Superfit George Psarias earned the impressive accolade in self-defence after spending just three months training at his local martial arts academy.

The grandad, who runs Giorgio's Ristorante Italiano in Headingley, West Yorks., said he’d briefly tried out the sport as a young student at the University of Leeds.

But his energetic grandkids inspired him to give it another go 50 years later - and he’s now mastered a range of impressive punches and kicks.

George Psarias owner of Giorgio's Ristorante Italiano, in Headingley, Leeds, has at the grand age of 75 taken up Karate after his grandchildren started at the local club. George, has been taking part in lesson twice a week and has just earned his red belt.

After earning his red belt, which is the second rank among British fighters, George now says more pensioners should embrace the martial arts.

He said: “It doesn’t matter how old you are, I still feel very fit.

“I like the structure, and there’s exercise involved too, it’s not just movement and kicks.”

The OAP moved to Yorkshire from Cyprus as a teenager and later went on to found his loved Italian restaurant on Otley Road.

He'd tried out karate while in his 20s but admitted that he hadn’t fallen in love with the sport at the time - which originates from Japan.

However, he rekindled his interest when he began taking his grandchildren Oliver and Alexandros to classes at Leeds North Martial Arts Academy.

And he said the pair had then encouraged him to get fighting fit once again.

George said: “I used to take them to their classes and thought, why don’t I join? They were an inspiration to me.”

George expressed pride in his strong punch but admitted that his other moves still needed some practice.

And although he believed a black belt was out of his reach at the moment, he was hoping to move up the ranks in the sport over the next year.

He said: “Hopefully with a bit of luck, I can just move up to the next belt.”

The septuagenarian has run restaurants for more than 40 years, including the former Olive Tree chain, which had branches in Rodley, Headingley and Chapel Allerton.

He added: “Our first restaurant was in Ilkley, but we decided to move to Leeds because it’s a big city.

“There weren’t many places at first, but now there’s so much variety and so many restaurants.

“It’s good for the customer, but the competition can be difficult. The city centre is full of colourful, exciting places, which is something to be proud of.”

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