Phillip Henry began martial arts in Morehead City when he was 12 and achieved his black belt while attending Barton College in Wilson, NC. During his attendance at the college, he founded the self-defense club and by the time he graduated, owned Wilson’s only full-time martial arts school. He also became the Tae Kwon Do instructor for the college PE program and earned many training
certifications in the fitness
industry.
Phillip later passed the school on to his assistant instructor
and moved
back to Morehead City to spread Grandmaster Dong’s system. Master Henry has achieved the title of Master in three styles of Korean Martial Arts - Tae Kwon Do, Hap Ki Do, Ta Kyuk Do - and continues his education with Grandmaster Dong. In 2019, he received recognition from the World Martial Arts Grandmasters Federation for his “invlauable service to the martial arts” during a ceremony in Manassas, VA.Phillip
has spent most of his life working with children. During his years at
Barton College, he
volunteered as a tutor and mentor at the Eastern NC School for
the Deaf in
Wilson. Summers were spent as a camp
counselor for Easter Seals where he assisted participants in
their daily
routines and adapted physical activities to their needs.
Phillip also served seven years as a Guardian
ad Litem with Wilson County where he was a voice in court for
neglected and
abused children.
Mr. Henry found his martial arts
school as a way to reach others and help them improve their lives. While in Wilson, his program helped hundreds of children and adults improve physically, mentally and socially as well as being able to donate continuously to St Jude’s Children’s Hospital and the
Children’s Hospital at VCU.
The philosophy of helping others continues in Morehead City where the school has supported the Domestic Violence Shelter, Carteret County Partnership for Children, Children’s Hospital and a scholarship to Carteret Community College. Phillip can also be found volunteering at the NC Aquarium in Pine Knoll Shores as a scuba diving team leader with more than 1,000 hours of service.