A huge congratulations to Malcolm Doidge, Justin Orsborn, Joel Hardwick (all from Spirit Brooklyn) and John Roxburgh (Spirit Karori) who all passed their Black Belt grading recently.
John graded in Dunedin on the 28th and 29th November, and Malcolm and Justin graded in Wellington on the 12th & 13th December.
Joel first attempted his grading in December 2008, but had to complete the fitness test again. He did this on the 12th December.
A black belt grading is a very hard test that takes place over two days. It combines all elements of Taekwon-Do including a hard physical workout, technical testing (patterns, one-step, self defence, free-sparring and destruction), a written test and an oral interview! New Zealand's black belt gradings are widely acknowledged as the hardest black belt gradings in the world!
So it is a huge effort from everyone and a great result. Well done!
Check out the photos of the Wellington grading.
