Liz Read and son Chris
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Martial arts mum awarded black belt
By Stephanie CockroftDecember 16, 2011
A MUM has proved age is no barrier by being awarded a black belt in martial arts – at the age of 45.
Liz Read is believed to be the oldest person in Aldershot to have achieved the rank, despite only starting the martial arts classes three years ago.
Her achievement has been made all-the-more special by her teenage son also passing the same black belt test on the same day.
But Liz, who has lost three stone in the process, says she has no intention of stopping at the first black belt.
She said: “I am going to keep going back to the classes because I enjoy it so much.
“I’m sure I will stop eventually but I don’t know when that will be.
“When I first started, I could not even do one press-up. I never dreamed I would be where I am now, getting to black belt.
“I want to see what else I can achieve.”
Liz, who lives in Holly Road, first thought about martial arts when she was diagnosed with high blood pressure and wanted to lose weight.
It was when her son Chris, then aged 12, took up karate that she decided to join Precision Martial Arts in Aldershot in February 2008.
Liz feared her son, now a student at Farnborough Sixth Form College, would not want to his mum tagging along to his classes.
However, he embraced his mum’s new hobby – and now the pair are each other’s perfect sparring partners.
She said: “In all honesty, I am quite surprised my son started doing it with me but now it’s something we enjoy doing together.
“There’s not many things a mum can do with a teenage son but we have really found common ground.
“We love fighting each other and sparring.”
Liz’s progression took a knock when she broke her ankle two years ago, putting her out of action for more than three months.
But through three hours of hard training every week, she continued to develop and is now the proud owner of 17 belts, the last of which she received on Saturday.
She said: “I was very self-conscious at first, especially because you can see yourself in the mirror and I thought I looked stupid.
“Then, as time went on, I became more confident, I started to lose some weight and I understood the moves.
“It has been a slow process but I like challenging myself and it has given me such a sense of achievement.”
Not one to shy away from a challenge, Liz has also completed a social science and social policy degree as a mature student, graduating when she was 40.
She then started a job as a support worker for learning disability charity Mencap.
As well as Chris, she is supported in her endeavours by husband Alban and 19-year-old son Sam.
She said: “All my family are very proud of me and think what I’m doing is great.
“Hopefully, I will inspire people and show that you can achieve anything you want, whatever age you are.”
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