Martial arts pair preparing for Australian championships

TWO young boys are ready to take on the best in Australia in their age groups in martial arts.

Humzah Rashidi, 10, and Julian Laine, 7, have both qualified for the Australian sport karate titles. Picture: Justin Sanson

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A ST Marys gym will have two representatives at the national junior taekwondo champions in Melbourne next month.

Humzah Rashidi, of St Marys, and Julian Laine, of St Clair, train with Double Impact taekwondo which runs classes at Revolutions Health and Fitness Gym in St Marys.

Tracey Laine said she only enrolled her seven-year-old son in taekwondo to give him some self-defence skills. “It’s really worrisome that this generation can’t even ride their bikes down the street without fear of something happening to them,” Mrs Laine said.

“Due to so many kids being kidnapped, or worse, I decided to enrol him and his four-year-old brother in self-defence.”

Julian began taekwondo training just 18 months ago and already has earned a purple belt after being double graded twice.

“His sensai suggested we put him in his first tournament to give him confidence and purely for the fact that he believed he was good enough,” Mrs Laine said.

Julian placed first in NSW for the sword combat event at the International Sport Karate Association’s (ISKA) Australian Open in Liverpool last month.

“I’m so proud of him,” Mrs Laine said.

Humzah Rashidi and Julian Laine at their taekwondo class at Revolutions Gym in St Marys.

“I think he will do well at the Australian titles. Whether or not he gets all the way, I’m just so proud and I wish him luck. ”

Mrs Laine said Julian’s first love soccer had been left at the wayside as his passion for taekwondo grew.

The Australian Open competition also saw 10-year-old Humzah Rashidi place second in the state for the point sparring competition.

Humzah’s mum Katrina Coffee said she was nervous watching him compete, but she was confident even before he set foot on the mat.

“He’s been training for the last 12 months or so,” Ms Coffee said.

“He told me ‘I’m going to walk away with a trophy today mum’. He’s got a lot of ambition.”

Ms Coffee said she could see Humzah studying his opponents’ moves and using them to his advantage.

“He has more composure than a lot of other kids his age,” she highlighted.

As a result of their high achievements, Julian and Humzah were invited to compete in the more serious ISKA Australian championships at the Whitlam Leisure Centre, Liverpool, on Sunday, November 27.