National All Styles Martial Arts Tournaments

Nine years ago, Dean Gould found himself torn between the rugby field and the karate dojo. Somewhere between diligently practising his kata and fiercely battling the rugby scrum, Dean realised he didn't have the time to commit himself fully to both activities and that he had to make a choice. Three months ago his decision to choose karate was rewarded in the form of a shiny trophy and belt to signify his new title of National All Styles Champion of Champions.

Pride swelled in the heart of 20-year-old Amber Wilson as she emerged victorious after her eighth and final bout at the recent National All Styles Championships held late last year. Climbing onto the winner's podium she felt a mixture of exhaustion and elation, and was reminded once again why she loves competitive karate so much. Blitz caught up with her to find out how she became a champion.

Luke is a martial arts all-rounder, having trained in six styles since he first stepped into an aikido dojo at age seven. In the 21 years since, he has achieved his 2nd Dan in karate whilst also practising kung-fu, hapkido, taekwondo and his own martial art style, Ryu-Ki-Do.

Vedran Lovric is heralded as the 2002 National All Styles (NAS) Champions of Champions. His achievement sets him amongst the elite martial artists of Australia, in what is truly an all style event. Blitz caught up with the Champion for an exclusive insight into what it takes to win such a prestigeous event.

In an incredible display of technique and endurance over two of the hottest days on record, karatekas Lachlan Carr and Samantha Palmer took the Champion of Champions titles at the 27th Annual National All Styles Australian Championship for the second year running. Here, Lachlan and Samantha give us an insight into their training regimens and martial arts journeys — and just what it takes to win back-to-back titles at Australia’s premier all-styles martial arts event.

Pint-sized Pania Casey has a roundhouse-kick that will give you whiplash, and pair of hands that proved too fast for all her opponents in the National All Styles Point-sparring division in 2004. The 22-year old mother of two didn’t let the rigours of motherhood stand in her way either, stopping to breast-feed her second baby between matches on her way to winning the Champion of Champions title.