Two Archway martial arts students chosen to represent their country will be kicking themselves if they cannot raise the fare.

William Mackay, 24, and Mickell Lemard, 26, train in the ancient discipline of San Shou kung fu at the Shaolin Temple UK in Junction Road. They have been selected to fly the flag for England at the European Championships in Moscow in September but cannot afford the travel costs.

Mr Mackay said: “To be able to go is a dream for me, it would be the natural next step from all the training I have put in. I would like to think that fate will bring us the money but it is impossible not to have doubts.”

Mr Mackay and Mr Lemard were selected after winning gold medals two years running at the British National Championships. But they need to raise at least £600 each to pay for the cheapest possible flights and accommodation. And it would cost another £600 for their teacher Master Shi Yanzi to accompany them.

In countries such as Sweden, fighters receive lucrative funding including paid time off work, to train. But the English fighters have been turned down for funding by various sporting organisations because San Shou is not a recognised Olympic sport.

Master Yanzi set up the Shaolin Temple UK in 1999. It is the only UK organisation tied to the world famous Shaolin Temple in China, immortalised in countless kung fu movies.

He said: “There is 5,000 years of Chinese culture and kung fu is part of that culture. The Shaolin Temple in China has more than 1,500 years of history, when something happened in China the monks protected the people.”

With China due to host the 2008 Olympics there is hope kung fu may be introduced to the games. Mr Lemard said: “We both want to represent our country in the Olympics but it is a huge learning curve. It is only through entering tournaments like this one in Moscow we would have the experience necessary to compete with the best at the Olympics.”

Master Yanzi urged people to support his star students in any way they can. He said: “Good martial artists are like the two horns on the oxen’s head because there are so few of them. Everyone else are like the oxen’s hairs, there are so many of them.”

Less enigmatically, Mr Mackay added: “I would like to appeal to anyone who is interested in supporting us to get in touch to help us fulfil our dream.”

If you can help contact Yvette Doherty on 020 7687 8333.