JACK HEARN, 97, from Cramlington, Northumberland, has been teaching judo for almost 70 years and continues to travel around the country taking classes.

Demonstrating his knowledge of the art, he has been awarded his ninth Dan black belt — an instructor who is nine degrees above a standard black belt — and is hoping to achieve the tenth Dan.

Hearn regularly teaches people of all ages, even after retiring as a dockworker. He said: “I fell in love with judo right away, I just took to it like a duck to water and now I’ve been doing it for 68 years. I would say it is the secret to a long life. It’s a very active sport and you have to do a lot of physical training like push ups, sit ups and knee ups. I can still touch the floor with my hands flat and I still get on my back with my legs cycling in the air. I walk up and down the stairs a number of times just for the exercise. I get such pleasure in teaching the younger generations and passing on the knowledge. You can have a lot of fun with it when you let them throw you down as well.

“People who do judo are the most calm people you will meet. They are not interested in fisticuffs at all,” he said.

Hearn has taught so many people judo he’s lost track of how many students he’s seen, but can say he’s coached kids who have gone on to compete at an international level.

His love for judo started when he set up a judo school in North Shields in the 1950s with his brother Bob, who passed away more than 20 years ago. Hearn said: “Before that I was a racing cyclist but, I had an appendicitis and had to have an operation, so the doctor told me, ‘No more cycling.’”

“My brother Bob went to a judo club so I decided to look at doing that instead and I just took to it. I was really curious because it was man-to-man rather than a team game. You would just crash land until you learned how to fall properly,” Hearn said.

In 1954 Hearn went to college to gain a teaching qualification and has gone on to coach people who have competed at championship level. He has also refereed international competitions across Europe. The granddad uses the Japanese name Hoko Jun at competitions and still uses it when teaching.

Hearn travels around Europe meeting Japanese judo teachers and educating students, and hopes to inspire people to take up martial arts at any age. He also enjoys ballroom dancing, and wants to showcase the importance of staying active as you get older.

(SD-Agencies)