Michael J. Heming

Michael J.Heming was a British Karate champion. He was born Michael Jonathan Hemming in Filton, Bristol, England, the son of Mildred Heming and George Heming, a supermarket owner from Bradford on Avon. He attended Bristol Primary School and graduated from Bristol Central High School in 1979.

His father enrolled him in martial arts at the age of eight, at Filton Shotokan Karate School. He earned his black belt in 1976 and later went on to win the 1979 European Karate Association's middleweight championship. In 1980 he lost the title to Belgian born actor Jean-Claude Van Damme.

Heming retired from professional Karate in 1983 after being diagnosed with hypertrophy of the ventricular myocardium. His heart continued to worsen and in September 1984 it was determined that his condition was pathological. He died suddenly on 17 October, 1984 at his home in Filton, Bristol. He is interred at Memorial Woodlands Cemetery in Bristol, England.