Oscar Smit and Carl Newton were graded by Oamaru Aikido sensei Mark Fitzwater and Rotorua Aikido Tatsu Gi Kai sensei Dianne Haynes last month.
The pair are the first black belts that were trained by the club. It was made even more special as Mr Smit and Mr Newton were some of the earliest students the club had.
Mr Fitzwater and his wife, Nicola, co-founded the Oamaru Aikido Club in 2015.
Now they have 13 adults and "around about the same" number of children as members of the club, Mr Fitzwater said.
The couple love spreading their love of aikido with other like-minded people, Mrs Fitzwater said.
Aikido is a "defensive art" Mr Fitzwater said.
There are 12 techniques that can be applied against 12 different attacks.
Where other martial arts have ways of blocking attacks, aikido prioritises "blending" your opponent’s moves into your own, Mrs Fitzwater said.
"It can be practised by a smaller person against a bigger person because you’re actually using your opponent’s own momentum and energy to end the situation."
