35 clubs from all over Greece with small fighters, teenagers and adults took part 7th Panhellenic Martial Arts Festival which he organized on Sunday 07/07, at the packed 2 City Sports Center “Theodoros Diamantopoulos”, the club AS CHOURON in collaboration with the Municipality of Katerini/Deputy Mayor of Sports & Education, the EP Pieria under the auspices and support of the Federation of the Hellenic Martial Arts.
The Festival was founded by the dance group of the Pontiac Club Peristaseos, who opened the curtain with the ancient traditional war dance Pyrrhios and after that there was a blessing – a welcome from the President Christos Gerontides. Directly afterwards, the highlights of the sports demonstrations performed by the young martial arts athletes were the performances of the disabled athletes who won the impressions and applause of the audience. The certified TAEKWONDO GREECE instructor, Tsakalos Georgios of the COMPREHENSIVE INTERNATIONAL TAEKWONDO ASSOCIATION was the head of the mission for people with disabilities.
Festival manager, Kostas Houridis said: “This event is taking place for the 7th year in a row. It is a martial arts festival organized by the CHOURON Katerinis club and related to all martial sports. I would like to thank Katerini Municipality for the support it gives us in this effort and all the companies that were involved. the dynamic presence of the Stadium Security and the Pieria Rescue team which contributed to the smooth running of the event”.
In his statement, the responsible Deputy Mayor for Sports and Education said, George Kokavidis specifically mentioned: “I am particularly pleased to be at a very beautiful event today. I send you the greetings of our Mayor, Ioannis Doumou and the assurance that we will always be helpful in this high quality Festival. Congratulations to the organizers and to the athletes of all ages who took part.” Also, during the Festival, he gave a blessing, President of the Municipal Council of Katerini, Charalambos Chr. Brussels, who, as a martial arts athlete himself (karate), gave to the organizer and the teacher, Konstantinos Houridis(identical copy) gloves of the legendary actor and martial arts performer, Bruce Lee, from the movie “Enter the Dragon” (1973).
Panagiotayoung martial artist, noted: “The event looks really good to me and I’m very happy, excited but also nervous to be here and I hope all the athletes do well. This is my first time participating in such an event and I am really looking forward to it. I’m engaged in martial arts performance.”
AS CHOURON returned as organizer with 2 participations in this year’s Temenidai CHOURON with a draw in an exhibition match, with a win without a fight and a win in an elite match in the Boxing category, with the fighters: Eleftherio Markos Houridis and Ioannis Papanakos .
The Festival was honored with the presence of the representative of the Deputy Minister of Development, Annas Mani-Papadimitriou, the representative of the Region, Chrysavgi Drista, the President of the Pieria Association, Ilias Hatzichristodoulou, etc.
At the end of the Festival, commemorative medals and diplomas were awarded to the sportsmen and women in hopes that they will compete at the next Panhellenic martial arts festival.