Riaz Amin

Riaz Amin (; born 27 February 1998) is a British Bangladeshi martial artist who practices Shotokan Karate and Filipino Martial Arts. He is the current World Eskrima Kali Arnis Federation (WEKAF) World Championships champion.

Early life Amin was born in Tower Hamlets, London, England and is a third generation British Bangladeshi. He attended Coopers' Company and Coborn School.

Martial arts career At the age of five, Amin started martial arts in Shotokan Karate with Alton Brown (2nd Dan) and Joe Anderson (7th Dan) of Toyakwai Karate Association. He then started competing at local, national and international competitions. He won various gold medals such as The English Open and Southern Regional Championships. At the age of 11, he achieved his 1st Dan black belt. At the age of 13, he started learning Filipino Martial Arts (FMA) at the FMA Academy under Shamim Haque and Abjol Miah. Haque teaches Amin the deadly blade art 'Kalis Ilustrisimo'.

Since starting karate, Amin has competed in many major competitions. In 2008, he took Gold, Silver and Bronze in the Malta Four Nations International Open Championship organised by SKSM Karate Malta, and came 4th in the Funakoshi World Championships. In 2009, he won Gold in the European Karate Federation (EKF) International, Essex Grand National Open Championship and Capital Open Championship.

On 2 December 2012, at the age of 14, Amin entered his first full contact tournament at the British World Escrima-Kalis-Arnis Federation (WEKAF) Tournament and became the Single Stick Cadet fighter of the day British champion.

From 2005 to 2014, he has fought in more than 50 tournaments. He now trains in karate under Alton Brown, Raphael Veras and others from the England Karate Squad.

Honours Year Event Venue Result The English Open Gold Southern Regional Championships 2008 Malta Four Nations International Championship Dingli, Malta Gold, Silver and Bronze Funakoshi World Championships Birmingham, England 4th 2009 European Karate Federation International Sheffield, England Gold Essex Grand National Open Championship Essex, England Capital Open Championship 2012 World Escrima-Kalis-Arnis Federation British Open Championships Gillingham, Kent Single Stick Cadet fighter of the day British champion 2014 World Escrima-Kalis-Arnis Federation World Championships Budapest, Hungary World champion