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Henry Plée
Henry Plée (also named H.D. Plée, Henri Plée, Henry D. Plée, or Henry-Désiré Plée, 24 May 1923; Arras, Nord-Pas-de-Calais–19 August 2014; Paris) was a French martial artist who is considered as the 'father of European and French karate'. He was one of the rare 10th dan karate masters living outside Japan, and one of the few Westerners 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 Arras, Nord-Pas-de-Calais, France on 24 May 1923. His studies were interrupted by World War II in 1940. An only son, Henry Plée started his sports career with gymnastics, weight lifting, French savate, English Boxing, Greco-Roman wrestling, Ju Jutsu, and fencing with his father Alcide ...
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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. Since the 17th century, Paris has been one of the world's major centres of finance, diplomacy, commerce, fashion, gastronomy, and science. For its leading role in the arts and sciences, as well as its very early system of street lighting, in the 19th century it became known as "the City of Light". Like London, prior to the Second World War, it was also sometimes called the capital of the world. The City of Paris is the centre of the Île-de-France region, or Paris Region, with an estimated population of 12,262,544 in 2019, or about 19% of the population of France, making the region France's primate city. The Paris Region had a GDP of €739 billion ($743 billion) in 2019, which is the highest in Europe. According to the Economis ...
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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 in French movies such as '' Let Sleeping Cops Lie''. Karate From a family of Spanish immigrants, Dominique Valera began karate shotokan in 1960, after six years of judo. He is a team world champion and has never become individual world champion following a disqualification due to a disagreement with a referee1 at the 1975 World Karate Championships in Long Beach, California. The matter then flows far more ink than blood, and the champion suffers immediate consequences. He is excluded from the French federation held by Mr. Delcourt and can not reinstate him until much later when his friend Francis Didier will be the president by integrating karate contact as new section. Five years earlier, he won one of the first two individual bronze m ...
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Western World
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.Western Civilization
Our Tradition; James Kurth; accessed 30 August 2011
The Western world is also known as the Occident (from the word ''occidēns'' "setting down, sunset, west") in contrast to the Eastern world known as the ...
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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 toward the East China Sea, Philippine Sea, and Taiwan in the south. Japan is a part of the Ring of Fire, and spans an archipelago of 6852 islands covering ; the five main islands are Hokkaido, Honshu (the "mainland"), Shikoku, Kyushu, and Okinawa. Tokyo is the nation's capital and largest city, followed by Yokohama, Osaka, Nagoya, Sapporo, Fukuoka, Kobe, and Kyoto. Japan is the eleventh most populous country in the world, as well as one of the most densely populated and urbanized. About three-fourths of the country's terrain is mountainous, concentrating its population of 123.2 million on narrow coastal plains. Japan is divided into 47 administrative prefectures and eight traditional regions. The Greater Tokyo Ar ...
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Karate
(; ; Okinawan pronunciation: ) is a martial art developed in the Ryukyu Kingdom. It developed from the indigenous Ryukyuan martial arts (called , "hand"; ''tii'' in Okinawan) under the influence of Chinese martial arts, particularly Fujian White Crane. Karate is now predominantly a striking art using punching, kicking, knee strikes, elbow strikes and open-hand techniques such as knife-hands, spear-hands and palm-heel strikes. Historically, and in some modern styles, grappling, throws, joint locks, restraints and vital-point strikes are also taught. A karate practitioner is called a . The Empire of Japan annexed the Ryukyu Kingdom in 1879. Karate came to mainland Japan in the early 20th century during a time of migration as Ryukyuans, especially from Okinawa, looked for work in the main islands of Japan. It was systematically taught in Japan after the Taishō era of 1912–1926. In 1922, the Japanese Ministry of Education invited Gichin Funakoshi to Tokyo to gi ...
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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; and the preservation of a nation's intangible cultural heritage. Etymology According to Paul Bowman, the term ''martial arts'' was popularized by mainstream popular culture during the 1960s to 1970s, notably by Hong Kong martial arts films (most famously those of Bruce Lee) during the so-called "chopsocky" wave of the early 1970s. According to John Clements, the term '':wikt:martial art, martial arts'' itself is derived from an older Latin (language), Latin term meaning "arts of Mars (mythology), Mars", the Roman mythology, Roman god of war, and was used to refer to the combat systems of Europe (European martial arts) as early as the 1550s. The term martial science, or martial sciences, was commonly used to refer to the fighting arts of E ...
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Nord-Pas-de-Calais
Nord-Pas-de-Calais (); pcd, Nord-Pas-Calés); is a former regions of France, administrative region of France. Since 1 January 2016, it has been part of the new region Hauts-de-France. It consisted of the departments of France, departments of Nord (French department), Nord and Pas-de-Calais. Nord-Pas-de-Calais borders the English Channel (west), the North Sea (northwest), Belgium (north and east) and Picardy (south). The majority of the region was once part of the historical (Southern) Netherlands, but gradually became part of France between 1477 and 1678, particularly during the reign of king Louis XIV. The historical Provinces of France, French provinces that preceded Nord-Pas-de-Calais are Artois, French Flanders, French Hainaut and (partially) Picardy. These provincial designations are still frequently used by the inhabitants. With its 330.8 people per km2 on just over 12,414 km2, it is a densely populated region, having some 4.1 million inhabitants, 7% of France's tot ...
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Ordre National Du Mérite
The Ordre national du Mérite (; en, National Order of Merit) is a French order of merit with membership awarded by the President of the French Republic, founded on 3 December 1963 by President Charles de Gaulle. The reason for the order's establishment was twofold: to replace the large number of ministerial orders previously awarded by the ministries; and to create an award that can be awarded at a lower level than the Legion of Honour, which is generally reserved for French citizens. It comprises about 185,000 members; 306,000 members have been admitted or promoted in 50 years. History The Ordre national du Mérite comprises about 185,000 members; 306,000 members have been admitted or promoted in 50 years. Half of its recipients are required to be women. Defunct ministerial orders The Ordre national du Mérite replaced the following ministerial and colonial orders: Colonial orders * ''Ordre de l'Étoile d'Anjouan'' (1874) (Order of the Star of Anjouan) * '' Ordre du ...
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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 Plée, 24 May 1923; Arras, Nord-Pas-de-Calais–19 August 2014; Paris) was a French martial artist who is considered as the 'father of European and French karate' ... and brought karate to Great Britain. References 1922 births 2004 deaths People from Ilford English male judoka English jujutsuka English male karateka {{UK-karate-bio-stub ...
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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 creation of the World Union of Karate Organisations that became the World Karate Federation. He was highly decorated by the French Government, including the award of Officer of the Legion of Honour. Biography Jacques Delcourt joined the French resistance at the age of fifteen and became a member of the Civil and Military Organization. A year later, when he was sixteen, he was wounded in combat and assigned to the 110th Regiment infanterie. Jacques Delcourt was appointed head of the French Karate Federation in 1961 when the discipline is still a branch of the French Judo Federation. In 1963 he was a semi-finalist in the championships of France by team. The same year, he invites France, to participate in the first international competition of k ...
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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 Federation The French Karate Federation (''Fédération Française de Karaté'') is the largest association for karate in France and a member as well as the official representative for this sport in the French National Olympic and Sports Committee. Interna ..., having been re-elected successively in 2005, 2009, 2013 and 2016. References 1949 births Living people French male karateka Sportspeople from Épinal French sports executives and administrators 21st-century French people 20th-century French people {{France-karate-bio-stub ...
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