Lollipop lady, 77, gains top martial arts award
By Josh Layton 5/07/2010
Drivers would be wise not anger elderly lollipop lady Ena Mallet unless they want a good licking.
Battling granny Ena has just gained a top martial arts award at the age of 77.
She has become the first woman ever to win a 7th dan black belt in Spirit Combat International ju-jitsu.
And even though she stands just 5ft 4in and weighs 10st 7lb, the widowed mum of two said yesterday: “Big blokes who look annoyed at being stopped hold no fears for me. I could deal with anyone.”
Ena teaches weekly ju-jitsu classes for kids and adults at the village hall near her home in South Walsham, Norfolk, where she turns out twice a day at the school crossing.
She started learning karate to keep fit in 1979 and became a Spirit Combat International instructor eight years later. She said: "I might be getting on a bit but I still get stuck in during lessons. I don’t just teach from the sidelines and enjoy throwing around the much larger men who come along.
“But the children I see over the crossing all know about my self-defence skills as well and a lot of them come to classes.”
Ena had to demonstrate a series of throws, holds and teaching techniques to get her 7th dan black belt.
She said: "Spirit Combat is all about using self control - though you have to be prepared for violence to defend yourself.
She has, though, only used her martial arts skills once in a real-life situation - when she had to put a 14-year-old boy in a wrist lock after catching him stealing a packet of mints in the local shop where she was working.
She smiled: “It gave him the shock of his life and he quickly dropped the mints. But I let him go and he ran away.”
Ena, who also runs more-sedate keep fit classes for local ladies, added: “I love teaching my sport and certainly have no plans to give it up. I don’t see why I should put my feet up.”
COMBAT
Spirit Combat uses many different styles of ju-jitsu, which was developed by Japanese samurai so they could continue fighting if they were disarmed