'Team Harris' brings home the silverware (From Gazette Series)

'Team Harris' brings home the silverware

KARATE couple Bert and Lin Harris have just returned from a major martial arts tournament with medals aplenty as they train for a hopeful place at a world championship event later this year.

The Wotton-under-Edge duo took part in the EWSKA Open Tournament in Derby, and gained three medals for their efforts.

Lin, 25, won a gold in the Pairs Kata with her partner Rachel Ellwood to set the ball rolling. Then, this pair were joined by Bert, 42, for the Team Kata event, in which the trio claimed a silver.

Bert, a second dan black belt who has been a karate enthusiast for eight years, then took a bronze in the mens under 80 kilos Kumite (fighting category) - an excellent achievement considering he was in competition against current World and European champions among others.

Next up for the couple is the Pre-World Championships in Sligo, Ireland, which will be a good opportunity for both to confirm their place at the World Championships in Italy later this year, where both hope to be chosen for the national squad.

The pair are masters of Wadaryu karate, a soft style with an emphasis on avoidance, movement and agility. They train in Stroud and Weston-super-Mare, and Bert also runs his own club in Bath.

They have been trained by renowned seventh dan master Clayton Murrain on the road to their various martial arts successes over the years, which have included national squad call-ups and enough trophies to fill many a cabinet, and both owe a huge debt to karate in terms of their relationship.

Indeed, it was through martial arts that the couple originally met four years ago, after Bert had tried to get Lin's brother involved with the sport. Now, they are both senior karate experts, and also teach gymnastics as well.

Amazingly, they have only been training together for a little over two years and both are now experts in the Wadaryu field.