Reuben Bean's three gold medals won last weekend at the Arnold Sports Festival held in Columbus, Ohio was a just a warm up to what is his main focus for 2010 – the World Karate Federation's World Championships in Belgrade, Serbia, from October 28-31.

"I now know exactly what I must add to my training regime to maintain and enhance my level of execution on the world stage," said Bean.

The 37-year-old Bermudian won his gold medals in traditional karate kata (pre-arranged forms), traditional weapons and Wing Chun form.

Speaking this week after returning from Ohio, Bean said: "I intention is to compete in four international tournaments before going over to Belgrade later this year for the World Championships.

(Last weekend) I wanted to test my skills at this particular level and see what modifications I have to make to enhance the quality for the international competitions later this year and at the Worlds – the Arnold Sports festival was a good measuring stick."

Bean has been to two previous World Championships – in Madrid, Spain in 2002 and also in Monterrey, Mexico in 2004.

He said: "I am looking to compete in two more World Championships."

But while Bean usually competes in three disciplines, this year he will be focussing on kata. "I am the Grand Champion (kata) in Bermuda and have been for seven years. This year at the Worlds I will strictly be focussing on kata."

He said that competing in three styles can be very tiring "mentally and physically".

"Now I will focus on one skill set and see how far I can go with it," he added.

The World Karate Federation (WKF) was formed in 1990 from former WUKO (World Union of Karate-Do Organisations) members and is the largest international governing body of sport karate with over 130 member countries. It is the only karate organisation recognised by the International Olympic Committee and has more than ten million members.

The WKF organises the Junior and Senior Karate World Championships, which are each held every other year.

Bean said: "Hopefully the WKF will be moving into the Olympics very soon. The International Olympic Committee has been working very closely with WKF officials and they have been very impressed with the tournament scene – the WKF is very close to getting into the Olympics."

Bean started training in the martial arts 15 years ago.

He said: "I started when I was university in Ottawa, Canada. I suppose by some people's standards I started off late – but it is never too late for anyone. I have done extremely well and have been fortunate to have some excellent instructors along the way to assist me in my growth.

"I train in Bermuda at the Bermuda High School gym under Nigel and Trevor Williams who are the national coaches for karate – they keep me cracking! They are wonderful individuals and I have been fortunate to receive instruction from them."

Of the Arnold Martial Arts Festival, he said: "It is a wonderful festival.

Over 18,000 athletes were competing in 44 different sporting categories. The expo is the largest sporting festival in the western hemisphere and attracted hundreds of thousands of spectators to a show of dazzling athletic abilities and feats."