The Blaze World Champions have made this a weekend I will never forget. Four of our fighters are returning from the WMAC World Championships in Austria as World Champions after six members of Blaze Martial Arts represented England on the world stage.
But what makes this achievement even more special for me is something I wrote 23 years ago.
In March 2003, I was interviewed by Martial Arts Illustrated magazine.
As part of the feature, they included a little fact file about me. Name, grade, martial arts background and the usual questions.
Then came:
Ambition?
My answer was only five words:
“To Train a World Champion.”
At the time, it was exactly that — an ambition.
Twenty-three years later, I can look back at those words and say something I don’t think has completely sunk in yet.
I haven’t trained one World Champion.
I’ve now trained four.
And incredibly, all four won their World Championship titles on the same weekend.
Six Blaze fighters. Six England representatives.
This weekend, six members of Blaze Martial Arts travelled to Austria to represent England at the WMAC World Championships.
The official WMAC World Championship website covers the World Martial Arts Games and Elite World Championships, bringing together martial artists from around the world.
Representing Blaze and England were:
Ollie. Simon. Orlando. Josh. Jake. Derek.
Just writing those six names and knowing that every one of them earned the opportunity to represent their country makes me enormously proud.
Then came the results.
🥇 Ollie — Gold in Elite and World Champion.
🥇 Simon — Gold and Silver in Elite and World Champion.
🥇 Orlando — Gold in Open, plus two Silver medals, and World Champion.
🥇 Josh — Gold in Open, plus further medal success in Elite, and World Champion.
Four fighters. Four new Blaze World Champions.
Jake also produced a fantastic performance, winning his Round of 16 fight and progressing to the quarter-finals.
Derek stepped onto the World Championship stage representing England and Blaze Martial Arts, fought hard and did us proud.
That’s important to me because this weekend wasn’t simply about who came home wearing a Gold medal.
All six represented their country.
That’s an achievement they can carry with them for the rest of their lives.
Watch the WMAC World Championships
One of the great things about this year’s championships is that you don’t just have to take our word for it!
You can actually watch footage from the competition through WMAC Live on YouTube and see the standard of martial arts our Blaze fighters faced in Austria.
👉 Watch the WMAC World Championships on WMAC Live
Look out for our Blaze Martial Arts fighters representing England — Ollie, Simon, Orlando, Josh, Jake and Derek.
Success isn’t only measured by the medal around your neck
Martial arts teaches us to strive to win.
I’m certainly not going to pretend winning doesn’t matter.
These guys train hard and compete hard. When you enter a World Championship, of course you want to come home with the title.
But martial arts also teaches you something else.
You don’t always get to control the result.
What you can control is your preparation.
Your courage.
Your effort.
And how you conduct yourself when it’s over.
Six Blaze fighters went to Austria.
Six pulled on their England kit.
Six walked onto a World Championship stage and represented their country in the sport they love.
Think about that for a moment.
How many people go through their entire lives without ever having the opportunity to represent their country?
These guys have done it.
That achievement can never be taken away from any of them.
What does it feel like as their instructor?
This is probably the hardest part of this blog to write.
I’ve been training in martial arts for around 40 years. I’ve competed, coached, graded thousands of students, produced Black Belts and watched people achieve things they once thought were impossible.
Blaze itself has been running for more than two decades.
I’ve had plenty of moments I’m proud of.
But this feels different.
Seeing four Blaze World Champions crowned in one weekend is quite overwhelming.
Then I remembered about that old Martial Arts Illustrated interview.
I looked at it again.
March 2003.
Ambition: “To Train a World Champion.”
That’s when it really hit home.
The person answering that question 23 years ago had absolutely no idea what was ahead.
There were thousands of classes still to teach.
Thousands of rounds to hold pads for.
Good nights.
Difficult nights.
Wins.
Losses.
Injuries.
Gradings.
Competitions.
And probably several million cries of:
“KEEP YOUR HANDS UP!”
And eventually, somehow, that journey led here.
Four World Champions.
I’m absolutely buzzing.
But here’s the part parents should understand
It would be very easy for us to turn this into:
“Come to Blaze and become a World Champion!”
But that’s not what Blaze is about.
Most of our students will never enter a World Championship.
Some will never enter a competition at all.
And that’s absolutely fine.
Our Little Ninjas might walk through the door at four years old because Mum or Dad wants them to become a little more confident.
A seven-year-old might join because they need something that helps develop their concentration and discipline.
An 11-year-old might desperately need something away from school where they can feel successful.
A teenager might want to get fitter.
An adult might simply fancy learning kickboxing and doing something considerably more interesting than spending an hour on a treadmill!
All of those reasons are every bit as valid.
The UK Government’s physical activity guidance for children and young people highlights benefits including building confidence and social skills, developing coordination, improving concentration and learning, and strengthening muscles and bones.
The NHS physical activity guidance for children and young people also includes martial arts among activities that can help strengthen children’s muscles and bones.
So the importance of this weekend isn’t that we’re going to turn every Blaze student into an international fighter.
It’s what these achievements show our students about what is possible.
Every World Champion starts as a beginner
This is perhaps my favourite part of the whole story.
There wasn’t a special entrance marked:
WORLD CHAMPIONS ONLY
when these guys started martial arts.
They started exactly where everybody starts.
As beginners.
They had to learn their stance.
Their first punches.
Their first kicks.
They made mistakes.
They got tired.
They had good sessions.
They had bad sessions.
Then they came back.
And came back again.
And again.
That’s the lesson I’d love our younger Blaze students to take from this weekend.
You don’t have to look at a World Champion and think:
“I could never do that.”
Look at them and think:
“They started where I’m starting.”
Where you eventually take that journey is entirely up to you.
Sport England’s research into children and young people also highlights the importance of children and young people having positive experiences of sport and physical activity.
That’s something we’ve always believed strongly at Blaze.
We don’t judge success purely by medals or belts.
For one student, success might be representing England.
For another, it might be earning their next belt.
For a Little Ninja, it might simply be having the confidence to join in without Mum or Dad standing beside them.
They’re all achievements worth celebrating.
What our Blaze World Champions bring back to the club
There’s another huge benefit for everybody at Blaze.
This experience doesn’t stay in Austria.
It comes home.
Our Blaze World Champions now bring that experience back into the club, where it can inspire and benefit the next generation of students.
The lessons our fighters and coaches learn at international competition level come straight back into our Blaze classes in Ascot, Bracknell, Windsor and Wokingham.
Our students get to train alongside people who have tested themselves against international opposition.
Our younger students get to see what’s possible.
And perhaps most importantly, they discover that a World Champion isn’t some untouchable person they only see on television.
It might be the person holding the pads for them.
I think that’s pretty special.
Whether a student’s ultimate goal is a World Championship belt, their next grading, improved fitness, greater confidence or simply having the courage to walk through the door for their first class, the principle is the same:
Progress comes one session at a time.
I’m proud of all six of you
So, Ollie, Simon, Orlando, Josh, Jake and Derek…
Thank you.
Thank you for the work you’ve put in.
Thank you for representing Blaze so brilliantly.
Thank you for representing England.
You’ve done your families proud.
You’ve done Blaze proud.
You’ve done your country proud.
And you should be incredibly proud of yourselves.
Win, lose or draw, you represented your country in the sport you love.
Not many people ever get to say that.
And to our four new Blaze World Champions — Ollie, Simon, Orlando and Josh — congratulations.
Twenty-three years ago, I wrote down an ambition:
“To Train a World Champion.”
Apparently, you lot weren’t satisfied with giving me just one.
Four will do nicely. 🏆🏆🏆🏆
What a weekend.
What a team.
And what an incredible chapter in the Blaze Martial Arts story.
Justyn Billingham
Chief Instructor, Blaze Martial Arts
7th Dan Black Belt
Could your Blaze journey start here?
You don’t need aspirations of becoming a World Champion to train at Blaze Martial Arts.
You don’t even need to have thrown a kick before.
We have classes for complete beginners from four years old through to teenagers and adults, with dedicated age groups designed to allow students to develop at their own pace.
You can train with Blaze Martial Arts in:
📍 Ascot
📍 Bracknell
📍 Windsor
📍 Wokingham
Whether you’re looking for greater confidence for your child, improved fitness, discipline, self-defence, a new challenge — or perhaps even the beginning of your own competition journey — it all starts with one class.
Your first lesson is FREE.
👉 Book your FREE Blaze Martial Arts trial lesson
Frequently Asked Questions
Does my child need to want to compete to join Blaze Martial Arts?
Absolutely not.
Competition is available for students who want it, but it isn’t a requirement.
Our students train for all sorts of reasons, including confidence, fitness, enjoyment, self-defence, discipline and progressing through their grades.
What age can children start at Blaze Martial Arts?
Our Little Ninjas programme starts from age four, followed by dedicated junior classes as children get older.
The NHS physical activity guidance for children under five encourages young children to be physically active every day through age-appropriate activity and active play.
Can complete beginners join Blaze?
Absolutely.
Every single person who trains at Blaze started somewhere.
That includes our Black Belts.
And it includes our World Champions.
Where does Blaze Martial Arts teach?
We currently run classes in:
Ascot, Bracknell, Windsor and Wokingham.
Can Blaze students progress into competition?
Yes.
Students who demonstrate the interest, commitment and appropriate skill level can have opportunities to progress into competitive martial arts.
Our latest achievement saw six Blaze fighters represent England at the WMAC World Championships in Austria, with four becoming World Champions.
Can adults join Blaze Martial Arts?
Yes.
We teach teenagers and adults, including complete beginners who have never trained in martial arts before.
You don’t need to get fit before starting martial arts.
Training is part of how you become fitter.