PEOPLE of all ages displayed their martial arts skills at a tournament on Saturday.

Montem Leisure Centre, in Montem Lane, played host to a karate tournament with more than 40 different categories, a range of abilities and a range of ages.

The tournament took karate back to its roots with every competitor demonstrating the Goju Ryu style of the martial art – the original form that every other version of karate you see today branches from.

The event was hosted by UK Goju Ryu Karate South East (UKGRK) and attracted about 160 competitors aged 5 to 45 from a number of different training centres with abilities ranging from white belts to black belts.

There were 42 different categories with each individual battle judged by a senior black belt.

In the children’s sections trophies were handed out to fighters who came in first, second and third.

Organiser and Sensei, Aamar Rajpoot, said: “It’s great for them because they get a trophy which they can get excited about and take to school with them. Tournaments give them more confidence and shows them they can do it.”

Mr Rajpoot added: “It went really well and we had a lot of good feedback from parents.”

Mr Rajpoot was particularly proud of differently-abled children - including the deaf and autistic - who had performed admirably.

He said: “There were different kids with different abilities but they have all shown up on the day to prove they can do it and that people should not write them off.”

There are karate classes at Montem Leisure Centre on Wednesdays from 5.30pm to 6.30pm and Fridays from 5.45pm to 6.45pm. Call 07530 296 296, email info@karateacademyuk.com or visit www.karateacademyuk.com for more information.