Melton martial arts quartet conquer the world

Father and son Brent and Morgan Penniston represented Scotland at the World Kickboxing/Karate Council (WKC) World Championships, while Emmadee Fox and Anneka Sherratt were part of team England.

The quartet are all British Chinese Kung Fu Association (BCKA) members and part of the class which trains at King Edward VII Community Sports Centre, in Melton.

They were selected after performing well at the British Open in Manchester back in February and joined one of the championships’ biggest-ever fields with teams from across the UK, Spain, Germany, Egypt, Slovakia and more.

Club instructor Brent, a third degree black belt became a three-time world champion after claiming gold medals in men’s traditional Chinese forms (kata), men’s traditional Chinese weapons, veterans’ weapons and men’s weapons.

He supplemented his medal haul with a clutch of silvers in men’s veteran kumata, synchronised three-person team weapons, two-person Bunki and synchronised four-person team forms (kata).

Seven-year-old Morgan, meanwhile, became the county’s youngest-ever world champion when he struck gold in the boys’ traditional Chinese forms (kata).

Emmadee, who was shortlisted for the Melton Times Sports personality of the Year in 2016, became a two-time world champion, winning gold in ladies’ traditional Chinese forms (kata).

She also earned silvers in synchronised four-person team forms (kata), two-person Bunki, and synchronised three-person team weapons.

Anneka completed the set for the Leicestershire and Rutland group with silver medals at ladies’ traditional Chinese forms (kata) and synchronised four-person team forms (kata).

* For more information on BCKA classes in Leicestershire and Rutland in kickboxing, kung fu and kickboxercise, call Brent on (01664) 562286, email [email protected] or find them on Facebook.