“It still feels surreal to this day. [Receiving my black belt] was definitely a dream of mine since I started back in 2012,” said Kiatvongcharoen, whose Chinese-Thai father and Japanese mother are still based in Hong Kong.

“I received my black belt in December and I was [put] in a shark tank of other black belts, which is usually Impact’s ritual for a black belt promotion. The excitement and realising that I was going to be promoted made me feel overwhelmed. I’m really honoured and proud to be a black belt under Impact Jiu Jitsu.”

But receiving the coveted black belt is by no means synonymous to completing the game. Kiatvongcharoen must again work his way up alongside even higher-level company – in a sport that goes up six more degrees of black, according to official International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation rules.

“There’s a saying in jiu-jitsu that your journey starts when you get your black belt,” he said. “I believe this is true because I feel like I’m relearning all the moves I was taught as a white belt – in a sense I’m starting all over again.

“That said, I’m studying moves that relate more to my style and focusing more on refining the fundamentals. The beauty of jiu-jitsu is that there are many different approaches and variations to learn from, which is why I’m continually seeking out knowledge from other black belts and coloured belts that are progressing at a fast rate.”

Kiatvongcharoen, whose combat journey started as a Sha Tin College student humbly walking through the doors of Kowloon BJJ, is now trusted to run his own classes at Impact. He has opted to put his original MMA dreams aside as the satisfaction of coaching and learning how to coach is more than quenching his thirst.

“That has been very rewarding for me because I get to see the students from day one grow into stronger athletes with the drive to constantly get better,” he said.

“The role means the world to me and I’m so grateful for my coaches who have passed down their knowledge. I’ve learnt that teaching jiu-jitsu is extremely hard, even if you are proficient in doing it.

“As a white belt I had the mindset that I would eventually want to do MMA, but the more I did jiu-jitsu, the less I wanted to do MMA. Not that I don’t like MMA.”

Kiatvongcharoen still competes throughout the year with the aim of qualifying for the biennial ADCC World Submission Fighting Championships trials in future.

“2019 was definitely a successful year for me both in competing and coaching ... Competition-wise I was able to effectively plan out training camps with my coach consisting of weightlifting, drilling and sparring, with the idea to have peak performances during the day of the tournament,” he said, adding that he has taken to no-gi submission-style competitions.

“2020 is going fantastic. My teammate Journey Newson just landed a massive KO win at the UFC 247 preliminary card [in February]. I also had the pleasure of promoting one of my dedicated students to blue belt.”

There is one underlying message that Kiatvongcharoen has for future competitors, however: stop juicing up with illegal performance enhancers.

“If I had to make a change in competitions in general, it would be to have a steroid test for every athlete that wishes to participate to keep a level playing field. With such a physically intense sport, people are more likely to juice to have the upper hand. It’s definitely more common than you think and I’ve had at least one confirmed opponent who was caught juicing,” he said.

Three years ago, “Hong Kong Shaun” declared he would receive his black belt in three years’ time and would become a world champion in the future. Now that one has been duly ticked off – does the other still hold?

“Becoming a world champion in jiu-jitsu is still my ultimate goal. But at the moment I’m more focused on helping others to be future world champions one day. I feel like guiding my students to success makes me happier than my own success.”