A retired doctor has become the third generation of his family to join Ilkley Karate Club.

Ravi Thiru has joined the new Monday morning class and trains alongside daughter Vani and grandchildren Rahul and Arul.

The Monday morning classes started in the new year and are designed to accommodate a wide range of abilities.

Starting at 10am at Ben Rhydding Methodist Church Hall, the classes attract women who are seeking to improve their fitness and men, like Ravi, who are retired and looking for new challenges.

The ages of students range from mid-30s through to late 70s with one shared theme, a spirit of life, which is at the heart of all karate training.

The inspiration for the class was a TV article where retirees had started karate training and discovered the health benefits.

The class is therefore designed for a diverse range of people who may never have even considered that karate training would be for them, but would like to try.

The class is led by Patrick Walton, a 2nd dan English Karate Federation qualified instructor, and will follow an authentic syllabus that emanates from Japan. As the class instructor is himself retired he has a deeper appreciation of exercise for a mature group and women of all ages.

To discover more, visit the Ilkley Karate Club website or call in at Ben Rhydding Methodist Church Hall on a Monday at 10am.

The club also has classes for children on Tuesday and Thursday evenings and family classes on Friday evenings and Saturday morning. Adults train from 7.30pm to 9.30pm, Tuesday and Thursday.

For more information about the Monday morning class, contact Patrick Walton on 07552 533439 and for other classes contact the chief instructor Mark Outterside via the club website.