About NPTHC

The New Plymouth Taekwondo club was first started  by Great Grandmaster Lee Jung Nam in 1981. The club continued under various names and Instructors until December 1993. In February 1994 Master Drummond (then a 1st Dan Black-belt) restarted the club, as the previous Instructor moved on to take over the Inglewood Taekwondo club, and re-branded as NPTC; as not to be confused with other clubs that had popped up calling themselves "New Plymouth Taekwondo Club" which were not recongised by our world governing body at the time.

The Instructors name is Stephen (Steve) Drummond who is a 5th Dan Black-belt and Master Instructor of Taekwondo and recognised Hapkido Instructor. In addition to his grade he is also qualified to Grade people up to and including 3rd Dan Black-belt in Taekwondo. Master Steve Drummond was awarded his 5th Dan Black-belt in December 2015 by Great Grandmaster Lee Jung Nam. Master Drummond has been training in martial Arts and Instructing longer than most other martial art instructors in Taranaki. In January 2018 Master Drummond was given an honorary 7th Dan (Grandmaster) by World Taekwondo (WT) President Chungwon Choue for his services to Taekwondo and traditional knowledge.

​

Despite being diagnosed as having hereditary arthritis in his ankles and feet at age 12, Master Drummond fell in love with the Martial Arts but had to manage his training very carefully. He started by learning Karate, Kendo and Iaido for three years at the Rembuden Institute of Martial Arts in Wellington before moving to Taranaki with his parents. At age 15 he started training in Taekwondo first at one club and then a second, training 3 to 4 times a week. 

​

In December 1992 Master Drummond successfully graded for his first Dan Black-belt, Instructors and Referees Certificate all in one day.

After establishing himself firmly into the role of an Instructor of his own club in 1994 Master Drummond spent two years learning Hapkido through the Palmerston North Hapkido Club who sent an Instructor to New Plymouth once every two weeks to train him.  From 1994 to 1998 Master Drummond spent some time training with Great Grandmaster Lee Jung Nam and was fortunate enough to receive a lot of week long one on one mentoring during this time in both Taekwondo and Hapkido. Since this training NPTC has incorporated elements of Kuk Jae Hapkido into its traditional Taekwondo syllabus.

​

In August 2002 he achieved his 4th Dan Black-belt and the first one to achieve a WTF recognised 4th Dan Black-belt in Taranaki. Shortly after achieving his 4th Dan Black-belt Master Drummond was then promoted to an Examiner by Great Grandmaster Lee and put in charge of grading clubs in the Hawkes Bay, Manawatu and Taranaki regions.

​

During 2003 to 2007 NPTC became one of the most successful competition clubs in New Zealand with a 100% medal count, and in the process winning more gold medals than all six other Taranaki Taekwondo clubs combined. The club prided itself on teaching students to high standard those skills were practical in the street as well as competitions.

​

Unfortunately in 2007 Master Drummond had to give up practicing Taekwondo himself due to poor health; however he did keep teaching self-defense to small groups, and running a small class from home once a week.

In 2015 Master Drummond was cleared medically to return to practicing Martial Arts himself (with some restrictions)  and re-formed the NPTC in May 2015 due to popular demand, and lack of training space at his home. Since the NPTC club has been re-formed, it has grown rapidly in both numbers and reputation and soon outgrew its location in central New Plymouth so in May 2016 the club moved to Bell Block and a even bigger hall again.

​

Master Callum Forbes (7th Dan Black-belt Hapkido), who is the president of the Hapkido New Zealand and former student of Great Grandmaster Lee in Hapkido heard about NPTC and how it was teaching Hapkido under the Teakwondo umbrella, he approached the club to join his organisation; which would allow students to officially earn belts in both Taekwondo & Hapkido. From the 1st January 2017 NPTC rebranded to "NPTHC – New Plymouth Taekwondo & Hapkido Club" thus identifying that the club has become an official Hapkido Club, as well as  a Taekwondo one. By joining the Hapkido New Zeland NPTHC become the first club in New Zealand to be officially  both a WT Taekwondo and Hapkido Club. NPTHC students now earn belts in both Martial Arts at Gradings.

​

NPTHC focus is primarily on self-defense, and the traditional values of Taekwondo and Hapkido. In spite of this focus club members have done exceptional well in competitions often winning against much higher graded students from other clubs and styles, a testament to the quality of training.

​

In July 2018 NPTHC was officially recognised by both the World Kido Federation and Hanminjok Hapkido; plus Master Drummond was certified as an internationally qualified Hapkido Instructor. To date NPTHC remains the only Hapkido club in Taranaki and the only club in New Zeland to be officially recognised world wide for both Taekwondo and Hapkido.

​

In September 2018 at the Oceania Hapkido Championships 8 members of the NPTHC club were slected to represent New Zealand at the world Championships in 2019. Master Drummond was so selected as the New Zealand Coach based on NPTHC winning every division and every catagory they entered.

​