A UNIVERSITY of East London (UEL) student who is currently the national karate champion is training to compete in the fourth European Universities Karate Championship in Cordoba, Spain in July. Amy Thomason, 20, lives in halls of residence at UEL s Dockl

A UNIVERSITY of East London (UEL) student who is currently the national karate champion is training to compete in the fourth European Universities' Karate Championship in Cordoba, Spain in July.

Amy Thomason, 20, lives in halls of residence at UEL's Docklands campus, but she represents England in karate and is also a member of the Great Britain University Team representing UEL.

Amy, a Commonwealth karate champion in 2006, also successfully won gold in March this year at the British University Championships. The victory meant she was automatically selected for the European Universities' Karate Championships in Spain.

Amy said: "It's a really hectic time for me at the moment as I'm training hard and finishing my degree so I'm really looking forward to taking part in the European Championships afterwards."

Taking up karate when she was just seven in New Zealand, she already started competing three years later as a member of the Kei Shin Kan Karate club.

In London, she joined Gendai-ryu Karate under the guidance of world champion Molly Samuel-Leport, then Kaizen Central karate under William Thomas, another world champion.