Karate kids are in a hurry to belt up

TWO sisters are proving themselves a force to be reckoned with as they have already achieved their sixth Karate belts after just two years in the sport.

Rochdale Warriors’ Madeleine and Eleanor Kelsey-Lyon, both students at Whitworth Community High School, attend the school’s after-school club.

Both girls have just achieved the rank of blue belt, their sixth belt, and are now working towards their purple.

Madeleine, 13, first tried the martial art in Year 7 after her dad Gavin, a black belt holder, suggested she join a club - and Eleanor, now 12, went along with her.

Madeleine said: “I am now in the seniors so I will be marked out of 100 when I go for my next grading. To be graded you have to have had 40 hours of lessons, but attending the school club counts towards that total.

“My sister got one point more than me in the grading for our blue belts; she always gets one point more than me!”

In last year’s national finals, Madeleine took him a bronze medal, Eleanor a silver and together they finished fourth as a pair.

Madeleine added: “Learning karate has taught me resilience, because you have to work hard, and it has taught me self defence. I feel confident that I am able to defend myself.

“Karate is fun and good exercise and you are always learning something new. I have also met a lot of really nice people; although, because of my height, I am often fighting the adults at the club.

“You may think it is only a belt, but when you achieve it you realise how important it is and it shows how far you have come. I remember being a white belt and sitting on the mat watching the experienced people doing karate; now I am the one they are watching.”