Glen Innes martial artists Mark and Nick Crisp leave for Okinawa, Japan this morning where they will join others from around the world looking to develop their skills in preparation for next year’s world titles.

They will be a part of a squad of 16 Australians that features juniors, men, women and seniors from Brisbane, Newcastle, the Gold Coast and the Blue Mountains. Australia is expected to be one of 20 countries present.

Mark and Nick will be the only father son combination in the Australian squad and at 11 years old, Nick will also be the youngest member.

The martial artists will be in Japan for nine days where they will be involved in an extensive training seminar conducted by World Koshiki Karatedo Federation chairman, ninth dan Masayuki Kukan Histaka and Shihan sixth dan Masamitsu Hisataka.

Mark said that the training will place strong focus on perfecting skills with the assistance of the highly experienced Histaka.

“We will be working on technique and skill for next year’s world titles with a focus on kumatai, which is full contact fighting, carters, which are the patterns, kunaki and bukai, which uses traditional Japanese poles,” he said.

“We are hoping to get a better understanding and knowledge of the fundamentals and principals, experience the culture and improve on technique. The change in temperature will take a bit of getting used to, it will be a lot warmer as we will go from training in two degrees to 30 degrees.”