By Callum Ludwig
A pair of Wandin North siblings are continuing to climb the rankings of the karate world and are preparing for a big year of competition.
Stephen and Casey Cameron, students of Wado Kai Australia Karate-Do in Mooroolbark, have each represented the state and country in karate and are looking to qualify for the World Championships in Italy in October.
Stephen is heading off to the Oceania Championships in only a few weeks time and said he is pretty nervous this time around.
“I’ll be the youngest of them all, as a fresh 18-year-old, I’ll be going straight to the seniors. Normally the seniors is 18 plus, but they give a subdivision called Under 21s between 18 and 21 but for Oceania, the seniors are normally selected rather than the new guys into Under 21s,” he said.
“I have had a big focus on my fitness and being able to keep up with multiple rounds to prepare as well as getting used to being hit a lot harder.”
Both Stephen and Casey compete in Kumite, a sparring form of karate, which translates literally to English as ‘grappling hands’, as well as Kata, where they perform a set routine of techniques without a partner.
Speaking to the Star Mail in 2022, Stephen had said it was actually Casey who first took an interest in and started karate and he just joined in.
Casey said she is preparing herself for the Australian Open Karate Championships event which is also only a few weeks away.
“The Oceania Championships is seniors only, so I’ve just been doing lots of training at the dojo, getting lots of rounds in and some fitness work outside of the dojo,” she said.
“I’m focusing on getting my attack working better, and just making sure all my techniques are nice, neat, and getting a bit faster.”
Casey may be nursing a minor injury and continuing to work on her craft but remains undefeated this year, with herself and Stephen winning their own State titles events just two weeks ago.
Both Stephen and Casey have each previously won National Championships for Victoria, won their divisions in the 2023 Australian Open event and won gold for Australia at the Oceania Championships.
Stephen said like his sister, his focus is also on his offence at the moment.
“I’m just trying to work on getting my attack and not just falling back as much, so I’m trying to work towards pushing them and what I will do when they are pushing me back as well,” he said.
“It’s been the main focus of being going up to seniors, bringing up to them and having a try at taking them on, though my defence is being worked on as well.”
Stephen has also taken on a mentorship and helping role around the Wado Kai dojo helping with a class on Tuesdays and Thursdays and sometimes with younger students on Saturdays.
“It’s really fun watching them go and seeing them do well in karate, going from really not so good to amazing,” he said.
“They always make the class fun as well, running around, but it’s good to discipline them as well because they will all listen.”
