YORK'S Chris Jay is making a name for himself in Korea at the national sport of taekwondo.

Jay has spent more than a year in the country studying and training in the martial art, resulting in the recent award of the coveted black belt.

A gruelling schedule of training five days a week paid dividends for Jay as, in front of 4,000 spectators, he demonstrated a range of complex techniques and won all his free-combat fights at the World Taekwondo Headquarters in Seoul.

Jay, who comes from Woodthorpe and has been teaching English in Korea to subsidise his training, was the only non-Korean competitor at the event and received his belt from the taekwondo grand master.

Jay's father Phil, who is a judo black belt and is a coach at the York RI Judo Club, said: "Chris's mother and I flew out to Korea during to the summer to watch him train.

"We were amazed at just how much effort he puts into the sport, often demonstrating faster and more powerful techniques than his Korean team-mates."

Jay now plans to continue his training in Korea and is hopes to become an instructor in Seoul.

Updated: 12:03 Wednesday, January 02, 2002