01/09/2026
🥋🌟 FROM WATCHING ON THE SIDELINES… TO STEPPING INTO THE RING 🌟🥋
Mason Decaro’s journey with The Combat Academy started a little differently to most.
For years, Mason watched members of his family train. He came along, stood at the side and watched… but martial arts wasn’t something he was interested in doing himself.
Then came his very first session.
And, believe it or not, Mason’s first ever martial arts class was in a field! 😂
Lockdown had hit, our normal sessions couldn’t run indoors, and we were doing everything we could to keep people training.
While Mason stood on the sidelines, one of our instructors, Nathan, connected with him.
Nathan saw something.
A little spark.
Something that Mason’s parents hadn’t really seen from him in any of the other activities he had tried.
Eventually, Mason decided to give it a go.
From training outside, to joining our Zoom sessions from home, something had clicked.
And the rest really is history. ❤️
Because the young lad who spent years watching from the sidelines didn't stay there for long.
Mason began competing and developed into a seriously talented young fighter. In 2023, he won Full Contact gold at the ISKA North West Open, alongside silver medals in K1 Light and Light Contact.
Then came a huge 2024.
At the WKO European Open, Mason finished the event with 2 golds and 3 silvers, putting him among the competition's top-performing individuals.
Later that year, at the WKO World Championships, Mason became a double World Champion, taking 1st place in both A-Class K1 and Full Contact Kickboxing. 🌍🏆🏆
And he's continued challenging himself.
Most recently, at the 2026 WKO European Open Championships, Mason stepped up into the 17–18 age categories and came away with European Full Contact gold and Light Contact silver. 🥇🥈
But this next chapter isn't about Mason collecting more medals.
It's about taking everything martial arts has given him and learning how to give some of it back.
Mason has now completed his Level 2 Instructor Training Programme and is moving forward into Level 3 ITP.
And when we think about what we want an apprentice at The Combat Academy to represent, Mason's story says so much.
Confidence isn't always loud.
Sometimes confidence is the child standing on the edge of a field watching everyone else.
It's having an instructor notice something in you that perhaps you don't even see in yourself yet.
It's eventually having the courage to say, "I'll give it a go."
Then it's turning up again.
And again.
And again.
Until one day, the child who wasn't sure whether martial arts was even for him is standing in a ring at a World Championships with his hand raised. 🏆
That's why instructors have such an important job.
Nathan saw a spark in Mason.
Now, as Mason develops as an instructor, he gets the opportunity to stand on the other side of that story.
To notice the quiet child.
To encourage the one standing at the edge of the mats.
To see potential in someone before they can see it in themselves.
Because somewhere in one of our classes could be another Mason.
They might just need somebody to notice that spark. ❤️
Mason, we're incredibly excited to see where this next chapter takes you.
From the sidelines of a field…
to fighter, champion and now apprentice instructor.
