Chips set to fly at Amuri as world champion lines up

Jack Jordan in action, driving the axe into the block as chips fly. Supplied.

World champion axeman Jack Jordan will be one of the headline acts at this year’s Amuri A&P Show on March 7, bringing international-level woodchopping back to a grassroots country stage.

Jordan, who farms sheep and beef in the King Country, said balancing life on farm with competing at the top level of the sport was part of the job.

“Farming certainly helps being reasonably fit, but when you are training, you’re still doing two or three hours some nights,” he said.

The 29-year-old won his first world title at just 17.

Since then, he has gone on to claim multiple titles, including three Stihl Timbersports World Trophies, an individual world championship and a team world championship, alongside a string of traditional woodchopping titles.

“I suppose at the moment I’m in my prime,” he said.

Jordan said his pathway into the sport was typical of many rural New Zealand athletes, starting through family and local shows.

“My older brother Shane got into it when he was at high school,” he said.

“There was an old guy who would train young guys. They’d get off the school bus and go and train once or twice a week. I just followed Shane around the A&P shows and got into it.”

Despite competing internationally, he said the A&P circuit remained central.

“A&P shows are a big part of our season. They’re real good preparation for the bigger events,” he said.

“It certainly gets you geared up.”

Jordan said New Zealand’s strength in woodchopping was tied to its rural history.

“It’s a bit of a dying sport now here in New Zealand, but it’s a heritage sport,” he said.

“Our grandfathers probably cleared a lot of the land by hand, so maybe it traces back to that.”

At Amuri, Jordan will compete across multiple events including underhand, standing block, springboard and sawing disciplines.

“Underhand’s always been my favourite,” he said.

“I’ve usually been better at the underhand, so I’ve naturally liked that one more.”

Jack Jordan on the springboard, one of the sport’s most technical disciplines. Supplied.

With a strong Australian contingent also set to compete, he said spectators could expect a high level of competition.

“There’s a pretty good crowd coming from Australia as well, so you’ll get the best in the world there basically,” he said.

Amuri Show woodchopping convenor and North Canterbury Axemen’s Club president Kelly Earl said the event had grown into a major drawcard.

“It’s a three-test series with the Australians,” he said.

“The test will be a seven-man relay, so they do an underhand, a standing chop, then a single saw, double saw, then back to underhand and standing again.”

Alongside the test series, around 60 axemen will compete across the three days, with two world titles up for grabs in the underhand and standing block events.

“There’s tree climbing, there’s sawing, so there’s a bit of everything going,” Earl said.

“If you had the top 20 guys in the world, 15 of them are going to be at Amuri.”

Earl said the event relied heavily on local support.

“We’ve been incredibly lucky to get sponsors out of the area,” he said.

“ITM are our main sponsor, along with Craigmore Farming and Allied Petroleum. Then we’ve got all the local contractors and businesses that get in behind it every year.”

“We even have farmers sponsoring logs,” he said.

“It’s a real show of how good this community is. I don’t think many communities could run an event like this.”

The woodchopping runs Friday through Sunday, starting around 9am each day. Saturday falls within the Amuri A&P Show, with your show ticket giving access to the action.

Jack Jordan checks his edge between runs, where precision matters as much as power. Supplied.

Jordan said one of the strengths of the sport was the people within it.

“It’s a pretty cool sport like that,” he said.

“The friendships I’ve made over the years have been incredible.”

“You see everyone just about every weekend through the summer. A lot of them are just like your family.”

He said the mental side of the sport was as important as the physical.

“A lot of it is mental, but it depends if you let it get on top of you,” he said.

“Especially when you’re training on your own, it’s just you and your own head.”

He said one of the biggest challenges was returning from injury.

“You feel good and you feel like you should be going good, but your timing’s not there,” he said.

“When people start beating you, that’s probably the harder times.”

Despite competing on the world stage, Jordan said he still enjoyed the grassroots events.

“Love it,” he said.