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NORTH ATTLEBORO - Martial artist Daniel Sterling has a laundry list of accomplishments to his credit.

A member of Team Paul Mitchell and Team USA, Sterling is a 24-time World Forms and Weapons champion and winner of the martial arts reality series "Final Fu" on MTV2, to name a few of his more notable achievements.

Now, he has one more accolade to add to the list.

Sterling, along with 18-year-old Robert Andreozzi of Warwick, R.I., an instructor at Sterling's North Attleboro martial arts studio, won a gold medal at the Martial Arts Olympics at the end of last year. They were the only two members of the U.S. team to take home top honors.

"This was rare," Sterling said. "There's not many people who are going to be done with this sport and say they went to the world championships." Both Sterling and Andreozzi competed in what is known as hard-style, performing 40-second routines that emphasized acrobatics, flips, gymnastics, and tight, explosive movements with and without weapons, typically over techno-style music.

"If we hit you with something we did, we'd probably knock your head off," Sterling said.

Six hundred competitors from 47 countries were represented at the competition, which took place in Portugal, and happens every other year. Twenty-one people competed on the U.S. team, not counting kickboxers.

"It's the most legit title you can win," Sterling said. "As far as world titles go, it was the most prestigious one for sure."

"It's really hard doing what we do, and what I think is so special about something like this, is we get the recognition we deserve," he said.

Sterling, a North Attleboro resident, had a mere three months to prepare for the competition. He said although he could have used more time, he left for the tournament mentally prepared.

"Physically, I could have been better, but mentally I was in it," he said. "By the time I was ready to go, I was ready to serve some people. It was on."

Along with a gold medal, Sterling said he took home some valuable lessons about how karate is viewed overseas versus at home.

"These countries, they live for this competition," Sterling said. "The U.S. team doesn't do that. It's so different being from the U.S. and doing the sport of karate."

"I'm not going to lie to you - I am a rock star (overseas). You hear my name in France, they're jumpin'," he said. "It's the greatest feeling ever to be appreciated for what you sacrificed your life to be good at." Juxtapose that with a lukewarm reception at home, where even if you're at the top of your sport, there are no multi-million dollar contracts or throngs of adoring fans. In karate, you pay your own way in competitions and are well-known and respected by a select few.

"It's kind of depressing because for some of us it's all we have," he said. "Sometimes I wish I was a basketball player or a football player. But I love what I do. There's nothing I love doing like martial arts. I just wish there was more of an arena for it."

Now, 28-year-old Sterling says he has unfinished business, not just to bring home another gold medal, but to increase the popularity of karate here at home and establish the United States as a force to be reckoned with.

"Now that I've been there and seen how serious people are about their countries, it's crazy," he said. "I told my coach, 'I'm coming back, I'm whoopin' butt in 2009.' There's no doubt about it."

LAUREN CARTER can be reached at lauren-carter@hotmail.com.