Lebanon’s Own Karate Kid

If you see Dawson Holt around town, you would probably think he was just a normal, average teenager. It might surprise you, though, that this seventeen-year-old senior from Wilson Central High School is far from average. In fact, he is a real-life ninja living right here in Lebanon TN!

Holt began his martial arts journey at the age of six when he began his training at Premier Martial Arts under the instruction of Jason Warren. PMA is also home to Reid, Cole, Jake, and Averi Presley, who are also World Champion martial arts competitors. Cole Presley along with Mr. Warren has played a great role in shaping Dawson as a competitor. Warren said he knew early on that Dawson had the right work ethic that would take him far in martial arts, both recreationally and competitively.

By the time Dawson earned his black belt at the age of 11 he was already competing on a regional level and was starting to see some success. He was also starting to test the waters at national competitions by attending tournaments on the North American Sport Karate Association’s world tour. In July of that year, he would travel to Walt Disney World in Orlando FL to compete at the prestigious US Open and ISKA World Championships, the largest martial arts tournament in the world, with the largest stage in the United States competition. The event is seen by millions around the world through its coverage on ESPN. Little did Dawson know that just a short 7 years later he would join the stars of the sport on that very stage.

Between that first US Open and the most recent, Dawson Holt was very busy. He was invited onto two national teams, his current team, Competitive Edge, is a team with multiple world champions and has also won multiple demonstration team world championships. Dawson Holt has been an integral part of their success. He has also been busy assisting in teaching bully defense camps, martial arts camps and even began giving private lessons for martial arts in person and through Skype. He kept up his grades and school activities, even being named Mr. Wilson Central at his high school.

The North American Sport Karate Association (NASKA), started off its 2020 season in January at the AKA Warrior Cup in Chicago IL. This tournament would prove to be a turning point for Dawson as he won both the Creative/Musical/Extreme forms and Traditional weapons grand championships. He turned that motivation into wins as he traveled in February of 2020 to Los Angeles for the Compete Nationals where he had a major breakthrough and took home the boy’s 14-17 Overall Weapons Grand Championship.

Things were starting to look bright for Dawson’s future in karate when suddenly, just a few weeks after that win, the world shut down.

Most national tournaments were suspended for more than a year, with competition resuming in June of 2021 at the Battle of Atlanta. Dawson won several divisions at that event, but it was all just practice for Dawson. The US Open was taking place over the Fourth of July holiday and it was time for Dawson’s dream of winning an ISKA world championship to come to fruition. Holt won four championships in one night!

An error in scoring was later found in one of the World Champion titles, but upon learning of the error, Dawson immediately relinquished the title to the rightful winner and showed an incredible amount of maturity and integrity in doing so.

Cory Schafer, President of ISKA later said in a press release about the error and about Dawson’s willingness to give up the title, “I feel good that the future of sport karate is in the GREAT hands of young martial artists like these.”
In all Dawson walked away with three world titles that night which ties a record shared with only three other martial artists in history.

Dawson is the son of Matt and Christy Holt and he lives at home with siblings Trevor and Chelsea. He is now in training for the Diamond Nationals to compete for the Diamond Ring in Minneapolis next month, wish him luck!!

Dawson Holt is available for private martial arts lessons in person or through Skype. You can connect with Dawson through Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube. He trains at Premier Martial Arts Center in Lebanon, TN.

written by Cathy Rudolph