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At first glance, pint-sized 10-year-old Jonny Milne may not seem like the toughest of sports competitors – yet he is a bona fide judo champion, a green belt who is currently ranked No. 1 in New Zealand for senior boys under 32kg.
The confidence and inner strength that the Stanmore Bay School student has gained through four years of judo comes through, and he says he immediately took to the physical contact element of the sport.
Jonny’s mother Charmaine says under the instruction of coach Johan Boshoff of Nippon Judo, not only has Jonny’s confidence increased, but he has also learned how to lose and how to win, getting the most out of the experience either way.
A successful fight is all about getting your opponent down onto the mat and Jonny says learning how to fall properly and how to throw someone off balance means he is no longer scared to tackle far bigger players in rugby games.
Last month his results in the Auckland International Judo Competition, held at ASB Stadium, earned him his number one ranking.
Older sister Jade and father David also compete – David took an interest initially so he could help Jonny and is now a brown belt who won Gold in the Masters division at the same event.
Jonny will seek to hold onto his ranking at upcoming events, including in the South Island next month and the Nationals in Wellington in October.
