A dedicated Dumbarton kickboxer will take on the world later this year - having only just left primary school.
Maia Bisley, 12, is set to travel to the WAKO Cadets and Junior World Championships in Italy in September - and is aiming to earn her blackbelt in the sport before then.
Talented Maia, who starts Dumbarton Academy after the holidays, is one of British kickboxing’s brightest talents, and already holds four world titles and more than a dozen Scottish and British titles.
She will spend her summer break working towards her black belt, training hard with her academy, Livingston-based Edinburgh Wolfpack, and at the D-Unit in the Vale of Leven Industrial Estate - as well as with the British and Greek national teams.
And proud mum Kim told the Lennox that Maia’s talent could see her performing on the biggest stage in global sport if she continues her progress.
She said: “Edinburgh Wolfpack are a World Association of Kickboxing Organisations (WAKO) affiliated club.
“WAKO are the organisation that got Taekwondo to the Olympics, and for the last two years, they’ve been going through a process to get kickboxing as a permanent feature of the Olympics which was granted last year.
“It’s absolutely mega.
“Maia is currently ranked number one in the UK by WAKO across four different categories.
“It’s massive that she won the British titles in November and then February with this organisation.
“She was training all over the place as part of a selection process; there were weekends down south, in Aberdeen, over in Edinburgh. All as part of the selection process.
“We found out a few weeks ago that she had made the team and would represent the UK at the World Championships. Which is phenomenal.
“It puts her on the radar for the 2028 Olympics.
“It’s going to be very tough. But it’s phenomenal that she got selected.”
Maia’s kickboxing potential was clear from an early stage, as Kim explained: “In about P2 she couldn’t walk past her dad, Stewart, without punching or kicking him.”
After starting her journey at Alexandria Kickboxing Academy, Maia now trains in Muay Thai, boxing and Brazilian jiu-jitsu at the D-Unit alongside her training with the Wolfpack.
Kim continued: “Her dad said let’s find somewhere to teach you to do that properly. Now she walks past and they share a wee look and then she’ll try and put him in a chokehold.
“She comes out of her class on a Tuesday and wants to roll around the living room floor with me or her dad showing us the moves she’s learned. She’s bonkers.
“The D-Unit are amazing. The coaches are absolutely fantastic and they have a real family atmosphere.
“Because they are open 24 hours too it’s letting her train a few mornings a week before school.”
And that training is with good reason, as Maia faces a gruelling process to earn her black belt during the summer holidays.
Kim added: “The very end part of that is that she has to run around Arthur’s Seat and then up to the top in less than 57 minutes.
“That’s after eight hours of theory, fitness and sparring where you do 10 two-minute rounds. Each person who comes on is only doing those two minutes so they have to come at you hard.
“If you fail any part earlier in the day you don’t know until the end.
“It’s brutal. You don’t just get handed a black belt.”
