Novas Martial Arts Academy will be taking a group of six fighters, aged between eight and 21, who have qualified through national competitions, to the WKC World Championships in Portugal in October.
Novas Martial Arts was founded eight years ago by husband and wife team Lewis and Jamie Clark, martial arts enthusiasts from Bolton.
The academy, based in Peter Street, Bury, has been running self-defence and kickboxing competitions for around five years, sending students to competitions across the UK and Europe.
“We mainly teach self-defense, but we also have a few students who compete in kickboxing,” said head coach Lewis, 38.
“We have been competing as a team for about five years and this will be our third World Championships as a club.
“The second time we went, everyone but one of us placed and we even brought home the world champion.”
Lewis says the group's main aim is to boost children's confidence and concentration, and aims to provide a particularly welcoming space for neurodiverse children.
Lewis' 12-year-old son Leo and 16-year-old daughter Lexie, both of whom have autism, will compete at the world championships this autumn, and Lewis says Leo is also the first child with autism to represent Britain in the para category of kata, a Japanese martial art.
He added: “My main goal is to help kids build self-confidence, get fit and know that martial arts is for everyone.”
“We want to make sure everyone has access to assessment – my child is autistic and we have a lot of neurodiverse children coming into our centre.
“We're proud to welcome them and they've really thrived when it comes to martial arts.”
In addition to Leo and Lexie Clark, the Nova Martial Arts Academy team includes Dylan Quinn, 21, Jamien Brannigan, 12, Tommy Guest, 11, and Emily, eight.
