Martial arts competitors demonstrate forms and weapons at Detroit Lakes invitational; break boards and bricks during breaking challenge

Detroit Lakes, Minn. (KDLM) – Nearly 100 competitors from as far away as Montana and Nebraska, made their way to Detroit Lakes High School on Saturday for the Detroit Lakes Martial Arts Invitational.

Master Lucas Holzhueter, head of the Detroit Lakes School of Taekwondo and Kumbo and tournament director for the event, said, for some of these martial arts students, it’s their first competition since many tournaments were cancelled during the pandemic.

Maddie Volesky breaks a wooden board with a leg kick at the Detroit Lakes Martial Arts Invitational at Detroit Lakes High School on June 3, 2023. (Michael Achterling / KDLM News)

“We have a lady here who is 82 years old,” said Holzhueter. “We have 82 year olds all the way down to four and five year olds, so it makes it a pretty fun day.”

He also said, while the sport does focus on the individual, martial arts needs teammates and a community to push that person to be the best they can be.

“At the end of the day, you cannot do any of that by yourself,” he said. “You need sparring partners. You need people to hold targets for you. And, one of my favorite things about martial arts is that it’s 100% accountability on you, but you need to work with your community and your friends in order to get better at it.”

A competitor at the Detroit Lakes Martial Arts Invitational breaks a wooden board with a spinning high kick on June 3, 2023. (Michael Achterling / KDLM News)

The tournament featured scored categories of various martial art forms, weapons demonstrations, sparring, and board and brick breaking.

Master Robert Lugert, of West Fargo, N.D., said he broke 10 concrete bricks at last year’s breaking demonstration and hoped to put his hand through 15 bricks this year.

The most important part of brick breaking, he said, was technique and confidence.

A competitor at the Detroit Lakes Martial Arts Invitational screams in preparation as she attempts to break five concrete bricks on June 3, 2023. (Michael Achterling / KDLM News)

A competitor at the Detroit Lakes Martial Arts Invitational breaks five concrete bricks during a breaking competition on June 3, 2023. (Michael Achterling / KDLM News)

“It’s a mental game,” said Lugert. “That’s all it is. It’s understand that it’s not going to hit back, so what’s the worst that’s going to happen … you just spend a lot of time getting into your head and just breaking things. Break things over and over again and eventually you realize, oh, it broke. I didn’t break.”