Pannawonica fighters eye big competitions

Kung Fu enthusiasts from Pannawonica could soon be making their way to China to compete for a world championship title thanks to the hard work of instructor Jamie Samson.

Samson, who was a full-time instructor in Perth, started Pannawonica Kung Fu in April last year after moving to the town for work.

He currently teaches a dedicated group of 10 members who train twice a week and he said it was his intention to get them ready for State, national and international recognition.

"We're going to try and send a team to the world championships, which is in China in October this year," he said.

Having already personally competed at an international level, Samson said he was looking forward to putting in the extra hours to train his group to be ready for competitions.

"I'll be training the guys to get them ready to represent Australia, that's the goal," he said. "It's State and national titles they need to compete in before October.

"That was my goal when I first (started the club) and I didn't think it would happen, but I wrote it down and it seems it might eventually pay off."

Samson was recently recognised for his efforts working with the club at the Shire of Ashburton Australia Day celebrations where he won the Pannawonica Coaching and Official Excellence award.

He said he loved training and teaching Kung Fu because it was a sport you could continue to learn from all your life.

Samson said the club had a very social atmosphere and was all about challenging the three parts of your body - the mind, the body and the spirit.

"Personally I think it's the balance between physical challenge and mental challenge," he said.

"It's one of those things where people keep training at it for years and you never get really, really good at it because you just keep training and keep working on yourself."

Samson said the club was still taking new interested members in town, as long as they were 16 and older.

They train twice a week, on Tuesdays and Thursdays, for 1½ hours from 7pm.

For more information contact Samson on kungfu.pannawonica@gmail.com .