Hendrik Du Plooy

My name is Hendrik du Plooy. When I was 6 years old my dad did Funakoshi and then changed over to Tae Kwon Do. I noticed that he earned a lot of respect. I liked the idea of being respected for the fact that I know Karate. When I was in school I used to parade my “Knowledge’ of Karate by doing flying side-kicks over my classmates, which earned me the nick name “Karate” which later evolved to “Jap” which stayed with me for most of my life till in my 30’s. Since I was 6 or 7 years old I wanted to teach Tae Kwon Do. During my stormy teenage years I immersed myself in Tae Kwon Do which gave me self confidence and stability.

I studied Tae Kwon Do in South Africa under Sensei Johan Bolton and Sensei Wayne Degnan and Dr. Jan du Toit. I assisted in teaching beginners classes as soon as I got my Green Belt and I was given a trophy for building team spirit with the beginner’s classes which spread to the rest of the Tae Kwon do school. I also competed in several provincial competitions in South Africa. I had 6 months to go to earn my black belt in ITF, and had to put my training on hold.

Coming to Canada, I joined Mu Do Kwan Canada but because of my long absence from Tae Kwon Do, I decided to start from white belt. Mu Do Kwan Canada was my choice, where I got value for money and quality training. After much hard work and dedication I obtained my 1st Degree Black Belt and I am now part of the Mu Do Kwan Instructors. My passion is to build a strong foundation in novice Tae Kwon Do practitioners, and teach them the finer techniques of the art, which will build a sense stability and self confidence as well as becoming self disciplined.