Shropshire grandfather earns black belt despite heart bypass
He may be a grandfather and he underwent a triple heart bypass four years ago, but this is one pensioner you wouldn't want to mess with.
Danny Bidgood from Wellington has just earned his black belt in judo.
And the 68-year-old has earned it the hard way, by taking part in competitive fights.
Danny, who is married to Barbara, 67, and has two children and two grandchildren, puts his success on the mat down to disarming his opponents with his apparent old age.
"You should see their faces change when I get them on the floor," said Danny, who two years ago climbed Mount Kilimanjaro and has his sights set on Everest. "They think I am going to be a pushover and then we get down to it and I beat them and they can't quite believe it.
"I have always kept fit and I actually started judo when I was a teenager. I did it for a few years but then I decided I preferred rugby more so switched to that. Then I married and had children and it wasn't until a few years ago that I really got back in to it.
"I had been sent to work in the Middle East and it was only when I came back that I started up with the judo again."
But it isn't his only amazing sporting feat. The pensioner, who used to work for Tarmac, used to be able to run up the Wrekin from gate to gate in just 29 minutes but a number of injuries over the past 18 months has put paid to that.
"My body doesn't heal so quickly now," said Danny, who trains at Bushido Judokwai which meets every Monday and Wednesday night at Ford Village Hall on the outskirts of Shrewsbury. "It used to be that if I broke a finger it would heal within days but now it takes a few weeks.
"But I love doing the judo. There is a great group of people at the club and they have been so supportive. Age is just a number. Four years ago I had a triple heart by-pass and then after that I decided to take up judo again.
"When I had done it as I teenager I gave up after getting my brown belt. This time I stuck with it and I have now got my black belt. I have been in a lot of competitions in places all over the British Isles and even as far away as Poland.
"I will keep doing it until I am in my late 70s. It definitely helps to keep me young, particularly when I am fighting young lads aged about 20. I can see them look at me and think they have won already. When I have beaten them I ask them how it feels to be fighting your grandfather?"
