A nine-year-old boy from Jasper reached a milestone at an early age as a martial artist.

Zachary Johnson earned the status of a Junior Black Belt during Tae Kwon Do testing in Marshall last month.

His test lasted two and a half hours. It included knowledge on Korean terms and numbers.

He presented several movements and board breaks.

He was part of a group of 19 attempting to pass the test, but only four were successful. Johnson missed only one element, the running sidekick. He retested that element and passed on June 22.

Johnson is the grandson of Jim and Marjorie Roning of Hills.