10-Year-Old Black Belt to Compete in International Karate Tournament

Molly Largent, a fifth-grader at Surrarrer Elementary School, will travel to Serbia Oct. 9 to compete in the Junior World Championships in Karate.

Molly is one of four kids from Ohio who will compete in the tournament.

She will join a group from Wisconsin and, together, will represent the United States as the USA Karate Federation.

Molly studies at in Strongsville.

Her mom, Jodi Largent, said Molly has been training there since she was 4 1/2, and on June 2, received her black belt -- at the age of 9.

She has competed in a number of tournaments, amassing more than 50 trophies and 50 medals.

In February, Shihan Peter Paik,  the coach for the U.S. team, approached Molly at a karate symposium in Ohio, where top-ranking black belts from around the country meet to train and talk about martial arts.

After performing with Jeff Ellis' Demomonstration Team during the weekend, she was invited to join the team.

Last weekend, several of the kids from Wisconsin came to our dojo and did a training session," Jodi said. "Molly will travel to Wisconsin the end of September to train one more time with the team before leaving."

Because there are no other girls her age who train here, she spars with boys. In Serbia, she will compete against girls her own age.