Schoolboy becomes youngest black belt in Kendal history

Nathan O'Sullivan, 12, was awarded the prestigious belt after passing a mammoth four hour grading session under the watchful eye of five senior examiners and one grading officer.

But the Queen Katherine School pupil is running out of room in his trophy cabinet as he has been winning several medals a year since 2008.

As well as having a black belt in karate, Nathan was crowned national champion at the Tamworth British Kata Championships for judo and he is the Lancashire champion for judo in the under 50kg category.

All this success does not come easily to Nathan, who hopes to compete at the Olympic Games one day.

He trains six days a week with three one and a half hour sessions for karate, two hours of judo on a Monday and Wednesday, an hour and a half on Thursdays and two and a half hours most Sundays.

"I like the physical side of it," said Nathan, from Burneside.

"I like having to push myself because I enjoy the challenge and find it fun."

Nathan is tall for his age and, because he has much more experience than most other 12 year olds, he often has to compete against older, stronger boys.

"In judo it can be hard because normally they are stronger or heavier than me and you have to grab hold of them and move them but in karate it's not as bad because you're just trying to hit them using your speed," said Nathan.

Nathan often competes against 15 year olds in judo competitions and their physicality can prove too much for him.

He said: "Sometimes I get down in the dumps because I wonder how I'm going to do this but most of the time I think positive - I'm going to do this, I can do this."

His positive attitude is something his father, Shaun, a project manager at Croppers, deeply admires.

Shaun said: "I'm a very proud father. I have got so much respect for him. He has been through thick and thin because he has had some mullerings but he doesn't complain, he gets on with it. He always tries his hardest and he's a really good kid."