Bicester's Edwin Hopwood has been honoured for devoting almost half a century to instructing students in the art of taekwondo, despite suffering from multiple sclerosis for the past 40 years.

Hopwood, 68, became a 9th Dan Grandmaster in a surprise ceremony at the taekwondo academy in Andover.

And he admitted he was a overwhelmed by the reception.

“I have been training all my life to reach the top,” he said.

“I was pretty emotional because I was just going there to do a seminar for masters and champions.

“I’ve had so many messages on Facebook, but it still hasn’t sunk in yet.”

Hopwood, who moved to Bicester 11 years ago, having lived in Hampton Poyle and Oxford after moving from Somerset, was first diagnosed with MS in 1973, but said he had not let it affect his love of the sport which started on a European holiday.

Hopwood, who is married to Leiyan and has two grown up daughters, said: “I was staying in Spain and saw a demonstration of taekwondo when someone was showing how to kick.

“That gave me the bug and when I came back, I looked around for a club to join.

“At the time no-one knew much about it, but it’s now the biggest martial art in the country.

“The most important aspect is the discipline it teaches you and I think it is a great sport for youngsters to learn.

“There’s skills like perseverance and sparring.”

Hopwood, who has used a wheelchair for the past seven years, trained at Oxford Univ-ersity’s club when he first came to the city as a 15-year-old and later took over running it.

He now travels around the country as an examiner, though he does teach privately free of charge. A former builder by trade, he said having MS made life tough.

He added: “It can be very distressing. In the last 15 years it has worsened.

“I’ve got a lot of weakness in my legs. My balance is not good and the strength in the arms is poor.

“But there are people who are a lot worse off than me.”