ABOUT

Senior Master Hank Minitrez began his own training in the mid-1980s after watching the original 1984 “Karate Kid” movie. He strongly identified with the Daniel LaRusso character and loved the idea of learning martial arts “for defense only.”

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Fast forward 40 years, and he is now a 7th Degree Senior Master Black Belt in Karate (Kyoshi), a Kukkiwon (World Tae Kwon Do Headquarters, Korea) certified Master and Martial Arts Hall of Honor Inductee.  He holds black belts in Tae Kwon Do, Karate, Japanese Ju Jutsu and Tang Soo Do.

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He is also the NM State Director for the National Karate Jujitsu Federation.

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History snapshot:

He earned his yellow belt in 1986 in Socorro, NM at the Cha-Guerra School of Self Defense.  He later earned his first of four black belts in 1994, Berlin Germany while in the military.  Master Hank began teaching in 2004 at one of the largest schools Washington D.C. area, where he spent nearly two decades honing his teaching style, including working with special needs and senior citizen students, before moving home to New Mexico.

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Notable achievements:

• Nominated as Black Belt Magazine’s Instructor of the Year - 2008. 

• Featured in TKD Times Magazine - 2015. 

• World Karate Union Halls of Fame Lifetime Achievement Award - 2023 

• Action Martial Arts Hall of Honor Esteemed Elite Warrior - 2024

• Golden Gate Hall of Honor Tae Kwon Do Master of the Year - 2024

 

His daughter Lyndy began training at age 4 and has continued for the last 20 years.  She is his longest practicing student, a Minitrez Martial Arts certified instructor and is a 3rd degree black belt, preparing to test for Master.