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

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 Plée, who was a sword master since 1912. He diversified into judo 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 judo.

Henry Plée demonstrated powerful powerful kicks and punches. In 1946 he returned to French savate, at the Banville club, also known as French kickboxing, then the only remaining club of its kind. There he trained with fighters such as Rigal, Pierre Plasait, Cayron, and Pierre Baruzy, but he was still felt the need to pursue something deeper, and more demanding.

At the dojo, he taught the four main Japanese martial arts: karate, judo, aikido, and kendo. reflected a move towards karate’s independence from judo federations, and a refusal to privilege one karate style over another. He also served as a Technical Advisor to the '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, Budo Magazine Europe. He also published Judo Kodokan, a translation of the Japanese magazine of the Tokyo Kodokan. He wrote books, and appeared in the movie La Vie, l'amour, la mort.

At La Montagne, Plée maintained a private Martial Arts library and operated a Martial Arts store named 'Budostore', which sold equipments, books, videos, and DVDs. Plée also headed a European think-tank focusead on 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 helped grow participation to more than 200,000 practitioners in France by the time of his death. The French government regarded him as one of the greatest international experts in Martial Arts, and 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 dan, 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. 2nd dan, Aikikai Hombu Aikido, by Tadashi Abe. 1st dan, Yoseikan 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 Gichin Funakoshi 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, 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 of Yoseikan Budo. 2nd dan in Shotokan karate in 1957 (Born 1936) Tetsuji Murakami, 3rd dan 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, 9th dan in Karate (JKA). 2nd dan in Karate at the time Mitsusuke Harada, 4th dan in Shotokai karate, and student of Shigeru Egami Tadashi Abe Tsuneyoshi Ogura, 10th dan in Goju Ryu karate

By inviting Japanese masters to teach in France, Plée was able to continue learning at an advanced level rather than restarting his training in each Japanese school. This approach also influenced the development of French karate, which incorporated elements from different karate styles rather than privileging a single school.

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, 9th dan karate and 9th degree full-contact karate, 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, 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, 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, and President and founder of the World Karate Federation. Vernon Bell, Yoseikan karate, and 10th dan ju-jutsu, introduced karate to Great Britain (1922–2004).