FOUR years of dedicated commitment and training has paid off for three young students of the Studley-based Samurai Jujitsu club.

Connor Lawler (left), aged 13, Alastair Ayton, 15, and 11-year-old Jack Cranston (right) underwent a gruelling three-hour grading session and came away with their prestigious black belts.

Chief instructor Stephen Coates, former British middleweight champion and a World Championship gold medallist, put them through their paces.

"I'm very proud of them and they deserve all the congratulations for their determination and efforts," their instructor said.

The club trains on Tuesday evenings with juniors aged eight and above from 6-7pm and adults aged over 16 from 7-8pm.

For more details look at the website samuraijujitsu.co.uk or call Coates on 07779 137260.

And there were national honours for Redditch karate ace Amanda Hanson-Turner.

She returned from the National Championships, held at Crystal Palace, with a gold medal in the sparring section of the veterans competition.

There was success for two others from the Redditch area with 16-year-old Rebecca Williams taking gold in her age group while there was a silver medal for Kaleigh Haynes.