A 12-year-old boy from Macomb Township has made quite the name for himself in the world of karate and mixed martial arts (MMA).
At the age of 7, he was already the youngest kid on Team USA, and five years later, he's a multi-time world champion.
"I was very young. Very young. I started training just because of self defense and just some sport to play and then i got a little more serious into karate," Jaiden Busby said.
Jaiden was just 4 years old when he was recognized the importance of hard work, discipline and protection. He put on the pads a year later.
"My Sensei asked me if I wanted to put on pads and start fighting like Cobra Kai and I automatically said yes," he said.
Outside of karate and MMA, Jaiden is your normal seventh-grader. He attends Seneca Middle School in Macomb Township, and in his free time, he hangs out with friends and plays video games.
Jaiden has always shown a passion for competition and sports like baseball. Fast forward to now, and he's earned his first black belt. You could say he's the modern-day karate kid.
"Most of my gym was there to support me. The whole gym was clapping for me and when I get an achievement like that i celebrate in some type of way," he said.
Jaiden now ranks first and second in the state for the MSKC Circuit and third in the nation for the NASKA Karate Circuit in the AA Black Belt Division.
"It's one of my happiest memories getting my first world win and I think it was a continuous pretty exciting for me," he said.
Jaiden is a versatile athlete, but his love and passion is karate and MMA. He said the key to success in anything is motivation, hard word, perisistence and to never give up.
"I want to try to go to the UFC. Or try helping other kids go to the UFC and try to help them and if I don't end up doing that, I want to be a photographer and an engineer just like my dad," he said.
