Our Staff

Master Muhktar Kadiri has been involved in Martial Arts for over 30 years. His school is highly recognized in the community. He not only has a successful martial arts studio, he has a swag of successes as an athlete, instructor, referee, coach, motivational speaker, and lifelong student.

Master Muhktar was born in Accra, Ghana, West Africa. He has attended the University of Ghana to complete a Bachelor of Arts (Social Work with Sports) degree, as well as comprehensively studying taekwondo at Chung Cheong University, South Korea.

Master Muhktar started his martial arts training at the age of nine. He currently holds a 6th degree black belt in taekwondo, a 3rd degree black belt in Haidong gumdo, a 3rd degree black belt in Hapkido, and a 3rd degree black belt in Karate. At the age of 16, he made it in to the Ghanaian national taekwondo and karate teams, and began to travel nationally and internationally to complete in tournaments. He is a successful athlete with multiple medals at world class competitions. To date his medal tally stands at 6 gold, 5 silver, and 3 bronze medals.

Muhktar is a World Taekwondo Headquarters-qualified international instructor. He has taught martial arts in several countries across four continents Africa, Asia, North America and in Australia. He has coached the Ghanaian national and junior national team, as well as taking his developing students in Hamilton to success at the state level. He has been recognised for his coaching skills with a South West Sports Development Coach award in 2012. He has also been involved with schools in the region teaching students how be their best and to achieve greater success in life.

He has been involved in several professional martial arts organisations and taught instructor courses to international instructors at the World Taekwondo Headquarters in South Korea, and was invited to teach seminars in various countries. In 2008, he became the youngest Master Instructor to win the global Taekwondo Masters Essay Competition, writing about his experience as an athlete and educator and his contribution towards the development of these powerful martial arts in Ghana. Master Muhktar is also an Olympic level taekwondo referee, and a forms (poomsae) international judge.

Master Muhktar feels it is his duty to reach out and share martial arts with as many people as he can. He has a lot of passion for what he does, and enjoys learning new things through his teaching experiences. To him, all his achievements matter less than what he can give and share with people of his community. Young, old, male or female, he is at your service.

Master Muhktar says, “As everyone is not the same, I constantly and patiently listen to my students, through verbal discussions and through observing their body language and their state of mind, to formulate a strategy to personalise each person’s training in regards to functional movements and applications. The team we have at Palace is AMAZING – ethical, hardworking, and talented - and we work together with the students to help every individual reach their personal goals.”

Never static, Muhktar and his team continue to innovate and grow the various aspects of Palace to develop its curriculum and outreach.