One 21-year-old has stuck to his guns, and is keeping his Olympic dream alive by doing everything and anything to make it to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics for Karate.

Jordan Maher, Sydney, first started Karate at the age of four and came about the Olympic dream at age 10.

Eleven years later and Maher is a two time US Open champion, Junior Olympics champion, New Zealand Open champion, four time National champion, four time Australian Open champion, Oceania champion, top ten K1 Series A (Toledo, Spain) - I mean, you could say he doesn’t go too bad at all.

He currently trains a hefty four to six hours a day, and travels all over the world to compete in qualifying events.

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Maher visited Mudgee on Monday, October 29 to hold a seminar with students, shedding some inspiration of what can be achieved with a bit of dedication.

Geoff Spice, Mudgee Martial Arts Instructor, says Jordan’s seminar was a success, with students learning a great deal from the world class athlete.

“He’s the most recognised sports Karate competitor to come to this region, and it really did make their [students] day, they loved it,” he said.

“Everyone really enjoyed it, and they’re excited for him to come back.”

The world class competitor was impressed by the level of Karate the Mudgee kids put forth, making the trip all the more special for Jordan.

“Jordan was very happy with the standard of the Mudgee children, and was thankful for the opportunity to train with them,” Daniel Spice, Maher’s coach and brother to Geoff Spice, said.

Spice first thought up the idea of bringing the 21-year-old to town in order to expose country students to world class karate.

“I know Jordan enjoyed it.”

Proud mother of Jordan, Priscilla Garrett says by Maher being so dedicated to his dream, it inspires other Karate kids all over, especially the Mudgee students who got the chance to train with him.

“He’s that person that is inspiring others, and kids are now looking up to him which is fantastic,” she said.

“He’s a sports icon kids can look up to.”

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As the Tokyo Olympics will see the first installment of Karate, the sport will be in its trial run, leaving spots severely limited.

In Jordan’s case, only 10 men of the 10 million competitors under the World Karate Federation will get a spot, and because he is part of Oceania, there is only one vacancy for someone in this region.

Daniel Spice has worked with Maher since day one, and admits at first, he would never have pictured Jordan to getting to the level he currently holds.

“I would never have thought it because at first, he wasn’t very athletic but that’s just a testament to how hard he has worked.”

Jordan recently fought against the “Muhammad Ali of Karate” who has a tendency to come out of matches winning 10-0, but for what came as a confidence boost, Maher came out of the match with a narrow loss of 2-0.

“He came back from it full of confidence,” Spice said.

All this travelling comes at a great cost, and with no full time work, it makes it even more challenging to get across the globe.

“It’s going to cost around $25,000 for Jordan to keep his dream alive,” Garrett said.  

If you would like to support Jordan, you can do so by heading to https://www.facebook.com/jmathlete/ where you can donate or keep up to date with his progress.

It is likely Maher will return to Mudgee in the near future when there is a big enough break in his busy qualifying schedule.

“He just wants to get back out there [Mudgee],” Spice said.

Maher is currently in Madrid competing in the World Karate Championships - an Olympic qualifying event.

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