A 12-year-old girl has become one of the youngest people in the UK to achieve a black belt in kung fu - after attending lessons via Zoom during lockdown.<br /><br />Fatin Kylychbekova has been praised by a top coach after she became the first student he's ever coached to achieve the black belt at such a young age.<br /><br />The talented youngster first started training in the martial art in 2017 when she was just seven years old.<br /><br />She started learning the basics of kung fu with world renowned trainer Shifu Mark Browne, 55, but she quickly became dedicated to the sport.<br /><br />Fatin used to train seven days a week when she lived in London, but when the family moved to Bolton, Gtr Manchester in September 2018, she was forced to do her lessons via zoom. <br /><br />But she's that dedicated to the sport, she travels down to the capital every Sunday to practice.<br /><br />Now she is believed to be one of the youngest participants in the UK to achieve a black belt, which she has said gives her 'a lot of pride and a lot of excitement.'<br /><br />Fatin said: "Back when we lived in London, I used to train seven days a week but when we moved to Manchester, we had to cut down because of Covid so I trained on Zoom.<br /><br />"Then we started training seriously and now I go down to London every Sunday.<br /><br />"I'll probably do kung fu for the rest of my life."<br /><br />Now she has achieved her black belt, Fatin, a year eight student at University Collegiate School in Bolton, will start teaching other youngsters and passing her skills onto them.<br /><br />She added: "It gives me a lot of pride and a lot of excitement. <br /><br />"I felt very proud and a lot of enjoyment but I also felt a lot of relief. <br /><br />"I had finally reached the final stage which has taken me a couple of years to get to this point but now I can carry on.<br /><br />"I've not started teaching people just yet but I currently teach my little sisters and that's quite fun.<br /><br />"Kung fu is just really fun and it teaches me good skills which I can apply and then pass onto others."<br /><br />The youngster's dad Bilal Suleman, 44, has said that he and his wife Gulnaz Kylychbekova, 36, are 'very proud' of their daughter as she is 'so dedicated' to the sport.<br /><br />Bilal, a construction project manager, said: "When she started, she stuck to the basics but in two months, she developed her interest in it and started going more. <br /><br />"She was going training every day back to back and would be training around for hours a day, and she would never get tired. <br /><br />"No matter what it took, we would take her to London every Sunday and first thing on a Monday morning, she would go to school and it was a very hard journey."<br /><br />He added: "We are very proud of her and I am very overwhelmed by it. <br /><br />"She is so dedicated to it and that makes me really feel so proud."<br /><br />Fatin's trainer, Shifu Mark Browne, who has been teaching for 30 years, has said that she is the only student he has ever taught that has achieved a black belt at this age. <br /><br />He said: "She's the first and only student I've had that has achieved a black sash at the age and I have been teaching for over 30 years - she's just absolutely amazing. <br /><br />"Her mindset is of somebody who is of age and is not of the age that she is."
