Peter Urban (karate)
| Peter Urban | |
|---|---|
| Born |
August 14, 1934 Jersey City, New Jersey, United States |
| Died | April 7, 2004 (aged 69) Massachusetts, United States |
| Style | Gōjū-ryū Karate |
| Teacher(s) | Richard Kim, Gogen Yamaguchi, Masutatsu Oyama |
| Rank | 6th Dan Japanese Gōjū-ryū Karate; 10th Dan Founder of American Gōjū-ryū Karate |
Peter "George" Urban (August 14, 1934 – April 7, 2004) was an American Martial Art Science Philosopher, Poet-Warrior and Innovative Leader. He was called the "The George Washington of American Karate" by Kick Illustrated Magazine, October and November 1981 and founder of the Karate style named American GōJū Ryū Karate Do. Urban was one of only a small number of "white" students under Gōgen Yamaguchi, an early GōJū Ryū Sensei, Practitioner, Instructor and head of the style organization, The GoJu Kai. Controversially, Peter Urban created an American style of Gōjū-ryū without the permission of Yamaguchi as he would not allow Sensei Urban to represent Japanese Karate in America, as his head representative.
Peter Urban was born in the Jersey City Medical Center in Jersey City, New Jersey on August 14, 1934. He lived a short while in Altoona, Pennsylvania then was raised and educated in Union City, New Jersey where as a boy he shined shoes and delivered the local newspaper, The Hudson Dispatch. At this point in his life he had shown an acute interest in the Martial Art Science of Jujutsu and American Boxing. He graduated from Emerson High School in Union City, NJ in 1952 and thereafter joined the United States Military.
After joining the United States Navy in 1952 he was trained as an intelligence officer and sent to and stationed in Yokohama, Japan. That year he became a Karate student of Richard Kim, in 1953. One year later, Urban was transferred to Tokyo which was too far from Yokohama to continue his training with Kim, so Kim introduced Urban to teachers Masutatsu Oyama and Gogen Yamaguchi. In 1954, Yamaguchi accepted Urban as his student. Urban trained with Oyama, in 1955. In 1957, Peter Urban opened a small Dojo in Tokyo, Japan, he then became the first westerner to compete in the All Japan College Karate Championships. In 1958, Urban met and married Mieko Ito.
In 1959, Urban moved to America and opened his first Urban GōJu Ryū DoJo on 13th Street and Summit Avenue in Union City, N.J. The following year he shared a school in Manhattan with the JuDo Twins on 17th Street. Urban was responsible for establishing structured tournaments with the use of a point system in America. The first of these was the 1st North American Karate Championships held at Madison Square Garden in 1962.
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