NORWOOD Park martial artist Adrian Kearns returns to Limerick this week after claiming four gold medals and a silver at the Kung Fu World Championships in Hong Kong.
The medal haul is the most ever by an Irishman at the Wushu International Dream Cup – the highest level Kung Fu artists can compete at.
The tournament featured over 11,000 competitors from more than 55 countries. Adrian won gold in the double broadsword, fan, stick and imitation boxing form categories and a silver in a group event of Choy Li Fut, Wing Chun and Baihe.
“It’s still only sinking in and I was just very happy to have the success for my teammates and I’m proud to win for Ireland,” said Adrian.
“With the quality of my teammates I knew we would return with medals, it just depended on my performance if I would,” he added.
Adrian, who runs a Kung Fu school in Limerick, was part of a five man European team handpicked by Sifu Mark Horton to represent Hong Ying Kung Fu at the Championships.
While admitting to being nervous in the first event, Adrian said his focus and extensive training helped to steady the nerves as the tournament went on. He faced an anxious wait to find out if he’d won anything.
“I didn’t know where I’d placed after I performed. Only when I finished competing did I find out that I’d gotten five medals. I just knew that I was performing stronger after each event,” he said.
“I got an opportunity to see some of the competitors and some looked quite strong but between my performances, I was focusing on my next event,” he added.
Adrian hopes that his success will further contribute to the popularity of Kung Fu in Limerick and he plans to compete in the Guo Shu Cup in Amsterdam in May.
Piece by Robert McNamara
