FIVE students from the Keighley area were among 12 Horizon Taekwondo Academy pupils who recently passed their black-belt tests.

Keighley youngsters Aisha Latif, eight, Saliha Ejaz, 11, and Laiba Khan, 13, who all attend the taekwondo club at Madina Mosque, all achieved 1st Dan black belts, as did 11-year-old Cara Harbourne, who trains at Keighley Leisure Centre.

Meanwhile, Silsden 14-year-old Jamie Kidd, who is competing for Great Britain in the Cadet European Championships this summer, passed his 3rd Dan black belt.

The exam took place under chief instructor Master Rick Simpson (5th Dan black belt), and examiners were Master Phil James (7th Dan) and Master Gary Sykes (7th Dan), with the candidates performing taekwondo patterns, sparring, self defence and kicking drills, with knife defence and board breaking included for specific candidates.

This was a significant milestone for coaches Natalie Kidd, from Silsden, and Rooji Karim, from Rochdale, who produced their first black belts since they started teaching classes for Horizon Taekwondo Academy two and a half years ago.

Simpson said: “This grading shows progress throughout the ranks within our open taekwondo clubs.

"Children and adults of varying abilities have been able to take part in this grading test and be tested thoroughly through our grading structure.

"We have just short of 300 students across our taekwondo clubs now. The students we have are amazing, while the coaches work tirelessly and are 100 per cent dedicated to our students.

"All our classes are open through the school holidays, and anyone of any ability is welcome to come and train with us – whether they’ve done taekwondo before or not."

Horizon’s next Black Belt grading will be in December, with a further 20-30 students now preparing for this test, which many now regard as the best black belt grading experience in the country.