Shropshire female karate fighter in highest rank
A dedicated martial arts instructor from Shropshire has become one of the highest ranked female pratictioners in the British Karate Association.
Diana Vincent from Coalbrookdale has been awarded her fifth dan blackbelt in Wydo Ryu Karate, making her the highest-graded woman practitioner of that style in the organisation.
Vincent, who trains at Kyushinkai Martial Arts School, in Madeley, Telford, has been training for more than two decades in both karate and weaponry, holding a third dan in the latter.
And this latest achievement has required five years of training with some of the best martial artists in the country, followed by a testing grading day overseen by BKA chief Brian Seabright.
Vincent has trained frequently with eighth Dan Geoff Thompson, as well as ninth dans Peter Consterdine and Stephen Chan on her way to reaching this milestone.
Kyushinkai owner Sam Stewart said everyone at the school was proud of her achievement. Diane was 'over the moon' to have achieved the grade.
And she had been greatly surprised when she was informed she was the highest graded female in the BKA for her style of Karate.
She said: "It was brilliant when they told me because, when you are training up for it, you don't think of anything like that."
She added that she now intends to target her fourth dan in weaponry.
