The titles were held in Townsville on Saturday, June 24.  

Senior Instructor and black belt Enzo Trigila led the team to the national titles on the back of a gruelling 12-week preparation.

The preparation included training with sessions that started at 5.30am and on the same day finishing with night sessions. This happened six days a week. 

“All brought their A-game. It was the first tournament for all of the younger members and they displayed a lot of courage,” Trigila said. 

“Some had to step up a category and fight adults; that showed bravery.

“I was very happy with everyone’s performance” Trigila said.

Dallas Farnsworth claimed silver in single stick as well as silver in the no-armour single stick and gold in the no-armour double stick categories (under-39s).

Patrick Roche took silver and Baily Cliff bronze in single stick 13-14yrs, and Zane Street won silver in single stick 17-39yrs.

Loxley Marsh took silver in double stick no-armour 11yrs and Christopher Stephens stepped up after being knocked out of the 13-14yrs single stick division to win the bronze in the 17-39 yrs; a triumphant effort for a 13 year old.

All six have now earned the right to compete at the WEKAF World Titles in Hawaii in July 2018 as members of the Australian Team.

They will fight against the best competitors from all over the world.

Club secretary Chris Roche said, “the result from the WEKAF Nationals is due to the hard work that

the team put in and we are all very proud of them.

“We went to the tournament to represent Mount Isa and these guys all took their true warrior spirit.

“The battles were fierce against a great field of competitors”.

Now the planning for Hawaii 2018 starts.

“We will be actively fundraising and looking for sponsors and donations to help get the team there,” Roche said. 

“We plan to show the world that Mount Isa can produce world champion stick fighters.” 

For information on Sikaran Martial Arts you can visit the Sikaran Martial Arts Facebook page.