A MARTIAL arts black belt master from Greenock gets a real kick out of his sport — by training his whole family in Tae Kwon-Do.
Charles Boyle — or ‘Cha’ to those who know him — has his wife, two sons and brother hooked on the Korean foot and fist discipline.
The 6th dan black belt specialist has run Inverclyde Cho’s Tae Kwon-Do school for the last 25 years and takes special pride in making it a family affair.
He joked: “It’s great that my wife and sons are into it as well — well they didn’t have much choice really!”
Charles, 50, added: “But they all really enjoy it and get so much out of it.”
His wife, Gillian, 44, is a fourth dan black belt, son Logan, 13, a first dan, as is Charles’s brother David. His other son, Jaxon, is well on his way to achieving the accolade and is currently an orange belt.
His wife, Gillian, 44, is a fourth dan black belt, son Logan, 13, a first dan, as is Charles’s brother David. His other son, Jaxon, is well on his way to achieving the accolade and is currently an orange belt.
Charles took up the sport in 1984 and has graded for Grand Master Cho in Hawaii, as well as moving through the grades at camps in Arizona, Florida and Ireland.
He said: “There was Kung Fu and Karate back then but I wasn’t interested.
“When Tae Kwon-Do came I went along and I liked it a lot.
“My wife got into it after two years with me, and the boys got into it because mum and dad were doing it.”
Charles added: “I started the club 25 years ago and hundreds of people have gone through it, including 56 black belts
“I get real enjoyment from teaching and seeing people come through and I’ve made many friends through it.”
The family are making the trip to Hawaii in November for Logan to go for his second dan black belt in front of Grand Master Cho, who is still practising the martial art at the age of 78.
Charles said: “It’ll be a big thing for Logan but I’m sure he’ll come through just fine. It’ll be a nice holiday for us as well.”
You can fins out more about the local school by logging on to www.inverclydetaekwondo.com