A WOULD-BE primary school teacher has become an international martial arts champion.
Simon Best from South Woodham Ferrers won double gold and a silver in the three-day event in Telford.
The 24-year-old, who has just started his final year of a sports and exercise performance degree at Writtle College, and who hopes to go on to teacher training, told the Chronicle: "This is the first international event that I've been placed in first – I won silver last year so I had the incentive to come back this year with a bit of a vengeance.
"It's a great feeling to be able to call yourself champion."
He won a gold medal in the open-weight GI grappling at the World Organisation of Martial Arts Athletes games – and in the final beat an opponent who outweighed him by 40kgs in the final.
Simon, who was part of the Team GB, has practiced martial arts since the age of 10 and now instructs 3 to 16-year-olds in kick-boxing in Basildon.
