After achieving a black belt in Judo in his youth, Manfred switched to Kyokushinkai karate.
He mastered excellent skills in this sport by training with Peter Koopman and Rinus Schulz.
In the late 1970‘s he switched to Taiki-ken and Taijiquan training with Ron Nansink.  In the early 1980‘s, he moved to Amsterdam where he continued training his Taiki-ken combined with traditional Xingyiquan under Rinus Schulz and Jan Voormeij.
Around 1990 he restarted his Taiki-ken training with Ron Nansink.
In the early 2000 he took up western boxing under his friend and colleague Mark Louwerse, the ‘Boxing psychologist.’
At present Manfred keeps himself in shape with long distant running, and shares his Taiki-ken and Taijiquan experience with a selected group of friends and colleagues.