Dynamic Self Defense International

The Modern Martial Art

5TH DEGREE BLACK BELT
CO-FOUNDER OF MODERN DEFENSE
Master Hennings was born February 27, 1958 in Omaha, Nebraska, where he lived for 5 years.  In 1963, his family moved to Detroit, Michigan.  Master Hennings grew up in Detroit, enduring the violence of the 60s and 70s.  In 1975, 17 year-old Hennings moved to Texas to live with friends and finish high school.


In Texas, he accepted a dare from a friend to get on a bull in a small rodeo.  He liked it so much that he enrolled in a bull riding school and competed on his high school's rodeo team.

After graduating from high school, he tried to make a living by competing in rodeos.  In 1977 the starving 'Yankee rodeo cowboy' decided to join the Marine Corps.  Hennings served 4 years in the active Marine Corps infantry, 2 years in the reserves.

Always interested in martial arts, he expanded on his Marine hand-to-hand combat training by learning and practicing Jiu-Jitsu with a fellow Marine who was also an instructor in the art.  After his Jiu-Jitsu instructor was transferred, Hennings enrolled in Mr. Fred McDowell's Tae Kwon-Do studio, off post from Camp Lejeune, in Jacksonville, North Carolina.

When his active service was finished, he went back to Detroit and soon enrolled in the biggest Tae Kwon-Do studio that he could find.  After about 6 months, Hennings found a Tae Kwon-Do studio that was the same organization (International Tae Kwon-Do Federation) as the one he had trained at in North Carolina.  He felt more comfortable there, so he began training at the Choi Tae Kwon-Do studio in Royal Oak, Michigan, under Mr. Glenn Kleinow.  Hennings took many jobs working to support his 'martial arts habit', including working and instructing at Mr. Kleinow's studio.

He and Mr. Kleinow took many trips to Georgia to train with Master Kwang Jo Choi, who had moved there from Detroit.  In Georgia they met Mr. Robert Lowrey, who was Master Choi's 'right hand man' in Georgia, and he and Hennings became best friends and training partners.

Having been out of the military for a few years, Hennings decided to join the reserves.  He joined an Army reserve Ranger unit, and was sent to Airborne school and eventually Ranger school.  Hennings has served many years as a Team Leader in this unit, now designated a Long Range Surveillance Unit.

In 1988, Hennings moved to Georgia to run one of Master Choi's studios. By this time, he had achieved a 2nd degree Black Belt in Tae Kwon-Do. Since about 1982, Master Choi had been teaching his senior students a second, more practical style, at first a modified version of Tae Kwon-Do called Kwang Duk Kwan, which evolved into a distinctly different style called Kwang Duk Do.  Master Choi, having left the International Tae Kwon-Do Federation and his instructor General Choi Hong Hi years before, decided to drop the name Tae Kwon-Do and called his style Kwang Duk Do.

In 1987, Grand Master Choi changed the name to Choi Kwang-Do and founded Choi Kwang-Do Martial Art International.  Hennings was tasked with starting up new schools all over the country.  He has worked or started schools in Michigan, Maryland, North Carolina and Georgia.  In 1991, while working at the Lawrenceville , Georgia location, Hennings lived at Grand Master Choi's house.  For more than a year he trained with the Grand Master in his basement dojang nearly every morning.

In 1993 he earned a 4th degree Black Belt in Choi Kwang-Do and was appointed Assistant International Technical Director for the organization.  In 1994 he became the Chief Instructor at the World Headquarters. Master Lowrey (who was the International Technical Director) and Hennings trained virtually all the instructors and students who came to the World Headquarters from all over the world.

Hennings was also the Chief Instructor to the military for the Choi Kwang-Do organization.  He taught martial arts to U.S. Army Ranger Instructors at Camp Merrill and to Rangers and soldiers at Ft. Benning.  Hennings has also taught College credit martial art classes for Upper Iowa University and Kennesaw State University.

On May 26, 1997, Master Hennings, along with Master Lowrey, left Choi Kwang-Do, and with 50+ years of martial arts experience between them, co-founded Modern Defense Martial Art.

Master Hennings went on to open Modern Defense schools in Atlanta and Marietta (North Atlanta), Georgia.  Both are successful schools to this day.  At the beginning of 2004, Master Henning was called to active duty to serve in the Iraq war.  After a tour of duty lasting 16 months, during which he was involved in intense combat, Master Hennings is taking a well earned sabbatical.  He continues to serve as a friend and advisor to Dynamic Self Defense.