Top karate title for Alistair

A MARTIAL arts expert who serves as a community police officer in Annan has been crowned an international champion at the age of 55.

In a stunning display of technique, Alistair Mitchell from Rockcliffe defeated some of the top karate talents from 42 countries across the world to be named Best Player across all age categories at the 10th World Shotokan Karate-Do Federation (WSKF) championships in Tokyo, Japan, on August 14.

Alistair said: "This was the best in the world, and at the moment the World Federation I would say has the best competitors in the Shodokan and the All-Stars, so the pressure coming from the young ones coming through is unbelievable."

And Alistair is a competition veteran, having previously won the WSKF championships three times from 1999 to 2005, alternating each year with a victory as the World Police Champion.

And addressing his preparations for a return to the championships, he said: "It took six years to get a sustainability of training, and then a three-year plan to come back and win the world championship."

The black belt, who is a 7th Dan, added: "The training I'm doing now is far better, and far more effective. It's the difference between training for a sport and training for a martial art.

"This was a challenge to see if this was still there. The feeling, from my training, is that I'm now better than I was in 1999."

And Alistair believes that the dedicated training he has undertaken will stand him in good stead into his 60s, estimating he will achieve the top goal of 9th Dan within six years.

Competing in the senior men's over-35 category, taking on men up to 20 years younger than him, Alistair said: "My cardiovascular fitness was there, my technique was probably better than theirs, probably more refined. It had to be, because if I was doing the same thing I wouldn't be able to sustain it against their speed."

Alistair defeated Minoru Yamasaki from Japan in the shobu-ippon section and Noder Khajishiuli from Georgia through a bruising clash in thejiyu kumite, before being named overall champion.

Celebrating his success, Alistair said: "It's good, because it is allegedly the last one — the last one I'll be doing at the World Championships. That's the end of my career. I've put the dot on it now, and I've hopefully inspired the juniors to come through."

Alistair currently leads students at weekly karate classes at Newington Leisure Centre in Annan every Tuesday evening, now recruiting new members.

Keen to pass on his skills, and explaining his remaining goal, he said: "I want to produce another world champion."



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