A 12-year-old girl has become one of the youngest people in the UK to achieve a black belt in kung fu - after attending lessons via Zoom during lockdown.

Fatin Kylychbekova has been praised by a top coach after she became the first student he's ever coached to achieve the black belt at such a young age.

The talented youngster first started training in the martial art in 2017 when she was just seven years old.

She started learning the basics of kung fu with world renowned trainer Shifu Mark Browne, 55, but she quickly became dedicated to the sport.

Fatin used to train seven days a week when she lived in London, but when the family moved to Bolton, Gtr Manchester in September 2018, she was forced to do her lessons via zoom.

But she's that dedicated to the sport, she travels down to the capital every Sunday to practice.

Now she is believed to be one of the youngest participants in the UK to achieve a black belt, which she has said gives her 'a lot of pride and a lot of excitement.'

Fatin said: "Back when we lived in London, I used to train seven days a week but when we moved to Manchester, we had to cut down because of Covid so I trained on Zoom.

"Then we started training seriously and now I go down to London every Sunday.

"I'll probably do kung fu for the rest of my life."

Now she has achieved her black belt, Fatin, a year eight student at University Collegiate School in Bolton, will start teaching other youngsters and passing her skills onto them.

She added: "It gives me a lot of pride and a lot of excitement.

"I felt very proud and a lot of enjoyment but I also felt a lot of relief.

"I had finally reached the final stage which has taken me a couple of years to get to this point but now I can carry on.

"I've not started teaching people just yet but I currently teach my little sisters and that's quite fun.

"Kung fu is just really fun and it teaches me good skills which I can apply and then pass onto others."

The youngster's dad Bilal Suleman, 44, has said that he and his wife Gulnaz Kylychbekova, 36, are 'very proud' of their daughter as she is 'so dedicated' to the sport.

Bilal, a construction project manager, said: "When she started, she stuck to the basics but in two months, she developed her interest in it and started going more.

"She was going training every day back to back and would be training around for hours a day, and she would never get tired.

"No matter what it took, we would take her to London every Sunday and first thing on a Monday morning, she would go to school and it was a very hard journey."

He added: "We are very proud of her and I am very overwhelmed by it.

"She is so dedicated to it and that makes me really feel so proud."

Fatin's trainer, Shifu Mark Browne, who has been teaching for 30 years, has said that she is the only student he has ever taught that has achieved a black belt at this age.

He said: "She's the first and only student I've had that has achieved a black sash at the age and I have been teaching for over 30 years - she's just absolutely amazing.

"Her mindset is of somebody who is of age and is not of the age that she is."