A THIRTEEN-year-old girl from Tavistock Tae Kwon Do club has won the prestigious black belt.

Ruth Strugnell has been working towards this tremendous achievement for the past four and a half years.

On June 23, all her training came together in the gruelling three-hour grading in Bath. Master Gayle, the chief grading examiner, commented that he thought she was older due to the maturity and power in her techniques.

Although not the first member of the club to achieve black belt status, Ruth is the first girl and the first member of her family to do so. Her father and sister also train and hope to be following in her footsteps later this year.

PUMA Tavistock Tae Kwon-Do is affiliated to the International Tae Kwon-Do Federation (ITF).

They train in the main gym at Tavistock College on Mondays and Wednesdays, juniors from 7pm and adults from 8pm.