AT EIGHT years old, tiny karate player Isabelle Caris is used to doing as her mother tells her.

But the tables are turned in their world of sport as the Sele First School pupil holds rank over mother Clair at martial arts club Seiken Ryu Corbridge, where they are both members - especially now that Isabelle has achieved her black belt!

The determined player succeeded where adults and older children failed, the youngest, and one of only eight from 50 applicants, to gain the coveted belt at the final grading at Stamfordham over the weekend.

And her new status pushes her even further ahead of her mother in the ranking system, Clair set to take her grading in March.

Clair said: “Because she’s a higher grade, she gets to boss me around and I have to show her respect, and she loves that!

“It’s a wonderful feeling to think she has got her black belt because not many children passed and the expectations from the examiners are very high.

“But she did exactly what she needed to do and smashed it, and the head examiner said she had a bubble around her and she shone throughout the grading which was very nice to hear.

“Her dad and I were waiting outside for the result, and she burst into tears of relief because it was such a long day and so intense.

“I am so proud of her for achieving it at such a young age, and she’s just a little firecracker.”

The grading system is an intense one and lasted up to five hours, the examiner putting Isabelle through a variety of kicking, punching and blocking combinations.

She was tested on a number of tricky katas, or movements, but she showed great stamina and skills to sail through the tests.

It has been two-and-a-half years in the making since she joined Corbridge, but just rewards for endless hard work.

Clair said: “I’m doing it too and I think it’s difficult to remember all the combinations, so it is quite an achievement for an eight-year-old.

“But it just proves how focused and determined she is, and she showed great stamina.

“The children’s class at Corbridge is excellent and they make it fun to start off with, but as soon as she got to the senior grade of brown belt then she just wanted to start senior classes with the adults.

“She was straight back into it after the grading, and she will now work towards the next stage of achieving her second Dan.”