Zack Menai performing some Football-Kwon-Do moves

IF the movies have taught us anything, it’s that true martial artists have to be ready and willing to embrace some unconventional training techniques when it comes to honing their skills.

Where would the Karate Kid be without wax on, wax off?

Cunning sensei Mr Miyagi even had protégé Daniel LaRusso painting fences, painting houses and sanding floors.

Well, now young martial artists from across Camden, Islington and Westminster have their very own Mr Miyagi, who is introducing them to Football-Kwon-Do in a bid to help them with their balance, timing and kicking techniques.

Tucked away in the heart of King’s Cross, every Saturday morning Master Rienzi Trento takes his team of taekwondo students out onto the sports pitch at Calthorpe Community Garden. Fitting for the somewhat unusual backdrop, the 6th-dan black belt foregoes the familiar kicking and punching drills and instead gathers up some footballs and starts the session with some one-touch passing.

Then the youngsters take it in turns to try an audacious 360-degree tornado kick, ending – hopefully, and with a lot of practice – with them volleying the ball into the back of the net.

With a cheeky grin, Master Rienzi, who lives in Somers Town, explained how “the way of the football” is now providing his students with the ultimate training hack.

He said: “Ultimately, the main goal is to help the children relax and make them laugh; often training in any form of martial arts can be very overwhelming in the beginning. But there is a serious side to it, too. Giving the children something else to focus on, like a football, helps them improve their balance and timing when learning new kicks.

“So many different sports have transferable skills, and I can honestly say that Football-Kwon-Do works. Since introducing it to the kids, their taekwondo skills have improved rapidly. And most importantly of all, it has helped keep training fun and interesting for them.”

Revealing how he came up with the idea, Master Rienzi, who runs Holborn Tigers and sister club Soho Parish Dragons, said: “When I started teaching at Calthorpe Community Garden six months ago, I saw the pitch and thought it would be a great place to train because it was a soft surface, so if the kids fell down, they wouldn’t get hurt or injured.

Master Rienzi Trento holds Football-Kwon-Do at Calthorpe Community Garden

“On the other half of the pitch there would be children playing football, and whenever I watched them shoot, they would miss the goal. So I thought if I could incorporate football drills into my taekwondo sessions, all the kids could train together, and maybe they would improve in both. The idea just came to me.”

Explaining how it was the might of a former professional footballer that convinced him to host Football-Kwon-Do sessions regularly, Master Rienzi added: “I was telling someone about the training, and they mentioned Zlatan Ibrahimovic, a footballer who also holds a black belt in taekwondo. So I started watching videos of him, and sure enough, I recognised some of his techniques from taekwondo and how having that balance, timing and flexibility helped him score more goals.”

The sessions have certainly helped hotshot Zack Menai, who used his newfound skills to score one of the goals of the season for Bloomsbury Academy. The nine-year-old yellow belt with a green stripe lit up a league game when he spun full-circle before volleying home a stunner for the club’s Under-9s side.

“It was really good. When the goal went in, everybody was screaming and cheering,” said Zack, who lives in Holborn and goes to St Clement Danes Primary School in Westminster.

“They all asked if I do karate, and I said, ‘No, I do taekwondo.’

“It’s really helped with my technique, and I would tell anyone they have to try taekwondo immediately.”