People who attended the Battle of Maine Martial Arts Championships circle around to watch Channing Geer, an 11-year old martial artist from Texas, at Champions Fitness Club on Saturday in Waterville. Anna Chadwick/Morning Sentinel

WATERVILLE — Mother Nature ruining this party? Not a chance.

Hundreds of snow-covered cars stretched from outside Champions Fitness Club to the shops on Elm Plaza on Saturday morning. Inside Champions? You wouldn’t have even known one of this year’s most vicious snowstorms was raging outside.

No, the Battle of Maine was as vibrant as ever Saturday, which marked the 42nd edition of one of the state’s top karate tournaments. Competitors came from near and far for special demonstrations as well 80 different kata, fighting and weapons events held throughout the day.

“It’s a great event for kids and for people all over the state,” said Mark Huard, owner of Huard’s Martial Arts in Winslow and the director of the event. “Despite a huge snowstorm, you had all these people still come out. It just shows the dedication and the people love this event.”

Although the tennis court area at Champions allowed for numerous rings, the day began with spectators and contestants all huddled around one. The opening special demonstrations saw some of the top kata and weapons competitors in the world show their skills to the applause of hundreds.

Ethan Mello, 8, practices while his mom, Nicole Guimond, watches at the 42nd annual Battle of Maine Martial Arts Championships on Saturday in Waterville. Anna Chadwick/Morning Sentinel

Performers under 10 from Pennsylvania to Chicago to Phoenix dazzled with their passion, precision and intensity, many of them world champions in their crafts. Then, there was 19-year-old Katelyn McMillan of Millbury, Mass., already a 25-time traditional bowstaff world champion.

“I’m on spring break and got invited up here, and I figured, ‘Why not?’” said McMillan, currently ranked second in the world in women’s traditional weapons by Black Belt Magazine. “It’s a great atmosphere here because there’s not too much pressure. Everybody’s here to have fun, and we’re all supporting each other.”

The invitations of McMillan and the other demonstrators to Champions were extended by Huard, who wanted to headline the event with some marquee performers. Seeing martial artists of that caliber, he said, would be a treat and a learning experience for the local competitors.

“They compete all over the world in their categories, not just this country, and we just think it’s nice for people in the state of Maine to see that,” Huard said. “They get to see some of the higher world-class champions in these divisions so they can have that great experience and learn.”

In addition to the demonstrators, competitors from roughly 25 dojos took part in roughly 80 competitions of various age and experience levels. Most were from Maine, but a few others, such as those from Path of the Samurai in Pittsfield, N.H., made the trip up earlier in the week to participate.

That trip was a worthwhile one for Jennifer Nolin and Ralph Blackey. After making the two-and-a-half hour trip to Waterville, the two competed in their respective kata divisions before going one-on-one in a sparring session that put indelible smiles on both martial artists’ faces.

Lucia LaCroix, 13, of Skowhegan, participates in the special guest demonstrations at the Battle of Maine on Saturday in Waterville. Anna Chadwick/Morning Sentinel

“To be able to come here and the community we have like this, you can’t make this stuff up,” Blackey said. “Everybody’s happy, everybody supports you, and everybody is competitive. … My daughter got me into it a year and a half ago, and I love it. At the end of the day, we’re all friends.”

“Sparring Ralph was the highlight of it for me, I think,” Nolin added. “We’re in the same dojo, and we have a lot of respect for each other. I think that’s one of the reasons I love karate, the respect, whether it’s somebody you know or somebody you’re just meeting.”

Huard said between 600 and 700 medals were to be awarded in the tournament. Attendance, he added, was down slightly from last year’s, most likely as a result of the storm (or from decades ago when there were far fewer tournaments statewide), but the attendance of roughly 300 was still noteworthy.

“It’s always one of the highlights of the year,” Huard said. “Every year, we take a few months off after, but once it gets to basically late in the summertime, we start to prepare for it again and take a look at who’s going to be here. It’s just a great experience.”

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