Collin Heath was born in 1972 and he has been practising the art of Wado Ryu Karate since 1984, aged 12 years old.
Born in East London, his family moved to West London in 1984, which is where and when he began his search for a sport to get stuck into. Collin tried boxing first for a short while but decided against it. He was excellent at athletics but found he did not like practising out in the cold during winter months! With his West Indian background the cold did not agree with him! Alongside his athletic training he found Ealing karate club and attended there a couple of times a week. Like most boys that age he was inspired by the Kung Fu and Bruce Lee movies! He eventually gave all his spare time to karate, being won over by the fact that you trained inside and did not have to freeze during training sessions!
Collin is an engineer by trade and has a 15 year long career with London Underground as a train maintainer. More recently moving to a competitor company as a train technician, but his real passion is competing in karate competitions and training others to do so.
Collin has had an amazing karate career to date, having obtained some 30 plus titles since 2002; he travels the world competing and medalling in some of the most prestigious karate events.
Quote “I believe that hard work, sacrifice, dedication and faith are a must if you want to achieve. Competing at international level requires self motivation and a combination of good instruction, extra fitness regime and diet.”
Being a third Dan, he is also an instructor, captain of the Higashi National Squad and has been on the Karate England elite squad.
Collin’s talents have been passed down to his daughter, Larissa, who also competes at international level and has many titles of her own….watch this space…..!