Rudi started his karate training in 1981 under Johan Anderson (Funakoshi Style). Later on he trained under Dr Pieter Viljoen (Shorin-Ryu) and only started coaching karate as the sport officer at 1 Parachute Battalion during 1991 where he trained under Piet le Roux (Shotokan). He also trained with Koos Burger (Shotokan) between 1998 and 2004. Rudi turned to full time sport instruction when he opened the Eagles Karate Club in June 1995. He has officiated at WKF and WKC world championships and was appointed as a Coach for the 2003 and 2004 SASKA National Teams as well as the 2006 ASKSA National Team. Rudi is very involved in tournaments and held the position of Gauteng North Tournament Director from 2003 till 2006.