Henry Plée (also named H.D. Plée, Henri Plée, Henry D. Plée, or Henry-Désiré Plée, 24 May 1923;

Arras Arras ( , ; pcd, Aro; historical nl, Atrecht ) is the prefecture of the Pas-de-Calais Departments of France, department, which forms part of the regions of France, region of Hauts-de-France; before the regions of France#Reform and mergers of ...

, Nord-Pas-de-Calais–19 August 2014;

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

) was a French

martial artist Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defense; military and law enforcement applications; competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; and the preserv ...

who is considered as the 'father of European and French

karate (; ; Okinawan language, Okinawan pronunciation: ) is a martial arts, martial art developed in the Ryukyu Kingdom. It developed from the Okinawan martial arts, indigenous Ryukyuan martial arts (called , "hand"; ''tii'' in Okinawan) under the ...

'. He was one of the rare 10th

dan Dan or DAN may refer to: People * Dan (name), including a list of people with the name ** Dan (king), several kings of Denmark * Dan people, an ethnic group located in West Africa **Dan language, a Mande language spoken primarily in Côte d'Ivoir ...

karate masters living outside

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

, and one of the few

Westerners The Western world, also known as the West, primarily refers to the various nations and states in the regions of Europe, North America, and Oceania.

who held this rank. At the time of his death, Plée was also the oldest and highest karate ranking Westerner alive, with more than 60 years of fighting arts, including 50 in martial arts. He was a pioneer in introducing karate to France and Europe, and has taught most of today's highest ranking karate masters in Europe.

Background

Henry Plée was born in

, Nord-Pas-de-Calais, France on 24 May 1923. His studies were interrupted by

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

in 1940. An only son, Henry Plée started his sports career with

gymnastics Gymnastics is a type of sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, dedication and endurance. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, shou ...

, weight lifting, French savate,

English Boxing Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermined ...

Greco-Roman wrestling Greco-Roman (American English), Graeco-Roman (British English), classic wrestling (Euro English) or French wrestling (in Russia until 1948) is a style of wrestling that is practiced worldwide. Greco-Roman wrestling was included in the first mod ...

Ju Jutsu Jujutsu ( ; ja, link=no, 柔術 , ), also known as jiu-jitsu and ju-jitsu, is a family of Japanese martial arts and a system of close combat (unarmed or with a minor weapon) that can be used in a defensive or offensive manner to kill or subdu ...

, and

fencing Fencing is a group of three related combat sports. The three disciplines in modern fencing are the foil, the épée, and the sabre (also ''saber''); winning points are made through the weapon's contact with an opponent. A fourth discipline, s ...

with his father Alcide Plée, who was a sword master since 1912. He diversified into

judo is an unarmed gendai budō, modern Japanese martial art, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyclopedia Nipponi ...

in 1945 at the 'Judo Club de France', Mikonosuke Kawaishi's second club. He was the 96th French black belt and is now ranked 5th dan at

. Physically, he demonstrated very powerful kicks and punches. So from 1946, he returned to French savate, also known as French

kickboxing Kickboxing is a combat sports, combat sport focused on kicking and punch (strike), punching. The combat takes place in a boxing ring, normally with boxing gloves, mouthguards, shorts, and bare feet to favour the use of kicks. Kickboxing is pract ...

, at the club 'Banville' (the only remaining club at that time). He trained with famous fighters such as Rigal, Pierre Plasait, Cayron, and

Pierre Baruzy Pierre Baruzy (Amiens, 19 May 1897 – Paris, 17 December 1994) was a manager and French boxing champion. Biography Of Italian origin, a descendant of a noble Venetian family, Pierre Barozzi (in French spelled Baruzy), entered the French b ...

. Despite the high training quality, he was still feeling the need to go stronger and deeper, and was still looking for something else. He discovered aikido with

Minoru Mochizuki was a Japanese martial artist who founded the dojo Yoseikan. He was a 10th dan in Aikido, 9th dan in Jujutsu, 8th dan in Iaido, 8th dan in Judo, 8th dan in Kobudo, 5th dan in Kendo, 5th dan in Karate, and a 5th dan in Jojutsu. Mochizuki was ...

, then

from an article in ''

Life Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for growth, reaction to stimuli, metabolism, energ ...

'' magazine with Fukuda Rikutaro, his ''Judo Kodokan'' magazine's translator. Fukuda Rikutaro confided in him that he learnt karate in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

with

Gichin Funakoshi was a japanese martial artist who is regarded as the founder of Shotakan karate, perhaps the most widely known style of karate, and is known as a "father of modern karate". Following the teachings of Anko Itosu and Anko Asato,Funakoshi, Gichi ...

. This was the start of his karate career in 1953, with help from

Donn Draeger Donald Frederick "Donn" Draeger (April 15, 1922 – October 20, 1982) was an internationally known teacher and practitioner of Japanese martial arts. He was the author of several important books on Asian martial arts,Modern Bujutsu & Budo: M ...

in Japan.

Karate

In 1955 he founded his

dojo A is a hall or place for immersive learning or meditation. This is traditionally in the field of martial arts, but has been seen increasingly in other fields, such as meditation and software development. The term literally means "place of the ...

: the Karate Club de France (KCF), which became Académie française des Arts Martiaux (AFAM), which became 'Shobudo', also known as
The Mountain
La Montagne' (in French) or as ' Dojo de la Montagne Sainte-Geneviève' in Paris. It is the oldest karate dojo in Europe, which has won 32 French, Europe, and world championships since its creation. Here he taught the four pillars of Japanese

martial arts Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defense; military and law enforcement applications; combat sport, competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; a ...

, aikido, and

kendo is a modern Japanese martial art, descended from kenjutsu (one of the old Japanese martial arts, swordsmanship), that uses bamboo swords (shinai) as well as protective armor (bōgu). Today, it is widely practiced within Japan and has spread ...

. Plée instructed many black belts who, at a later stage, became the foundation of the European karate institutions, and are today some of the highest ranking karate masters in Europe. He frequently traveled to Japan. There he met with and learnt from some of the most famous karate masters of all styles. He invited many of them to visit him in France. He even financed the visit to France of many Japanese and Chinese

experts. They taught at the Shobudo, where the secrets of karate were being unveiled to Europe. In 1956, he founded the 'French Federation of Karate and Boxing' (Fédération Française de Karaté et de Boxe Libre), which became part of the 'French Federation of Judo and Associated Disciplines' ( Fédération française de Judo et Disciplines Associées - FFJDA) in 1960. Under his influence, the creation in 1966 of the 'European Union of Karate' (Union Européenne de Karaté), showed an independence of karate from the judo federations, and the decision of not favoring any karate style over another. He also served as a Technical Advisor to th
'European Karate Federation (EKF)'
and as its General Secretary in 1967. For 21 years (1950–1971) he financed and published the first bilingual (French/ English) karate magazine named
Budo Magazine Europe
'. He also published another magazine named
Judo Kodokan
', which was a translation of the Japanese magazine of the

Kodokan. He wrote books, and appeared in the movie ''La Vie, l'amour, la mort''. He owns at 'The Mountain' the most comprehensive private Martial Arts library available in Europe. Also located there is his Martial Arts store name
'Budostore'
which offers equipments, books, videos, and DVDs. Henry Plée heads a very exclusive European think-tank on Martial Arts, which studies the essence and spirituality of Martial Arts, and he regularly publishes his chronicles on-line. From 200 karate practitioners in 1961, Henry Plée's efforts have led today to more than 200,000 practitioners in France. The French government considers him as one of the greatest international experts in Martial Arts, and has knighted Plée with the French Ordre national du Mérite in 2008.

Ranks

Since the 1950s, numerous trips to Japan allowed him to meet some of the most famous karate masters of all styles, and to pass belts in various styles and disciplines:

Karate

* 10th

, Hanshi Karate in Japan, by Tsuneyoshi Ogura in 1987. * 9th dan, Hanshi Karate in Japan, by Tsuneyoshi Ogura in 1984. * 8th dan, Shihan Karate in Japan, by Tsuneyoshi Ogura in 1972, and in France by the Fédération Française de Karaté - FFKAMA in 1975. * 5th dan, Renshi Karate in Japan, by Chojiro Tani. * 1st, 2nd, 3rd dan, karate in France, by Minoru Mochizuki.

Judo

* 5th dan, Judo. * The 96th French black belt.

Aikido

* 3rd dan, Aikido, by

Masamichi Noro is the founder of Kinomichi and was an uchi-deshi of Morihei Ueshiba, the founder of Aikido. Formative Years Masamichi Noro was born January 21, 1935, in Aomori, Japan. One of the characteristics of his early years is the musical universe t ...

. * 2nd dan, Aikikai Hombu Aikido, by

Tadashi Abe (1926 – November 23, 1984) was the first aikido master to live and teach in the west. He began training in Aikido in Osaka in 1942 and went on to train directly under the founder of the art Morihei Ueshiba at Iwama as an uchideshi during World ...

. * 1st dan,

Yoseikan is the name given to a dojo built in November 1931 in Shizuoka, Japan. The Dojo The brother and friends of Master Minoru Mochizuki built this dojo for him while he was recovering from pleurisy and pulmonary tuberculosis. When the dojo was bui ...

Aikido, by Minoru Mochizuki.

Kendo

* 1st dan, Kendo, by Minoru Mochizuki.

Bōjutsu

* 1st dan, Bo-Jutsu, by Minoru Mochizuki.

Awards

Henry Plée has been granted the following awards: * 'Katana of Honour' at the 25th
Martial Art Festival of Bercy
, on 27 March 2010. * Knight of Ordre national du Mérite, on 12 December 2008. * Nominated 'Ambassador Martial Art' by 'Hall of Fame Kyusho international' in 2006, 'Ambassador for peace', and then 'Sensei of the century' in 2000. * 'Professor of the Century' at the 14th
Martial Art Festival of Bercy
in 1999. * Golden medal of 'French ministry for Youth and Sports' ( Ministère de la Santé et des Sports - France). * President of Honor of the 'French Federation of Karate and Associated Martial Arts' ( Fédération française de karaté et disciplines associées - FFKAMA). * President of Honor of the 'Karate European Union' (Union Européenne de Karaté - UEK). * President of Honor of the 'French Federation of Judo and Associated Disciplines' ( Fédération française de Judo et Disciplines Associées - FFJDA). * Member of the 'Honorary Board of the International Fund for Preservation of Martial Arts'
Fonds International pour la Préservation des Arts Martiaux - FIPAM
.

Teachers

Henry Plée has traveled frequently to Japan in order to learn and meet with the most famous karate masters of all styles such as

and many others. Along the years, he financed the visits to France of more than 17 Japanese and Chinese martial arts experts, including: *

Hiroo Mochizuki Hiroo may refer to: * Hiroo (given name), a masculine Japanese given name * Hiroo, Shibuya, Tokyo, a neighborhood in the Shibuya district of Tokyo * Hiroo Station, a subway station in Tokyo. * Hiroo, Hokkaidō, a town in the Tokachi subprefecture o ...

, 9th dan in Karate ( FFKDA), 8th dan in Aikido, 8th dan in Jujitsu, 3rd dan in Judo, 7th dan in Iaido and Kobudo. Founder, Sōke, and

Hanshi The Japanese language makes use of a system of honorific speech, called , which includes honorific suffixes and prefixes when referring to others in a conversation. Suffixes are often gender-specific at the end of names, while prefixes are a ...

Yoseikan Budo is the name given to a dojo built in November 1931 in Shizuoka Prefecture, Shizuoka, Japan. The Dojo The brother and friends of Master Minoru Mochizuki built this dojo for him while he was recovering from pleurisy and pulmonary tuberculosis. Whe ...

. 2nd dan in Shotokan karate in 1957 (Born 1936) * Tetsuji Murakami, 3rd

in Shotokan karate in 1958, 2nd dan in Kendo, 1st dan in Aikido, and 1st dan in Iaido (1927–1987) * Tsutomu Oshima, 3rd dan in Shotokan karate in 1959 * Yoshinao Nanbu, 9th dan in Karate ( FFKDA). Founder and Doshu-Sōke of Nanbudō in 1978 and of the Worldwide Nanbudo Federation-WNF. 2nd dan in Karate in 1964, Japan champion in 1962 (Born 1943) * Taiji Kase, 9th dan in Karate in 2004. 5th dan in Shotokan karate in 1967 (1929–2004) * Hiroshi Shirai, 9th dan in Karate in 1999. 5th dan in Shotokan karate at the time *

Keinosuke Enoeda was a Japanese master of Shotokan karate.JKA). 2nd dan in Karate at the time * Mitsusuke Harada, 4th dan in Shotokai karate, and student of Shigeru Egami *

* Tsuneyoshi Ogura, 10th dan in Goju Ryu karate Inviting many Japanese masters to France allowed him to learn in continuity from his actual level, instead of starting from the beginning in every school in Japan. It also molded French karate with a unique blend of not favoring any karate style over another.

Students

Henry Plée instructed many black belts who became the foundation of the European karate institutions, and are today some of the highest ranking karate masters in Europe, including: * Jean Pierre Lavorato, 9th dan karate *

Dominique Valera Dominique Valera (born ) is a French kickboxer and karateka, based in Lyon. He has a 9th Dan black belt in karate and is the winner of multiple European Karate Championships. Since retiring from competitive karate Dominique Valera has starred i ...

, 9th dan karate and 9th degree

full-contact karate Full contact karate is any format of karate where competitors spar (also called Kumite) full-contact and allow a knockout as winning criterion. History Full contact karate competition comes in several different formats developed for the art of k ...

, world champion karate in 1972 * Roland Habersetzer, 9th dan karate, author of many books on karate * Guy Sauvin, 8th dan karate, world champion karate in 1972, and founder of the Sei Do Jyuku style * Alain Setrouck, 8th dan Kyokushinkai karate, world champion karate in 1972 *

Francis Didier Francis Didier (born 2 December 1949) is a French karateka, currently 7th dan. He was the European champion in kumite individual men's open at the European Karate Championships in 1973. Since 2001, he has been the president of the French Karate Fe ...

, 7th dan karate, President of the ' French Federation of Karate and Associated Martial Arts' ( Fédération française de karaté et disciplines associées - FFKDA) * François Petitdemange, 6th dan karate, world champion karate in 1972 *

Jacques Delcourt Jacques Delcourt (August 21, 1928 – November 11, 2011) was a prominent Sports administrator who was instrumental in creating the European Karate Union which later became the European Karate Federation and this in turn inspired the creati ...

, 4th dan karate, President and founder of the 'French Federation of Karate and Associated Martial Arts' ( Fédération française de karaté et disciplines associées - FFKDA) for 23 years, President and founder of the

European Karate Federation The European Karate Federation (EKF) is the governing body of competitive karate in more than 50 countries across Europe. The EKF's stated goal is to promote, organize, regulate, and popularize the sport of karate. It is one of the five continen ...

, and President and founder of the World Karate Federation. *

Vernon Bell Vernon Cecil Frederick Bell (10 October 1922 – 27 February 2004) is often credited as "the father of British karate". Bell was taught karate by Henry Plée Henry Plée (also named H.D. Plée, Henri Plée, Henry D. Plée, or Henry-Désiré ...

karate, and 10th dan ju-jutsu, introduced karate to

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

(1922–2004).

Bibliography

Henry Plée is the author of hundreds of articles and reviews, and has held numerous conferences for 60 years. He has written books under the names Henry Plée, Henry Plee, Henri Plée, Henri Plee, Henry-Désiré Plée, H.D. Plee or H.D. Plée, which are known as the quintessence of the original Martial Arts and strongly focused on the awakening of the Human Being. His books are: * ''The sublime and ultimate art of vital points'' / ''L'Art sublime et ultime des points vitaux'' (in French), published in 2004. * ''Martial chronicles'' / ''Chroniques martiales'' (in French), published in 2002. * ''The sublime and ultimate art of vital points'' / ''L'arte sublime ed estrema dei punti vitali'' (in Italian), published in 1999. * ''The sublime and ultimate art of vital points: kyûshô, vital points, dim mak, killing touches, dim hsueh, poison touches'' / ''L'Art sublime et ultime des points vitaux: kyûshô, points vitaux, dim mak, touches mortelles, dim hsueh, touches poison'' (in French), published in 1998. * ''The sublime and ultimate art of vital points: kyûshô, vital points, dim mak, killing touches, dim hsueh, poison touches'' / ''El arte sublime y ultimo de los puntos vitales: kyûshô, puntos vitales, dim mak, toques mortales, dim hsueh, toques veneno'' (in Spanish), published in 1998. * ''Aikido up to 1st dan in image'' / ''L'aikido jusqu'à la ceinture noire 1er dan par l'image'' (in French), published in 1975. * ''Official basic Karate Katas: Shotokan'', published in 1973. * ''The secret vital points of the human body'' / ''Les points vitaux secrets du corps humain'' (in French), published in 1972. * ''Karate: Beginner to Black Belt'', published in 1967. * ''Karate in pictures'' / ''Karaté par l'image'' (in French), published in 1962. * ''Karate by pictures: the science of self-defence by the empty hand lucidly explained and illustrated'', published in 1962. * ''ABC of karate-do'' / ''ABC du karate-do'' (in French), published in 1957. * ''Conquer or die, the spirit and technics of karate-do: by H.D. Plee'' / ''Vaincre ou mourir, l'esprit et la technique du Karaté-Do: par H. D. Plée'' (in French), published in 1955.''Win or die, the mind and technics of karate-do: by H.D. Plee'' / ''Vaincre ou mourir, l'esprit et la technique du Karaté-Do: par H. D. Plée'' (in French)
Henry-Désiré Plée, 32 pages, Impr. de Midol Editions, Paris, France 1955
/ref> * ''Official international Judo directory'' / ''Annuaire officiel de Judo international'' (in French), published in 1950. * ''Judo international'' (in French), published in 1948. * ''Judo Kodokan and Budo Magazine'' (in French and English), published from 1950 to 1973.

References

External links

Henry Plee non-official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Plee, Henry 1923 births 2014 deaths Martial arts writers French aikidoka French male judoka French jujutsuka French male karateka French kendoka Karate coaches Martial arts school founders French male non-fiction writers 20th-century philanthropists