THUNDER BAY – The city of Thunder Bay flexed its title as the martial arts capital of Canada this weekend with plenty of training and friendship at the 2023 Martial Arts and Health Expo.
The 2023 Expo was held at Lakehead University and featured more than 25 seminars offered by expert instructors, an Expo Banquet, and Blackbelt Testing conducted by Hanshi Mady.
Susan Baldasi, coordinator of the event said that the vision behind the Expo is to promote community, connection, movement, and health through martial arts and other complementary modalities.
“It's really to promote overall well-being for individuals and to bring people together, we have people here who are international, who are from the US, from Berlin, from across Canada,” she said.
“It's a really great way for us to come together, experience some social and cultural activities as well as exploring martial arts and Wellness.”
Baldasi said that it’s been amazing to meet so many people who’ve travelled a long distance just to share their knowledge about martial arts.
“A lot of the learning even takes place around the fire pit, we're roasting smores and we're asking questions of masters who have been in the martial arts for 40 or 50 years and everybody is very open and approachable,” she said.
“So, it's a great opportunity to really deepen your understanding of martial arts and Wellness practices, and we also have some great local presenters who are joining us here to share their expertise.”
The expo continues on Sunday and residents are encouraged to join in or spectate. Tickets are still available online here and more information can be found here.
