|
Taste and Person: Henk Meijer
Born: July 22 1959 in the city of Winschoten in the North of Holland.
Family: I come from a family of 6 (2 brothers and 3 sisters) and I am nr 5. My parents divorced when I was 3, so I am raised by my mother.
School: I finished Commercial High School in Groningen
Kids: I have two daughters Desi (7-7-1989) and Aileen (19-11-1993)
| |
|
Sports: From 7 till 11 years I practised Judo and got my brown belt in it. From the age of 11 till 15 I played football and at the age of 15 I started with Shotokan Karate.
When I was 16 I had to go to school in Groningen and here I got in touch with Taekwondo and changed to this ,mostly because of my fascination for kicking techniques.
My first teacher was Mr. Jan Suiveer,later I continued under his most famous student Mr. Wim Bos. At that time only ITF Taekwondo was practised in the North of Holland
Biggest success in Taekwondo: In ITF (which was very big in the ’80): 4 times Dutch National Champion, 3rd at EC individual and 1st in EC Team in 1980. 3rd WC individual sparring and 1st in all over individual, 1st in WC Team 1982.
In WTF style: (I started with this in 1981) : 1st EC 1982 Rome, 3rd WC 1983 in Copenhagen, 1st in WC 1985 in Seoul, 3rd in EC 1988 in Ankara and 3rd in World Cup 1988 in Helsinki.
5 times National Champion, 5 times winner Dutch Open, winner Belgium Open, German Open, ETU Cup, Danish Open and French Open.
Most important title: Of course my World title WTF 1985 in Seoul,where I became the first non Korean to win a World title in Korea the motherland of Taekwondo.
Biggest disappointment: WC 1987 in Barcelona.,where I had to defend my World title. Due to an excellent preparation, it was not my day and I lost my first fight against Turkey.
Most beautiful experience as a fighter: Participation in the Olympic Games in 1988 in Seoul, where Taekwondo was a Demonstration sport. A fantastic event, with a huge crowd and great atmosphere. Finally a tournament which gave you the feeling that everything was about you !!
Although I lost my 2nd fight against my big opponent and good friend Michael Arndt from Germany, it was a beautiful finish of my career as competitor.
Started as trainer: In 1983 ,I took over the school in Groningen from Mr. Wim Bos . So from 1983 till 1988 I was trainer and competitor.
In 1990 I became National Coach of the Dutch Taekwondo Federation till 1994. (as Taekwondo was no Olympic sport at that time ,the government support was very poor and I did not see any possibility to improve the level) Also my job as a National Coach was a volunteer job.
In the period of 1994 till 1997 I was very busy as a promotor for the Taekwondo sport. With my famous Demonstration team ,we gave Taekwondo shows all over the world. Also I conducted Taekwondo sparring seminars all over the world.
<< return -
continue >>
|
|
