A POWERFUL feature length documentary about the growth and evolution of a fledgling martial arts club is to be premiered next month.

A film crew joined young fighters from North-East Kickboxing Academy in 2011 and has charted their transformation into world class athletes.

The movie, Alive and Kicking, shows how children develop their skills under the expert guidance of former champion Wes Fagan as he reaches a turning point in his own career.

The club is based at Burnopfield Community Centre, near Stanley, and the members are from the former pit communities in the area.

The film examines how the discipline they learn in the gym transcends the sport and has helped them grow as people.

Director Carolyn Reid, of Newcastle-based Village Films, said: “Girls train alongside boys, adults train to keep fit and children who have been bullied develop confidence whilst learning self-defence skills and NEKA’s determined young competitors begin to win titles.

“An inspiring story, Alive and Kicking, follows Wesley’s journey from fighter to coach, mentor and show promoter; capturing his passion for kickboxing and celebrating the camaraderie of NEKA, the community he engages and the new champions he nurtures.

“Filmed over seven years, Alive and Kicking, documents the ups and downs; the glory and heartache, as NEKA rise through the ranks of competitive kickboxing.

“From working men’s social clubs to Olympic training stadiums, witness the confidence and self- esteem of NEKA, and of Wesley, thrive.

Wes Fagan first got involved in martial arts aged ten, inspired by Hollywood stars such as Bruce Lee, Chuck Norris and Jean Claude Van Damme.

He initially trained in ju jitsu, switching to kickboxing at 15.

Fagan, now 36, from Dipton, said: “I used to get bullied a lot and through boredom I was getting into bother.

“I realised I wasn’t going anywhere and needed something to put my energy into.

“I had always been athletic, but I really got into the culture of kickboxing, the respect of bowing in and out of the ring and the discipline of spending time in the gym.”

Fagan, a second degree black belt and three times world champion, formed his own club in 2009 after realising he had taken the sport as far as he could as a competitor.

Now he trains young people from the area three times a week and gets pleasure from seeing them win the belts he once vied for.

A chance meeting with a film director when he was best man at a friend’s wedding sporting a black eye he earned winning his first European title in 2006 means his story is being told on the big screen.

Five years after that meeting, as Ms Reid was looking for film ideas for the 2012 Olympics, they met again and filming started.

She said: “When I first met Wesley Fagan, he had a black eye and I immediately jumped to the wrong conclusion as to how he acquired the bruising.

“I later learned he had indeed been fighting, but in a kickboxing ring and he’d just won his first title.

“I had no prior knowledge of kickboxing but was working at the time on a documentary about sports which were not included in the Olympic Programme, so began filming Wesley’s newly formed kickboxing club.

“Wesley’s and the North-East Kickboxing Academy’s passion and commitment was obvious and I made the decision to focus on documenting their journey.”

The initial idea had been to focus on Fagan, but the time it has taken means the film shows how individuals have grown within the club over the years, what they have achieved and the impact the club has had on the community.

Fagan, a married father-of-two, who works as a caravan maker by day at Elddis in Consett, said: “It has snowballed with the fighters winning more fights.

“It is crazy that we are here now because the film crew has been everywhere with me.

“They have been followed me to work, at home. They were even at my wedding.

“In the time it has taken to make I am now married and have two children.

“I am over the moon with the film. I think it does justice to what I have tried to do here.

“The premiere will be emotional though because it has been a big part of my life.

“I don’t think there will be a dry eye in the place.”

The film is being shown for the first time at the Gala Theatre in Durham on Saturday, July 14, at 7.30pm.

Tickets, £15 for adults and £10 for under 16s, can be booked by calling 03000-266-600.