Glen Innes karate's Nigel King and Chris Cooper were both medalists in Okinawa Japan at the Super Karate-do Okinawa World Grand Prix in August.

Chris said his feet still haven't recovered, weeks later.

"You've got bare knuckle; it's like a street fight," he said.

"The person who you're protecting is actually your opponent so he's not going to get hurt - well, he does, but not as much."

"Every single person had ripped up hands; I was putting bandages on hands left right and centre," said the team support Karen King.

More stories:

Nigel has been teaching Jin Ryu Kan since opening Kings Gym in 2014, opening the Glen Innes branch of the karate style in 2017 under Shihan Nick, who invited the pair to compete at the world comp.

Competitors essentially wear body armour during the sport, including a bullet-proof perspex helmet. But knockouts are still common; one Olympic hopeful had his face protection smashed in two.

Which is why they teach competitors to think first of their opponent rather than their "weapon" - their fists and feet, which are often left black and blue in the intense combat.

Chris, not even a blackbelt, took on seven time world champion, Canadian Paul Jackman round-for-round.

"She was a bit of a worry but I've been watching him on Youtube - I studied him," Chris Cooper said.

"He actually said to me afterwards I was very hard to fight.

"A lot of his fights he knocked them out, but he didn't knock me out."

He said the trick with Jackman was that he has very long arms you need to get inside to avoid a walloping at range.

Inverell's Nick King actually beat the Canadian Sensei to become world champion for the fifth time. He received a gold medal for his kata, beating a Japanese 2020 Olympics Karate team member by a single point, before beating Jackman for gold in fighting.

Every Australian competitor came home with a medal from the the fifteen nation competition, with Nigel King taking home gold in his kata and Cooper bronze for both kata and fighting.

The competition is of particular significance because Okinawa is the birthplace of all karate.

The Jin Ryu Kan Martial Arts Academy will now prepare for the NSW Country Karate Championships to be hosted in Inverell, on October 20.