Rogers makes club history

Masterton Judo and Ju Jitsu Academy have their first judo black belt.

Graham Rogers, 66, received his Shodan (first degree black belt) from Judo New Zealand in Wellington early last month.

The black belt grading generally consists of a two-day examination, with a technical exam on the first day and a kata exam on the second. But such was the technical understanding of Rogers as well as his exemplary kata performances that he was the only one of six candidates to pass the whole examination in a single day.

The achievement was five years in the making for Rogers, who received his brown belt grading in 2007.