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No one would be surprised to see 67-year-old Roberta Cochran-Zavitz walking around Davenport, Iowa. But they might raise an eyebrow if they saw her kicking or chopping an opponent in a karate studio.
Cochran-Zavitz is a seventh-degree black belt in Okinawan karate, which she said makes her the top-ranking female practitioner in the world of this style of self-defense.
The member of St. Paul Lutheran, Davenport, had no plans to hold such a prestigious honor, which few members of her congregation knew about until this year. In fact, her karate came in a roundabout way from a doctor's orders.
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