Grandad joins karate kid

A grandfather who had a triple heart bypass is fighting fit and proving that age is no barrier to sporting success.

Mr Derek Measures, 73, is believed to be one of the oldest people in the country to have achieved a black belt in karate.

Mr Measures, of Honing Drive, Southwell, said he was encouraged to try the martial art after taking his grandson, Blake, 12, to classes at Southwell Leisure Centre.

Blake, a pupil at The Minster School, is also a black belt.

Mr Measures, who had his bypass operation six years ago, started learning about three years ago and is now a black belt first Dan.

“My grandson had been doing karate since he was seven,” Mr Measures said.

“I had been taking him and watching and one of the senseis, which means teacher in Japanese, is about a year younger than me and has been doing karate since he was 50 and he said why didn’t I join in.

“I told him I was getting on and I’d had a triple heart by-pass but I had always been active and I did judo, so I thought: ‘Why not?’

“I got my black belt just before my 73rd birthday.”

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