Werribee Kyokushin Karate has waited 10 years for its first national champion.
Adam Camerlengo has been in a bit more of a hurry, claiming the mantle after less than two years of full-contact competition.
A late bloomer at 28, Camerlengo won the male middleweight 5th kyu division at the Australian Kyokushin Karate national championships at Sydney University Sports and Aquatic Centre, etching his name in the Werribee dojo’s history books forever.
“Adam’s our first national champ,” dojo operator Matthew Licastro said.
“We’ve had a couple of seconds and thirds at state and national level.
“This is something others can build from and try to emulate.”
Camerlengo has long had an interest in martial arts, particularly through his love of mixed martial arts.
Previous flirtations with boxing and kickboxing at local gyms were more of a hobby to keep fit than serious competition.
Licastro said Camerlengo was a fast learner, open to criticism and will not make the same mistake twice.
It was no great shock to Licastro to see him finish second in Victorian and New South Wales state titles and then go one better at the nationals.
“I think he’s improved over the past six months to the point where he’s beating the people he was losing to earlier on,” Licastro said.
“He just got in there and everything he had been training for worked.
“He sets the pace in terms of intensity at training and rarely misses a session, but when he’s not there you can tell because the others feed off him a lot.
“He’s a good asset to have at the club, very determined and very coachable.”
Camerlengo also works as an actor, having played roles in a number of shows, including Neighbours and Winners & Losers.
Licastro says the occupations of students at his club vary from actors to lawyers, but all seem to benefit from the discipline and fitness required to undertake a martial art.
“With a lot of the guys, their training flows into their workplace,” Licastro said.
“His acting, which he’s very much into, is probably benefiting from his martial arts training.”
Camerlengo won first place ahead of Ben Hoadley, Matthew Brazier and Carlos Luppi.
