Kaizen fighters live the dream

Young Forres kickboxers have returned triumphant from competing on the other side of the Atlantic after shelling out a fistful of dollars to get there but returning with a fistful of medals and world titles as booty.
The young members of the Kaizen Martial Arts and Fitness, who train at clubs in Forres and Elgin, carried out lots of fundraising ahead of the competition to help pay for the costs incurred by the trip abroad where they were competing as part of the larger Scotland team.
However, the group, who put in extra training ahead of the competition in Florida, did really well and kicked a few of the other competitors into touch to clinch great results.
Some of the young members were made heroes on their return to school last week as they can now boast the title of World Kickboxing Association (WKA) World Champions.
Club instructor Diane Stuart said the team's hard work had paid off and to return with a good tally of medals and the knowledge they had done Scotland proud was invaluable.
She said she was particularly proud of young members, including Forres Academy pupil Ria Davidson (14), who brought home a bronze and a silver medal, for points sparring and light contact in the under 45kg classes.
Also doing really well was 11-year-old Jodi Henderson from Elgin who was the pride of Bishopmill Primary after winning a gold medal for competing in the under 45kilos under 12 years of age class.

On the podium is Forres Academy pupil Ria Davidson, who brought home a silver medal from the World Kickboxing Championships in Florida, after being pipped at the post on points by the Canadians.

Lossiemouth High School pupil David Firth (17) who is due to start instructing in Forres clinched the first gold for Scotland, winning on points sparring in the 80kg class and winning another gold for light contact.
"Our team put in a lot of effort to get to America and did really well," said Diane. "They were the first people to get golds in the Scotland team and returned as the biggest gold medal club in the Scottish team."
Also competing were former Forres Academy pupil Kayleigh Robinson (21) who coaches the club and is a former school sports person of the year and former Forres Academy pupil Keiran Robinson (14) who now lives in Elgin, but just failed to clinch medals, after being pipped at the post on points, but not before they put up some stiff competition, fighting really well only to lose after a split decision by judges.