort.
“We have guest instructors that have trained in the Philippines, Japan, Russia, France, and instructors from across Ontario and Quebec that are coming in,” said Marceau.
“We have guests coming in to train, it’s open to spectators and we are going to make a whole weekend of Martial Arts and demonstrations.”
So as part of the demonstrations this weekend, Marceau decided he will put his strength to the test by demolishing four baseball bats with a nasty kick.
“Basically I will be having four bats that will be placed by a cement block and one volunteer holding each of them, and I am going to attempt to kick through them, one at a time, with my shin bone,” Marceau said.
The bats are real, pink Louisville Slugger bats.
The money raised will go to towards Cancer research.
“My Mom is a cancer victim with some various types of cancers so this is in her name and everybody else who has fought cancer as well,” said Marceau.
“This year we decided to do a fundraiser for breast cancer and part of it is going to be I’ve got some coconuts I’m going to break and I have four baseball bats, three of which have been sponsored by local companies here in North Bay and a fourth one I will be doing by pledges.”
Marceau hopes to be successful with this smashing Martial Arts display.
“It’s something different, it’s not every day you see someone who wants to try and break coconuts or smash a baseball bats, it’s just something different and something I enjoy doing,” he said.
“I had set a goal with an amount I thought I could raise and as of today I surpassed that, so who knows how far I am going to make it but when we tally it up on Sunday and make our presentations to the Cancer Society we will have a total then,” Marceau said in an interview last Thursday night.
Marceau’s final message is don’t try this at home.
“Don’t think these bats are made of balsa wood, they are maple, they are made of ash. They are legal Louisville Slugger bats and we are going to make a go of it.”
Marceau says the bat smashing ceremony is expected to take place around 8 p.m. on Saturday night at the Clarion.
If you are interested in supporting Marceau, go to his GoFundme page here: https://www.gofundme.com/pccgz2rx
