HE'S only been competing seriously for a matter of months and he's only had six fights in total, however, Taree's Jack Dobel is off to the International Sport Karate Association (ISKA) US Open next July.
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Jack qualified by winning two Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) and Jiu Jitsu events at the International Sport Karate/Sport Jiu Jitsu Assoc World Cup in Liverpool. He won both in his division the 16-17 years 56-60kg. He will also contest the Australasian Open to be held at Liverpool on November 30 following his win.
Jack is the Manning River Times-Iguana Sportstar of the Week, winning a $50 open order at Iguana.
He first started training for the sport when he was living in America with his family about three years ago. However, this was more about fitness and meeting people than serious competition.
Earlier this year Jack came under the guidance of coach Mark McCulloch and he influenced him to take the sport more seriously. Jack admits he's amazed at the improvement he's achieved since he started training with McCulloch. He entered his first tournament in Sydney in May. Jack won in 30 seconds.
"I kicked him and chucked him about and it was all over,'' he recalled.
Since then Jack has been preparing for the World Cup round. Apart from working on technique with McCulloch he also does weights in the gym. In all he usually trains six days a week, having a break on Sundays.
Jack will build towards the Australians event, where he expects to meet much the same opposition as he did in the World Cup round, where he had four fights for four wins.
The US Open is the pinnacle of the sport. Jack will probably have to move into the open division which is for fighters aged 18 to 35.
"And I'll probably be a bit heavier by then,'' he added.
While he will also have to juggle commitments with his HSC year, Jack said it is too big an opportunity to miss. The tournament will run for a week and at this stage Jack has no idea how many fights this will involve. But he's determined to work hard to ensure he's ready for whatever is thrown at him.
It's a sport that takes most of his spare time but Jack admits he hasn't set himself any long term goals for the future yet.
"I just want to take it as it comes and enjoy myself,'' the Chatham High student explained.