After 20 years as the Southern Hemisphere’s leading All Styles Martial Arts Tournament Circuit, the National All Styles held its second WASO World Championships on the beautiful Gold Coast.



Excellent numbers of overseas entries meant that the quality of competition was always going to be high. Carrara Sports Stadium was jam packed with competitors lining up for the start of 3 days of non stop action. Just under 620 competitors registered for this truly spectacular event. Martial artists from styles as diverse as Karate, Kickboxing, Tae Kwon Do, Kung Fu, Silat, Free styles and many others battled against each other to see who would become WASO 2006 World Champions.

Australian & International competitors arrived by bus to Carrara Stadium from their hotels. As they arrived they were awed to see hundreds of cars belonging to local spectators and competitors. The atmosphere was electric as they entered the venue and were entertained by the Coalesce Balada band who had kept spectators and competitors bopping prior to bow-in.



At 8.30 a.m. the WASO President, Mr. Silvio Morelli and Vice President Mr. James Casey officially opened the 2 nd WASO World Championships, thanking all who traveled from near and far for this auspicious occasion. To the large number of national and international competitors and spectators, two time WASO World Women’s Black Belt champion Pania Casey-Williams was given the honor of reading the oath on behalf of all competitors. Mr Gerard West, the Australian National Technical Director read the official’s oath on behalf of his fellow referees, judges and table officials.

With a jam packed day of competition the tournament began with Forms over 8 rings. This event always attracts huge interest and some outstanding performances had everyone’s attention. The clash of the little titans, the Pee Wee division was one of the biggest divisions of the day with a stunning array of talent. Benjamin Chin, Praying Mantis Kungfu had everyone spell bound with his performance of high flying leaps and rolls to take out first place, runner up was Angus Field.



The 14 to 15 years (5 th - Black belt) division was hotly contested. The tension was high, as were many of the scores from the judges. The winner was Shayne Taupo Go Kan Ryu 1st place and runner up Dana Belgan. In another ring, the veterans division was in its final stages, Peter Sbirakos, Shokukai Karate was announced the World Champion, runner-up was Lucky Pandelidis.

The Men’s and Women’s Open Black Belt Forms got underway early. The tension was high as the Australian & International competitors lined up for a chance to qualify for the finals, to be held on Saturday. You could see there was tension, no one was talking…. watching each other go through their form knowing any slip or lose of concentration would cost them any chance!

Only the top 8 would go through for a chance to be crowned World Champion, well known names such as defending World Champion, Pania Casey-Williams, Margaret Lee, Kristel Suess and Angela Seeto were among those to qualify. From the men’s division, Luke Trotz, Ben Cunningham and Isha Sofyan to name a few, all qualified for the finals along with James Casey who was WASO 2000 Junior World Champion



As competitors geared-up for the afternoon’s Continuous Sparring competition you could feel the mercury rise as every division went straight through to the final. The 12-14 years continuous sparring division drew a large number of competitors and round by round competitors were eliminated. Andrew Kennedy fought Blake Michell in a classy performance where Blake came out legs flying in an attempt to gain the lead, however Andrew kept his cool, using good ring craft and picking his shots to win the match.

In the Female Advanced Continuous Sparring, the home crowd got right behind Margaret Lee as every round she fought was like a final. Margaret came up against Hayley Carr in the finals for a nail biting round as both girls were relentless in their attack. Both girls embraced with exhaustion and Margaret was declared the World Champion 2006.



In another ring 15 – 17 years Male Continuous Sparring division was coming to its final stages where Matthew Rogers moved inside his opponent with excellent counter punches and leg techniques to defeat his opponent Ashley Trotman.

Later that afternoon the Female and Male Black Belt Open Point Sparring was in progress with excellent representation from Australia and overseas. A highlight from the afternoon was where two previous Champion of Champions were destined to meet in the preliminaries. Pania Casey-Williams came up against Karen Stone and this had every body on their toes. Pania scored with some excellent high kicks to take the lead, however Karen came back and was in front with only seconds to go. Pania setup a combination and scored with a round house kick to win by 1 point advancing her to the final. Both girls showed true sportsmanship by embracing.

Explosive action was the call for Day 2, Saturday July 1 2006.

Competitors were keen on following in the footsteps of the star performers from the previous day. As one of the younger competitors from New Zealand put it, “Yesterday makes me want to become a champion!”


With fire in everyone’s belly and 8 rings of simultaneous competition going, spectators definitely got their money’s worth. Throughout the day the point sparring divisions were going through their paces, round by round competitors were eliminated, with the final two of each division progressing through to Sunday’s finals.

Classy demonstrations were the order of the day; there were some of the best demonstrations ever seen from self-defense routines, comical scenarios and inspirational weapons demonstrations, some including very acrobatic maneuvers. Martial Energy team thrilled the crowd, the adult team from Zeus International Martial Arts Academy then brought the crowd to their feet with a brilliant performance and creative forms was won by James Casey in an awesome display. Weaponry demonstrators had been honing their routines in preparation for the event; Michael Fisher Praying Mantis gave a polished performance, while in the seniors Carl Sinclair Zen Shin Martial Arts showed years of experience for a much deserved win.


In the finals of the Male & Female Black Belt Forms, defending World Champions (sister & brother) Pania & James Casey became for the second time, WASO World Champions, successfully defending their titles from the WASO 2000 World Championships.

With the finals of the Black Belt Point Sparring divisions scheduled as part of the Sunday spectacular, the fantastic action during the preliminaries held on Saturday afternoon which was nothing short of exhilarating. One of the obvious divisions to watch was the men’s Heavy Weight division. Con Koolbanis standing well over 6 foot tall took every match to his opponents and earned the right to fight in the finals. Another standout was two time NAS Champion of Champion Ben Cunningham, who had some shaky moments in the prelims but managed to focus and earn his place in the final.



In the women’s we saw Pania Casey out to reclaim her women’s title by earning a spot in the final. A future champion emerged in the Female Heavy Weight, Lyndal Ricketts let everyone know she would be a force to be reckoned with, making the finals. Each of the winners in the four weight divisions of men’s and women’s Black Belt divisions were offered a once in a life time chance to be crowned World Champion of Champions, the ultimate title!


Day 3, Sunday July 2, 2006

Sunday morning’s finals of junior through to veterans had the audience applauding newly crowned World Champions. In the 12 – 13 years (5 th Kyu to Black Belt) female division Paisley Kiddie powered her way to the top to take the title, close behind was Jakayla Rua. Over on ring 3 the judges of the 12 – 13 years



(10 th – 6 th Kyu) female were commenting on how fast some of the competitors were on the mats. In the finals Samantha Baericke scored a consummate win over Jennifer Farrugia to the applause of the home town crowd. The final of the 14 – 15 years (5 th Kyu to Black Belt) male was a fiery match with both boys going toe to toe right to the bell. Delio Senatore defeated Craig Richardson in a great point for point battle.

The Extreme Martial Arts Spectacular was about to begin.

When the MC announced “get ready to rumble”, the audience applauded with excitement. Already enjoying the day due to the brilliant demos in the Masters Showcase, they were all keen to see some Black Belt action.



First up were the finals of all the Black Belt Weight Divisions with the opportunity for two people to be crowned World Champion of Champions. In the Women’s Open Weight division, Pania Casey snatched the title from Michelle Rolls and in the Men’s Open Weight division, Ben Cunningham took a nail biter to beat Ashley Fleming. Light Weight Hayley Carr defeated Tamieka Bradford and Lachlan Carr was too classy for Ben Cunningham, making it a double for the Carr family. The Middle Weight division saw Michelle Rolls defeat team mate Lyndal Saygili, with Luke Trotz too good for Jason Parker on the day. In the Heavy Weight division Lyndal Ricketts was too strong for Cheyenne Hoffman, in the men’s Con Koolbanis over powered Ashley Fleming.

Taking a break from the fast paced fighting; the crowed then enjoyed some more great demos from the masters. Aikido master Graham Morris won the applause of the audience for a fine demonstration followed by Shihan James Casey and son James Jnr performing a forms demonstration, followed by a breaking demonstration of 6 large slabs of ice, which the audience loved. There was another top demo by Shihan Bruce Hyland performing a form and bunkai (explanation of the form).



Just when it seemed the entertainment couldn’t get more exciting out came the Black Belt finalists. Who will be the WASO Champion of Champions? Weight no longer had any bearing as they fought each other for that one chance to fight for Champion of Champions. They carried their injuries of 3 days, non stop fighting to make it to this day. Pania Casey was up against a much classier fight on the day and was defeated by Lyndal Ricketts. One of the shocks of the afternoon was Ben Cunningham going down to his much taller opponent, Con Koolbanis, who was just too sharp on the day.

Two male and two female competitors went through and as they prepared for a once in a life time dream the audience was entertained by Sifu Jason King with a demonstration of a drunken master, his acrobatics & flexibility had everybody in laughter and awe. The audience was then entertained by a professional swordsmanship demonstration from Master Jung IL OH and members and last but by no means least, a first class performance from Shihan Stacey Karetsian and senior instructors with a form and bunkai.

The moment arrived for the Champion of Champions bouts and out came Lyndal Ricketts and Michelle Rolls. The match got off to a fiery start, was stopped due to injury and then continued to where Lyndal was named the 2006 WASO World Female Champion of Champions.

In the men’s bout, Con Koolbanis was just too big and strong on the day. He defeated Lachlan Carr and was crowned 2006 WASO World Male Champion of Champions. Lachlan won the respect of his opponent and officials with a gutsy fight right to the end.

Your hosts James & Virginia Casey wish to thank all who attended these championships and traveled so far to make this tournament such a great success, we hope you take home fond memories of this tournament. Thank you to the referees, judges and table officials, without whom we could not hold any of the tournaments. They do an important and often thankless job and deserve our respect and gratitude for all their efforts. To all our helpers and staff we truly thank you! Again, without these volunteers the venue could not be set up, trophies prepared, food organised and much, much more. Thanks everybody, see you next time!!

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