A group of local martial arts students will turn the phrase “kicking cancer” into a reality April 20 as they kick to raise money for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

For the third consecutive year, Impact Martial Arts owner and instructor Sean Gilham and his students will perform live martial arts demonstrations in a Kick-A-Thon event to raise monetary donations for St. Jude.

The students will demonstrate basic martial arts forms, self-defense, sparring and competition weapons forms, as well as see how many kicks they can do in one minute.

Gilham said community members can pledge money to the students in the kicking competition.

Pledges for kicks and all other donations can be any amount.

“This is a special time of the year for us and the students, as the students see that they can use the thing they love, taekwondo, in a positive way such as raising money for the amazing St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital,” Gilham said. “It would be greatly appreciated to be able to get the community involved in raising donations for this great hospital.”

Last year, Impact Martial Arts and other affiliated schools in the state raised more than $5,000 for St. Jude. They raised $4,000 the first year.

“Any amount is a good number,” Gilham said. “I just hope we get a good outing.”

Gilham said he personally donates to St. Jude every year by participating in benefit runs and sponsoring a patient at the hospital periodically.

“I’m a big fundraiser for cancer,” he said. “I do the runs, I sponsor St. Jude and every month I donate.”

The demonstrations on Saturday, April 20, will be held from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. outside of Winn-Dixie on Ollie Avenue in Clanton.

Gilham said demonstrations will begin at the top of every hour and feature students of various ages (3 years old to adult).

“We will have a spot where people can donate, and they can watch the demonstration,” Gilham said. “We can hand out information, too.”

As a follow-up to the fundraiser demonstrations, Impact Martial Arts will hold a free trial class at 5:30 p.m. on Monday, April 22, for anyone interested in beginning martial arts training.

Impact Martial Arts is located inside Cornerstone Fitness and Wellness in Clanton.

For more information, call (205) 266-0732.