AS A fifth-dan karate black belt, it shouldn't be too much of a surprise that Jon Lees is capable of hitting things head-on.

The sensei at TYGA Martial Arts, which runs clubs in Torquay and Paignton, has been training since he was 18 and claimed three medals at the recent TYGA World Open Championships (see below).

So when I hesitantly ask him about the validity of the event and how one club alone can win 30 medals (over the phone, so I don't have to hide under the desk) he calmly and openly deals with it.

"One of the main things that we come across is that 'martial arts' isn't an Olympic sport – it's taken less seriously than judo or taekwondo," he says.

"You can also find lots of different tournaments – especially local ones – in which it is just one or two clubs taking part, and people from those clubs winning everything.

"We tend to only go to the bigger tournaments – some of the smaller ones can be corrupt, as they are run by people whose fighters go on to win everything.

"We only take our fighters to tournaments which are run fairly."

Lees, now 35, admits TYGA run 'world open championship' events in each country that they are accredited.

It is mainly because their diverse students are ordinary people who may not be able to afford the cost of competing in exotic locations year after year.

But he also explains that the TYGA system is a way of enabling students from various martial arts – including karate, ju-jitsu, kickboxing and taekwondo – to compete at the same tournament.

"It is a worldwide system so there's lots of affiliated clubs in different countries," he says.

"Some of them use different systems, so that's why we call it martial arts rather than karate.

"There are lots of martial arts clubs in the Bay, but this is one set of rules which works for all.

"Most martial arts groups could participate without having to change what they can do."

The numbers involved suggest the latest tournament is no Mickey Mouse event: There are around 18 accredited TYGA clubs throughout the UK, and the system is used in more than 20 countries across the world.

And the event wasn't just limited to members of those clubs – fighters also travelled from the USA, Japan and South Korea.

The championships caps a remarkable month or so for the dojo – and for Lees personally.

At the Europlas 2011 Torbay Sports Personality of the Year Awards, Lees picked up the Senior Team of the Year category with club-mates Richard Pyle and Dan Ling. They were also third in the Club of the Year category, and the only martial arts practitioners represented at the event.

"I was really surprised – quite often martial arts isn't viewed as high as other sports," admits Lees.

"I was really happy that we were shortlisted for the team award, but I never thought we would win it.

"The things that we achieve in martial arts are not as easy to benchmark compared to other sports.

"We're already fighting against the reputation before we even start."

Look more into the story of the club – and Lees' involvement in it – and it is clear that the award was well deserved.

Lees is open enough to admit he was one of the thousands of children who knotted one of their dad's ties around their head and mastered the crane kick after watching The Karate Kid. But he also says it took him a while before he started 'proper' training.

"I started when I was 18 – it was me and two friends who just wanted to do something sporty even though we weren't particularly good at any ball games.

"I think a lot of people including myself want to do something for years before you actually join up – I was probably the same."

Lees met his wife Becky when their classes were merged together, and in 2002 they took over the club, together with now-retired black belt Pete Cresser.

Their former instructor had departed to start up classes in his own system – a further splintering of the practice.

Though have since taken their third, fourth and fifth-dan gradings together, Becky, aged 29, was already a black belt when she met Lees, who was a brown belt at the time.

"We only became the same grade a little while after that," he admits.

They now have two little girls – Lucy, aged four, and Daisy, who is almost six months old. The club, meanwhile, is thriving, with around 40 regular students split across the two branches.

Lees adds: "We always said we wouldn't become the sort of couple that start up their own karate club, but here we are.

"It's quite a nice family club that we've got as we train the adults and the juniors together."

Becky also runs self-defence classes for women, which are proving highly popular – perhaps partly because women feel more comfortable with a female instructor.

It wasn't always so easy, though, as the pair inherited a club which was effectively 'homeless'.

It was only when they found a suitable venue – a space in Paignton Community College – that they were able to re-start the classes.

Jon explains: "Though we were running the classes, we had to find a place to run it – our old instructor took over the hall and the times, so we had to start from scratch.

"We had a couple of students who moved with us and stayed for about a year, but almost all of the students who train with us now are new .

"It took us quite a long time to get established. We had a lot of sessions where there were two students and three instructors.

"We don't do it for profit, but only to cover our costs, but back then we were paying out more for the hire of the hall than we were getting in for the lessons."

With the meagre fees charged from each class (£3 juniors/ £4 adults) covering costs, it is also worth mentioning that both Jon and Becky still work full time.

Jon is operations manager at Splashdown, while Becky is food and beverage manager at the Victoria Hotel, part of the TLH Leisure Resorts complex.

"We think of it as a hobby, but we do work full time and then teach afterwards," he says. "But we do enjoy it.

"We've always worked on the principle that even if it was only us turning up, we would still do it."

Despite winning gold in the senior fighting; black belt section at Crystal Palace, Lees admits his reactions are beginning to slow, so his competing days might be winding down.

"The masters category at competitions is usually between 35 and 40, and the tournament we just went to it was 40 or over, so I've got a few years yet," he adds.

"At the moment I can make up for my slower reactions with experience – but there will become a time when I can't make up the difference any more.

"Plus when I get injured now, it takes that much longer to come back from it."

But even if he is not competing himself, Lees is likely to be around the club for many years to come.

He adds: "It does sound quite cheesy, but it is about the students achieving things rather than us (including Becky) – or me."