A Sikh martial arts competition is coming to Cloverdale.
The Damdama Gatka Championship will feature players from around the world and will be held at the Agriplex July 6-7.
Gatka is a traditional Sikh combat sport and is thought of as combat education.
“This event brings together skilled Gatka players to showcase the rich traditions of the ancient Sikh martial art form,” said Vaneet Kaur, communications manager for the Damdama Gatka Championship.
Kaur added competitors will be coming in from all over Canada (almost every province), many from California and other parts of the U.S., several from India, and some from various other countries.
Spectators will be able to watch qualifying matches on Saturday, July 6, and the championship matches on Sunday, July 7.
The competition is being hosted by the Shaheed Baba Deep Singh Ji Gatka Akhara (SBDSJGA), which has both a Surrey and a Victoria location. An akhara is both a competition ring and a training school for practicing Gatka, much like a gymnasium, but with a spiritual side as well. Gatka as a sport is inseparable from Sikhism.
“There is a spiritual and religious aspect to Gatka,” Kaur told the Cloverdale Reporter. “When you walk into the akhara, or when you are about to play or practice the martial art, there is a prayer that goes into it before starting.”
She said competitors then bow, offer salutations to the weapons they’ll be using, step in the akhara, and do battle. There are two forms of Gatka, a practice form and a competitive form.
Kaur said that on day one of the competition, the championships will take on more of a festival atmosphere as the fighters will compete in various qualifying matches, but there are no elimination bouts. On day two, she said the competitors will start off with more qualifying matches, but will battle for their tournament lives in elimination play-off rounds later in the day as the athletes fight to be crowned champions in four categories: both junior boys and girls (age 15+) and both senior men and women (18+).
“This is a fari-soti competition,” explained Kaur. “So this is where two players go head-to-head. A fari is a leather shield and a soti is a stick made out of bamboo.”
The Gatka fighters will battle one-on-one in bouts that feature two-minute rounds.
According to a press release from SBDSJGA about the championships, the aim is to “showcase the traditional elements of Gatka in a contemporary approach.”
This is the second Damdama Gatka Championship. Last year, at the inaugural event, more than 2,000 spectators came through the doors for the two-day tournament (held at the Khalsa School on 124th). Kaur said it was a “huge success” and she expects a repeat of that this year, hoping even more people will come out because of the bigger venue.
“This is the first of its kind, there are competitions around the world, but the way that we do it is one of a kind,” she said. “Last year, we had the Hockey Night in Canada Punjabi commentators doing the play-by-play as we live-streamed the event.”
The live-stream will be broadcast on the SBDSJGA YouTube page and will feature several Sikh sports media personalities along with former Gatka fighters.
The tournament is being supported by two main sponsors, Khalsa Credit Union and Ion Properties.
“We’re hoping to put Gatka on the map and really show what this traditional martial art is all about and we’re just really excited about it,” Kaur added. "And because we had such a positive turnout last year, we’ve scaled it up to the Agriplex. Last year was incredible. It was a full house.
“We're really hoping for a bigger and better turnout this year.”
Kaur said entry is free and there will be food trucks on site both Saturday and Sunday.
The Damdama Gatka Championships will run from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. both July 6 and 7 at the Cloverdale Agriplex, located at 17798 62 Avenue on the Cloverdale Fairgrounds. Visit gatka.ca for more info.