Mike Mitchell karate black belt achievement

That this House congratulates Mike Mitchell of JKA Bass Rock Karate Club who, after more than a twenty year break, has become a black belt in karate at the age of 74; understands that Mr Mitchell was a badminton coach for fifteen years and then swapped the court for the martial arts mats; praises Mr Mitchell on becoming potentially the first person over the age of 70 in Scotland to achieve a Japanese Karate Association black belt for the first time; acknowledges that Mr Mitchell had previously worked his way up to the purple belt some thirty years ago and then stopped his training, before taking up lessons with teacher Paola Burrows to work through the belts in the Shotokan discipline of the martial art; wishes Mr Mitchell well with his future attempts to move further up the ladder and train for a black belt second Dan for at least two years, and the best of luck for his future.