Local fighting talent is sure to make an impact in Tamworth this weekend as Jin Ryu Kan Martial Arts sends a team of 30 to the NSW Koshiki Contact Karate Invitational.
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"We've got someone in almost every division. From the Under 6s right through," Chief Instructor Nick King said. Split evenly between adults and children, the Jin Ryu Kan competitors will come from Inverell, Delungra, Bingara, Warialda, Glen Innes and Guyra.
"(We're) one big family. It'll be good to get in there and go into war together, so to speak," King said.
Hosted by Chaffey's Black Belt Academy on Sunday, teams from all over Queensland and NSW will take on the challenge.
"The Chaffey family, they're really good martial artists," King said.
"They've always got really tough competitors."
King is looking forward to seeing how his students compare to the strong Arjuken Karate Sydney team, coached by one of his former opponents, George Hitado. He enjoys the opportunity to catch up with familiar faces and meet their students.
"Our team's been training really hard. They've been putting a lot of time and effort in training, so we're expecting good results," King said.
He is most excited to see his as yet undefeated son Sam take on the Under 6 division
The first koshiki karate competition of the year, the invitational will be a chance for Jin Ryu Kan instructors to see students' strengths and weaknesses strengths and weaknesses on display.
The martial arts school is also gearing up for a Brisbane competition in June and the Invitational Super Karatedo World Grand Prix in Okinawa, Japan in August.
"We're linked up to the World Koshiki Karatedo Federation. We got an invitation to put a strong team of fighters in," King said.
"It's all in identifying key players between now and then, and training hard."