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.

Fellow lightweight Ben Cunningham, also 22, was equally impressive in his division, first winning the NAS NSW State Title in point-sparring just weeks after having his appendix removed. In December, he again let fly with his quick hands to win the National Lightweight Title, then to defeat his heavyweight opponent in the Champion of Champions title bout at the NAS Nationals.
Here, the pair reveal what it takes to become a NAS Champ.

When and why did you first take up karate?
Pania: I began karate in 1987 at the age of five. You could say it was my destiny. My father, Shihan James Casey, was my instructor, and my mother, sister and two brothers all did karate too — it was in my blood.
Ben: I started karate in 1995. One of the main reasons was, my parents pushed me and my brother in to it, just to learn discipline and respect for each other and life, as well as getting some more exercise.

What made you choose the style you’re in, and have you ever tried any other styles?
Pania: There was no decision to be made — as I mentioned earlier my instructor is my father, which meant their was no reason to look any further.
Ben: The one thing that hooked me to stay in Go Kan Ryu karate was the structure of the class format. You can work on mastering all aspects of the art — kihon (basics), kata, kumite, as well as working on your fitness and strength. I’ve tried two other styles for a couple of weeks before, but will remain with GKR.

How and why did you first get involved in NAS?
Pania: In 1995 my father/instructor took on the directorship of NAS Queensland, so that year I began my great journey with NAS.
Ben: At the end of 2001, I started on the NSW Go Kan Ryu state team, which allowed me to start the NAS tournaments. I wanted to test my skills and ability against the best in other styles, as well as strengthen my own ability in the martial arts.

Why should others want to get involved in NAS?
Pania: NAS tournaments are great. Every year we have competitors from all over Australia, and with them they bring comradeship, respect, friendship and good competition. In saying this, NAS is not only a great tournament for the competitors but also their families and friends — the spectators. NAS has given me the opportunity to appreciate and compete against all styles, which is great for growth and learning towards defending oneself.
Ben: I recommend NAS, because as an individual you can test your own ability against other styles in a non-contact environment. And you can pick up some valuable tips and techniques through the year, either things your good at, or things you can work on.

What were your most exciting victories?
Pania: I won the 1996 WKO World Titles, Canada (Points, Forms, Junior Champion of Champions); WASO First senior female Black-belt sparring and forms champion; WASO World Champion, Forms, World Champion Continuous Sparring.
In NAS, the Champion of Champions; Lightweight Point-sparring Champion; Forms champion; and State Team Forms champion.
Ben: I have a couple. One was in 2002, when I won the 16–20-year-old Colts (Brown-belt and above) Kumite at the GKR Australian Titles. Then in 2003 I went to Birmingham, England for the GKR World Cup, where I came first in the same division, and second for the kata. In 2004, NAS round one, I took first in forms and kumite (the double) for the Men’s Open Black-belt.
I won the 2004 NAS NSW State Title in Men’s Open Kumite after getting my appendix out just three weeks prior. Winning the Lightweight division at the Nationals in Point-sparring, and winning the Champion of Champions was just as memorable — and probably the best so far.

And your most memorable loss?
Pania: My most memorable loss was at the 2000 nationals in Melbourne. I made the finals against Erin Forest [twice NAS Champion of Champions] but I lost, four points to five. Erin is a great champion and I enjoyed competing against her. She was the one to beat then — she was always winning, so to come so close made it memorable.
Ben: All losses are memorable because you learn form them and then go forward. In 2002 at the GKR Australasian Titles, in the Open Kumite finals I came up against Glen Hutchinson. The fight was neck-and-neck but it wasn’t my time to win; I ended up third in the opens that year.
The lesson I learned was to never give up; always believe in my own ability and keep persisting until I’ve got my goal, or smashed it, and just keep working on my weakness until I’m happy with them.

What life-lessons have you learned through karate and NAS competition?
Pania: Karate has taught me to have good leadership skills, confidence in myself, respect for others and it’s taught me that failure is not bad, as we learn from our mistakes. Now, as a mother of two, it has taught me how to teach my children good morals, respect and honour.
Ben: One of the biggest life lessons I’ve learned is belief, and inner courage. My inner courage through karate has improved heaps; I’ve also carried it through to my work as a security guard. But the one thing that made the difference this year was my belief, in that I started believing in my own techniques and ability. I began telling myself I’m the fastest and strongest person and I can win every time, against any opponent. Just thinking that helps.

How much do you use your NAS performance as an overall gauge of your martial arts development?
Pania: I don’t really use my NAS performance to gauge my martial arts development because karate is a way of life for me and has been since I was born.
Ben: I take every tournament, NAS and GKR, (and karate lessons) as a personal performance gauge, in that it’s where I find out my weakness, and then go back to training and work on them over and over again until the technique is strong, fast, and I am happy with it.

Which elements of your art does NAS test and develop most, and are there any areas that aren’t fully developed or tested through NAS comp?
Pania: My style is KenshinKan Karate, meaning Bare-Fist Spirit Karate. We don’t train for competition, as we are a traditional, full-contact school. NAS doesn’t really test any particular element of my art, as we are taught it all, but if any it would have to be my control. Although we are taught that control is very important, that would be the element NAS tests for me.
Ben: The NAS tests and develops every aspect of any martial artist; we train to get the best kata (forms) and kumite, and when we compete in the NAS it tests our knowledge and application of that kata and our techniques in kumite. It helps fine-tune techniques and focus, simply because you want to win the tournament.

What was the biggest obstacle you overcame to become NAS Champion of Champions?
Pania: Definitely trying to juggle two babies while trying to focus on my events was my biggest obstacle, but I think having two babies pushes me even harder to achieve what I want out of life. I’m sure most mothers can agree with me, that after having children we can do anything. Having a young family and training and competing is never boring — sometimes a little hectic — but I love my family and my sport and would not change anything for the world.
My training and competing would not be possible if it wasn’t for my mother watching the babies while I’m training, and our close-knit karate school — they are all like family, aunties and uncles to our babies and help watch them while I’m competing. I would like to thank them all very much.
Ben: The biggest obstacle was self-belief, which before was perhaps lacking. I visualised every opponent and every technique to win, every day, for two months prior to the tournament. I had to overcome the negative thoughts of not believing I could win, and the usual butterflies.

Which people have been most important helping you succeed, and why?
Pania: I would like to thank my father/Shihan and mother/Sensei — they have both supported me and taught me everything I know, and it’s because of them that I have all of these achievements today; my supportive fiancée, Chris, who is always there by my side cheering me on and has been a great father; and the rest of my family — brother/Sensei James, brother Andre and sister Elizabeth. We’re a very close family and they have always been there to support me.
Ben: There have been heaps of important people helping me through the years to succeed, but Sensei Anthony Ryan, Erkan Saygili, David North, Craig Lennox (2003 Champion of Champions), Skye Mcsweeney, just to name a few, have believed in my ability through the years. They pushed me through the tough times with advice, knowledge, and support in every aspect of karate and life.

What do you use for motivation and who are your mentors?
Pania: My father/Shihan is my motivation and mentor. He’s a perfectionist and I am honoured that he taught me the skills and showed me how to perfect them.
Ben: My motivation comes from within — my dreams about being the best in karate. Sometimes it comes from training with the NSW GKR state team, with the atmosphere that comes from everyone trying to be the best in everything we do in karate. There, all our goals are kind of the same. My mentors are Sensei Anthony Ryan, Craig Lennox, Erkan Saygili and Sensei Nabil Fanous — their knowledge, technique and speed are incredible.

How do you get fired up before a kata or sparring comp — is it different?
Pania: Before I start competing I like to warm up to music. I find it helps me get fired up. With sparring, I suss out my opponents. I watch their every move, so I know what to do when I come up against them. For kata it’s the opposite: I like to keep cool relax. Sometimes I meditate.
Ben: I always work [in security] on the Saturday night, at a nightclub in Newcastle, before a tournament so I only get a couple of hours sleep. It affects me a little because it sometimes gives me a headache, or it will put me off mentally. I try to focus on all my goals and fight it out, because it’s only in your head. I’m used to not having much sleep but it is a real mental barrier.
For a couple of weeks before the tournament, I visualise the moves I’ll be doing for both kata and, in a way, kumite. On the day, I just have fun or help the GKR team if I’m not judging. And just relax.

What’s your favourite event out of kata, point-sparring and continuous, and why?
Pania: My favourite event is kata. Kata to me is very traditional and in our style involves focus, deep stances, hybuki, snap, chi and been able to know the difference between soft and hard. I love being able to use these qualities to perform ‘fighting without fighting’ (kata).
Ben: Honestly I would like to say both kata and kumite but I really like point-sparring just because you can see the speed, strength and technique scoring against the other opponent, and you can see the score going up or down. But I am now starting to like kata a lot more.

What injuries, if any, have you sustained during competition or training, and what has been the worst?
Pania: I haven’t really had many injuries except for a black eye and occasional bruises.
Ben: Everyone gets some kind of injury. I’ve had my fair share of bruises and chipped bones, but no broken ones. Two injuries have shaped my life though. The first was playing soccer I went in for a tackle and ended up on a hospital bed for a couple of days not feeling anything and not being able to move my body, the second was getting my appendix out, then coming back to karate two weeks after the operation and training full-on in the third week, then three weeks after that, winning the state titles.

Tell us about your weekly training schedule leading up to the NAS nationals…
Pania: Now with the two babies it’s a little harder. I try to train five days a week: Monday, Wednesday, Friday at hombu for three hours each night, Tuesday and Thursday at our gym for two hours a night — doing push-ups, sit-ups, weights and bag-work and focus-mitt drills for cardio. Especially after the babies, I do lots of ab work!
In the dojo, we do lots of kata, basics and full-contact kumite (Kyokushin rules, no head-punches), and the usual running, push-ups and sit-ups. We don’t train specifically for NAS tournaments until a month beforehand, on Fridays and Sundays.
Ben: I was lucky enough to head up to Queensland on the Monday before the tournament, just for a holiday with my cousins. I walked everywhere every day though, and ran through some kata on the beach in the morning. However, the week before I went up, I trained every day in the gym and every night in karate.
Gym includes skipping for 10 minutes then upper-body weights, and about 150 sit-ups and 120 push-ups. It takes about an hour, then I do some punching, both arms, and footwork, then back to skipping. Sometimes I go after work at about three or four in the morning, or during the day.

Do you also follow a special diet?
Pania: No, although I do focus more on my vitamin supplement intake.
Ben: I try to eat as healthily as possible and only have one or two chocolate bars a week. I’ll eat a good lunch, a good dinner before or after karate and just healthy snacks like fruit, a healthy sandwich or a protein shake.

What do you consider to be your biggest achievement in the martial arts?
Pania: Winning the women’s Champion of Champions 2004 trophy. Juggling two babies and still being able to focus on my events is such an achievement for me.
Ben: The best one has to be when I graded to Black-belt. I was the first person in the Newcastle area to become a [GKR] Black-belt and I had most of the karate population there to cheer me on, along with the support of Sensei Peter Durrant and Sensei Glen Hutchison to guide me through the grading and push me — and my mentor Sensei Nabil Fanous, who put me through my grading, beating me up! It was probably one of the best moments – there are more.

What is your favourite technique and the one you score with most?
Pania: My favourite technique is mawashigeri (roundhouse-kick), although my hands won the Nationals for me, as they are faster and more precise.
Ben: I have heaps of techniques I like to use but my favourites are the reverse punch and front-hand jab. I’ve been trying to get both techniques as fast as I can, so they’re the two I score with the most.

Do your tactics change with each match? How do you approach the mental side of competition?
Pania: It depends on my opponent; what their favourite techniques are, if they are quick, or if they like to wait for me to attack first. Some people like to score with kicks all the time, so I wait to come inside with a block and counter.
Ben: Each match is very different, so my techniques change slightly in each match to suit the fighting conditions. On the mental side, I try to see all the opponents as a big blob of jelly or something, so they move very slow and I can move very fast…but seriously, I visualise every technique just before the match and I study my opponent’s strengths and weaknesses.

Do you do any other sports? Do they compliment your karate?
Pania: No, I’ve never done any other sport and would never wish to — karate has taught me more than I think any other sport could in a lifetime.
Ben: I play soccer on the weekends in the soccer season and run around with my two Labradors most of the day. I just started swimming in the day, along with going to the gym more times. I like to go mountain bike riding when I get the chance, just doing all of that besides karate training most nights, I get a great cardiovascular workout, stronger muscles, and it’s great for endurance with karate.

Any advice for those wanting to make the National finals next year?
Pania: I believe in the saying, practise makes perfect. Your dreams and goals can come true. Practice, be dedicated, never give up and you will succeed.
Ben: Just keep training hard, set your goals and do everything and anything to achieve them. The biggest advice is to keep believing in your own talents.