DEANES school pupil James Eade has come back from a major karate world championship with an armful of medals.

But the 15-year-old from Hadleigh says he has no time to rest on his laurels.

He’s already in training for the English national championships which take place in a little over three weeks time.

Eade – a junior second dan black belt in the wado style of karate – flew back into the UK at the weekend with his travel bag weighed down with four medals won at the All-Styles world championship in Italy.

He said: “I came back with a gold, a silver and two bronzes, so it was a pretty successful championship for me.

“I like the fighting the most, what’s not to like about punching people in the face?” he laughed.

“To get medals for kata was the most unexpected.”

He won his forms medal thanks to great kata showings with near-perfect showing of of both Wan-shu and Seishan kata.

The teenager said: “My instructor in the UK is Dave Phillips – who I’ve trained under for years – and Dave called his club after the Seishan kata so it was fitting really that I used this one in the competition.

“I know that Dave thinks that this kata is one of the most beautiful to watch.”

Obviously the judges agreed with Phillips because his young charge picked up a bronze with this kata.

His kumite (fighting) medals came in the Individual Fighting section (gold in the 14-15 year old boys plus 70kg), plus a silver medal in the team rotation fighting.

Eade said: “Rotation fighting is when you’re in a team of three and take turns battling, but you can tag at any time when you’re under too much pressure or want to hand the fight over to one of your team-mates.

“It’s a tag style competition and really gets the adrenalin going,” he added.

The local youngster’s partners for this part of the championship were Kai Collins and Luke Richardson who are fellow England Squad fighters with great track records in this and individual sparring. His other bronze was in team fighting.

The three day world championship attracted hundreds of fighters from dozens of countries to Italy, and next year its location shifts to Brazil.

Deanes School support Eade as part of their STAR Scholar Programme and ensure he can reach his potential on an International Stage.