YATE’S Sue Marchant will be representing Great Britain in the World Tang Soo Do Association’s European Championships this weekend.

Marchant will be representing Great Britain at the martial arts contest in Rotterdam, Holland, on Saturday.

This will be Marchant’s third European Championships but it will be her first time competing as a black belt.

She is a former gold medallist and was crowned Senior Belt Grand Champion at the 2013 Championships in Munich.

“I took up Tang Soo Do at the age of 43 after my son, Nathan, started the Korean martial art,” said Marchant, who trains with the Chipping Sodbury Tang Soo Do Club. “I saw people in their sixties taking part and I thought if they can do it, so can I.

“I didn’t do any exercise back then and couldn’t even do one sit-up. But learning a martial art requires physical stamina and it’s done wonders for my fitness.”

Marchant set herself the ambitious goal of becoming a black belt in Tang Soo Do by the age of fifty, something that she achieved earlier this year.

“Taking up a martial art is a bit like growing and running a business,” she added.

“It’s all about setting yourself a goal and focussing on the essential steps necessary to achieve it. Being a black belt means the competition will be much tougher.”