Rory Harrison is nineteen years old and in his first year as a senior. It's already been a year defined by an injury that kept him out of a Team GB vest at both Junior and Senior level in the same season.
He fights at Senior Men's -74kg, across three disciplines: Points, Light Contact and Kick Light.
What came before
As a junior, Rory became double World Champion in Points and Light Contact, and triple European Champion across Points, Light Contact and Kick Light, picking up the trophy for European Championship Male Fighter of the Tournament along the way. He took the Grand Champion title at the Hungarian World Cup, the Italian World Cup and the Athens Challenge European Cup. Eleven World Cup golds. Fifteen European Cup golds. At his peak he held the world number one ranking in Junior Men's -74kg across all three disciplines at once, with a 94% win rate from 116 fights.
Beating the world number one on his way to that first World title, in front of a full crowd, is the moment he comes back to. "The noise from the crowd and everyone's reactions was insane."
The setback
A week before he was due to fly to Abu Dhabi for the Senior World Championships, Rory rolled his ankle in light sparring. He heard it go, felt the pain, and assumed a bit of rest would see him right. Within a few hours it had swollen and turned black.
Scans the next morning told a different story: Grade 3 tears to both the ATFL and CFL ligaments, a complete rupture on both sides of his left ankle. His consultant expected to operate and told him to plan for a year out of training, let alone competition. Rory couldn't even travel to Abu Dhabi to support the team he'd qualified for, because of the risk of DVT.
Staying in it
He didn't disappear from the sport while he recovered. On crutches, he went to Athens to coach at the Athens Challenge, then to Jesolo to coach at the Italian World Cup, and kept coaching at Energize in between. He spent six months working with a physio who has also treated Premier League players and UFC heavyweight Tom Aspinall. By May, his consultant told him he wouldn't need surgery after all, and couldn't quite believe it himself.
Full circle in Budapest
Two years to the weekend after he was crowned World Champion Junior Male in continuous fighting, Rory returned to Budapest to compete as a senior for the first time, ten months on from the injury that took his ankle apart. With coaching from Carl Thomas and the backing of the Energize Martial Arts Academy family, he took gold in the Senior Men's continuous fighting, -74kg.
The boy is back.
What's ahead
Rory has secured his place on Team GB for the Senior European Championships in North Macedonia this November. The Bristol Open and the Athens Challenge are also on the calendar for the next six months, alongside an invitation to compete in WAKO-PRO.
The standard
Strength and conditioning in his own gym, kickboxing at Energize, two to three sessions a day and around four hours of training, six days a week. Ankle rehabilitation, stretching and sauna sessions sit alongside a strictly monitored nutrition and hydration programme.
"It's hard going, I'm not going to lie. Going into a fight, I know that my opponent won't have prepared as hard as I have for it."
Kit
Rory has worn TOP TEN since he started in the sport. He currently fights in the 4Select 10oz leather glove and the new WAKO NTB Marks, trains in a TOP TEN Avant headguard, and wears shin and instep guards for Kick Light sessions. He travels with the Force backpack and the new extendable kit bag.
"Apparently my kit is liable to get a bit smelly, so bring on the Guard 6."