A YOUNG martial arts champion will be walking the red carpet with his hero, action film star Jackie Chan, after winning a nationwide competition to be the UK Karate Kid.
Eleven-year-old Jack Griffiths has won an all-expenses trip to London to see the premiere of the new Karate Kid movie following a search by Sony Pictures to find a youngster who shares the ethos of the Karate Kid and to encourage young martial art talent.
Freestyle kickboxer Jack, of Highfield Road, Bolsover, is the current European under 12 weapons and extreme forms champion, a European under 16 bronze medallist and has picked up over 170 medals and trophies since taking up the sport four years ago.
Dad Peter (42) said that Jack started kickboxing as a way of building self-confidence because problems with his eyesight due to an astigmatism, and hearing, due to a glue ear and perforated ear drum, had left him struggling at school.
He joined a club in Sheffield, began to blossom and now trains five times a week.
He won the competition after making a video of a routine and writing a short essay saying why he should be the Karate Kid.
Peter said: "He sacrifices everything for his love of the sport and winning this competition is giving him something back.
"Jackie Chan is one of his heroes and now he will get to meet him and sit in a cinema with him."
By winning the competition, Jack has also won £5,000 for his martial arts club and he has been invited to appear on BBC One's The One Show.
2009 ·SuperChan's Jackie Chan Blog by TNB