Black belts for young Bushey martial arts enthusiasts who trained in Watford (From Watford Observer)

Black belts for young Bushey martial arts enthusiasts who trained in Watford

6:36pm Tuesday 30th March 2010

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A pair of young martial arts enthusiasts from Bushey have become the youngest boys in their club to be awarded black belts.

Brothers Aidan and Euan Petrie, from Vale Road, are both members of the Qi-Kwon-Do Martial Arts Club in Watford.

They trained for eight hours a week across two months for the grading, which tested their ability in all 18 belts that make up a black belt.

Aidan, 10, said: “I felt really proud, it was a big achievement.

“We had to go from the very bottom belt to the top belt in the grading and we were right in front of the judges.

“We were some of the only children there but we didn't notice because we were concentrating on our drills.”

The grading took place over four hours and was judged by martial arts experts including a Qi-Kwon-Do master.

Euan, 8, said: “I was so relieved when we were told we had done it.

“We had to perform 2,700, really fast, isolated techniques so we were quite nervous.

“My favourite things about it are the attacking moves.”

The boys will usually train for four hours a week and one of the chief instructors at the centre, Colin Lewis, says they have worked really hard to get their belts.

He said: “Euan is small in stature and seeing him put everything together for four hours was great.

“It is an achievement for anyone let alone an eight or ten-year-old boy.

“A lot of thanks has to go to the parents for supporting them but also to the boys as they are the ones who put in the work and did it.”

Their mum, Mary-Anne, originally took them along to Qi-Kwon-Do and has recently joined herself.

She said: “We are so immensely proud of them.

“It is an incredible thing and the dedication they have shown is tremendous.

“Having joined myself I actually have to call them Sir at the meetings but it soon changes back again when we're back home.”

As for their future in martial arts, both boys are keen to continue with their training.

Aidan said: “We have a long long way to go as there are so many gradings left for us to aim for and I want to try and get as many as I can.”

Euan added: “I would like to become a master one day, which means a lot of training, but one day I might run my own school.”

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