A LIGHTWEIGHT karate champion from Barry is hoping to realise his life’s ambition after British team selection earned him the right to take on the world’s best fighters.

Thirty-year-old dad-of-one Spencer Bennett, secured his team place after winning the Kyokushinkai British open/3rd cup of Europe and is now well seeded for the IFK Kyokushinkai world tournament on April 6 and 7 this year.

The Dow Corning process operator has been assisted in his sporting mission by the company’s wellness scheme.

Spencer, who is an assistant instructor at the Rising Sun Kyokushin Karate Club, in Barry, said: “Having five fights in one day in my last tournament I am expecting to have at least seven fights to win over two days.

“There has been seven British squad sessions, held monthly over the past year. I have been able to have training and conditioning sessions with the Wales rugby player conditioning coach Ryan Prosser.

“I have also had a lot of help from my brother Sensei Lee Bennett and Sensei Mark Goodwin. Training has got off to a great start. The next eight weeks are going to be the hardest I’ve ever faced, but I’m feeling the strongest and fittest I’ve ever felt so I’ ready for the task of taking on the world’s best and reaching my life ambition of being the world Kyokushin champion.”

He added: “Being a shift worker I get a lot of time off.

This gives me the chance to almost train full time. I’m able to fit in up to three sessions in one day when I’m off work, and my sudden rise in the world rankings has been down to my job flexibility and time I can spend training for success.

“Kyokushin has had about 10 splits worldwide since the creator of the sport, Masutatsu Oyama died in 1994. The current world rankings for 2012 have placed (me) Spencer at number 17 in the lightweight division.

“Practitioners over the last 40 plus years numbered more than 12 million. The IFK world tournament will be on home soil this time giving me a great chance to have all my family and friends behind me.

“Sly Stallone didn’t write Rocky until he was 30 so hopefully my best years are ahead of me.”

To sponsor Spencer, call 07825 788955.