Xander Best (11) is not the kind of person you notice sitting in the front row at a football game or holding the microphone during an assembly. When passing him in the hall, you wouldn’t know the athlete he is. On the outside, he’s just a normal high school student.

But Best isn’t just an average high school student, he’s one of the greatest youth athletes in the world.

Best lived in Jackson, Wyoming before moving to Colorado when he was almost 11 years old. He grew up doing several sports, including ski team when he was younger, and he discovered martial arts when he was four years old. Best had a lot of work ahead of him to master the art of karate.

“I was looking for training for martial arts in Colorado after I moved here,” Best said. “International Martial Arts (IMA) happened to be the dojo that I found.”

The specific category of martial arts that Best decided to master was Shotokan Karate. Just like any sport, it would take time and effort for him to perfect. Although it sounded far-fetched, Best knew he could work his way up to the top.

“Shotokan focuses on long stances, stability, and power,” Best said. He began training several days a week by doing individual and team workouts and practices to focus on his journey ahead.

Mastering Shotokan requires hard work and dedication. He began looking at the big picture of what he had to practice to get to the highest level possible. He knew he had to focus physically and mentally to work his way up through each competitive level.

There are five skill levels in competition karate: beginner, novice, intermediate, advanced, and elite.

“Usually there’s only one competition for beginners, and then they bump up to novice, where they compete until they win a medal at either US Open or nationals,” he said. “Then they bump up to intermediate, where competitors have to win a medal at either nationals or US Open, then to advanced, and finally to elite.”

He immediately started working hard to complete each skill level to pass and become a world elite. The climb was faster than he ever could have imagined. His drive to succeed started with each of his training sessions.

“There’s different workouts I do on my own, and then privates as well throughout the week,” he said.

Best starts his training by doing a lap around his dojo, and then he later practices with a dummy or spars with a teammate. After carefully developing his skills, the next step was to join competitions and get more points than his opponents so he could win and move up skill levels.

“It’s two points for any kick to the body, and three points for either a kick to the head or if you sweep your opponent on the ground and punch them while they’re down,” Best said. He knows he can instantly dominate his opponent.

With all of the time Best dedicated to karate, he soon found himself competing in more advanced martial arts competitions worldwide. As he climbed higher through the ranks, he earned international medals by competing in international tournaments. He’s been to the World Games tournament in Egypt and the Pan American tournament in Brazil, Peru, and Honduras.

“I competed in the US Open, medaled in my category, and got bumped up higher,” Best said. “Then I competed in Nationals, and USA Karate promoted me to advance. The next year I won the US Open, and I became an elite.”

Now, Best is an elite martial arts athlete ranked 25th in the world in his age group and weight class. Even with his success now, he still reflects on memories from when he first started competing.

“At my first nationals ever, I won bronze. I had five seconds left of my match. I was down two points, and I earned three points within the last couple of seconds by kicking my opponent in the head,” Best said.

It usually takes around four years to master one style of martial arts completely. Best did it in two. His time frame of success was shorter than average. Still, he also put in enough effort to achieve an impressive ranking of 25th in the world in his age category.

Despite being an average high school student, Best has reached greater achievements than other typical students through his hard work and dedication to his sport.

“It’s karate. It is my life,” Best said. “I wouldn’t want to lose it for anything.”