Tributes have been paid to a beloved karate instructor who taught at a club in Lancashire after he has died at 92.

Rob Bellwood from Fleetwood died after an accident in his home on December 29 last year. He had been unwell for about six months following a knee operation.

The 92-year-old was the oldest seventh Dan black belt in the country and a senior figure in the UK International Japan Karate Association (IKJA).

Sensei Ron took up Shotokan karate in 1972 before gaining his black belt in 1975 with the Karate Union of Great Britain (KUGB), where he met two of the most renowned Japanese masters of Shotokan karate - Hirokazu Kanazawa, and Sadashige Kato who he had formed a close bond with.

Despite being at an age most people would consider “too old” for martial arts, Ron continued to train as well as teaching three karate classes at Poulton YMCA every Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday.

Neil Davies of the Blackpool and Wyre IJKA Karate Club, said: “He was a man who touched so many lives in a very positive way. He must have taught hundreds of people over the years in a career that spanned five decades.

“He rarely missed a single class. It was a schedule that would have challenged a much younger man. Let alone one in his eighties.

“Running along the promenade of his hometown of Fleetwood. Doing karate and Qigong on the beach in all weathers. It gets jolly cold on the Fylde Coast let me tell you. Outdoor training in Winter is not for the faint hearted. Yet this was typical of Ron. He never did anything by halves.

“Despite that Ron could remember all his basics and 28 kata. He could kick Jodan (head height) with both legs. His flexibility was extraordinary. Something he put down to a lifetime of studious stretching - a habit developed from his footballing days with Fleetwood F.C for whom he played 148 matches.

“Ron was very inclusive by nature. He believed everybody had something to offer the club and all views were given an airing.

“I’d never known such an open-minded policy before. Normally, in most clubs, there is only one voice to be heard that of the teacher.

“Ron encouraged discussion and debate as he believed that this was how karate evolved. He also felt people could do more than they believed.

“You will be missed but not forgotten.”