At just six-years-old Esa Hussain has already started to build up an impressive collection of kickboxing titles and his latest achievement signals yet another phenomenal feat.
Having already clinched his White, Yellow and Orange belts in the sport, as well as a number of trophies, Esa made it a fantastic four last week as he picked up his Red Belt and continued his remarkable progression.
More than a year younger than any of his fellow Red belt competitors, the young martial art ace had to master more than 60 moves and 14 combinations in order to receive the latest accolade.
Speaking after winning the award, the Hollingwood Primary School pupil said he was very proud of his achievement and explained why he loves the hard-hitting sport.
“I began kickboxing when I was four,” he said. “I like everything about it; it is hard to say just one thing.
“When I won my Red Belt I was very proud because it meant I had done all my White belt moves, Yellow belt moves and Orange belt moves, as well as the new set whilst only making one mistake.”
Esa has been kickboxing for almost three years now with the tutorship of Mr Azar Farooq.
Through regular training and competitions the fighting prodigy has broken record after record and aspires to one day be like his idols, Amir and Haroon Khan.
His father, Amjad Hussain, spoke of how he will always back his son in whatever career he decides to pursue and will always support his decision.
He said: “Obviously I am really proud of him and I do push him hard to be honest. We really wanted to get this latest award before he turned seven in January so it was a good day when he won it.
“Initially Esa took up the sport when he turned four and came home with a number of a local club he had got off his friend. After a bit of pestering we took him down and thankfully he was allowed to train despite being so young.
Mr Hussain added that the road to success is a long one for anybody yet believes his son has the ability to succeed.
“A really special day happened earlier this year when Esa actually met Amir Khan, who is his idol,” he said. “He told Amir he wanted to be like him when he was older and Amir invited him to give him a punch.
“Of course he did and Amir said ‘Wow that was very good’ which was obviously great for Esa to hear and only made him want to succeed more.”
Esa will next be in competition in January 2014, and with his seventh birthday arriving in the same month, the greatest present of all could well be another first place trophy.
