The Man Who Knew No Fear (please share with a friend)
"The Man Who Knew No Fear"
Peter Urban 1934-2004
By Ogalthorpe P. Bushmaster
Undoubtedly there has never been anyone who has been able to
fill the shoes of the legendary Peter Urban.
As they say “when he was born the mould was broken” never has a truer
word been spoken.
A student of the big three Japanese Sensei’s Yamaguchi, Oyama and Kim, Urban was one of those few who could see the future. He proclaimed himself 10th Dan in the late 1960’s to the shock and awe of every traditional martial artist in the world. They said he was everything from crazy to sac-religious for doing such an outrageous thing. But as time would prove him neither were true and now we see those who call themselves everything from Hanshi, to Kyoshi, Shihan, Great Grand Master, and everything in between and they do not even know the meaning of the words they are using.
What is sad is that he hasn’t been gone for even six years and already he has been forgotten by so many. The youth of today’s martial arts community don’t even know who he was or worse yet they do not even know the genius of America’s First Tenth Dan.
In his youth he was fighting terror on the floor. Richard
Kim his first and last Sensei once said that Peter was the only man he had ever
met that knew no fear. Those who seen
him fight Don Nagle at the Manhatten Center are testament to the fighting
spirit he exhibited. When in his mid
life he was a leader and teacher of many who would become the leaders of karate
on the east coast and in Canada, Italy, Puerto Rico, and many other areas of
the world. Then in his later years he 
became more profound, psychological,
philosophical and his writings became even more esoteric and aimed at the
intellectuals in the arts.
He once told me that his secret to his thinking was that he would take Buddhist precepts and then he would Americanize them.
His first book the Karate Dojo was and is one of the most popular books ever written on the martial arts right up their with books like “Zen In The Martial Arts” by Joe Hymes. If you haven’t read “The Karate Dojo” then you are in for a real treat as it is one of the books once read you just never forget it.
Some of his favorite quotes were things like:
“Next”
“Give us this day our daily work”
“I always respected all women”
“Keep punching”
“Infinity squared is the future”
“Everyone works”
“To have a slave is to be a slave”
These are just a few of his unforgettable quotes that made
him special.
He also wrote several other brilliant pieces like:
The Career Sensei’s Oath
What is a Sensei
The Martial Arts mind 50 Precepts
The rules of life
Monkeys Pennies and Peanuts
The Cat
There are just so many more essays that are written by the Maestro in a fashion that mesmerizes the reader from the title to the end.
Peter Urban was undoubtedly and artist of life not just a martial artists. He was an excellent pianist even though he never thought of himself in that vain. His Picasso style drawings in his second book Karate Psychology later renamed “The Karate Sensei” are again masterpieces in there own right. If you never seen him in person or listened to him talk you missed out on meeting someone or learning from a special person and like a rare and precious diamond he was a one of a kind.
If the truth be told his actual technical knowledge level of
pure Okinawan or Japanese Goju Ryu Karate was not that high but like his Goju
Teacher Gogen “The Cat” Yamaguchi he did not have that much influence from the
founder Chojun Miyagi’s teachings. But it was not his technical knowledge that
people came to learn from him, it was his perspectives on life and the way he
seen things that we all loved about him.
Do not misunderstand though his knowledge of free style fighting was excellent his famous seminar called “The Sweep” or his “Iron Shield technique” he taught in magazines like Official Karate or in person were excellent and were used by many of his students.
His students were among the best of the best during the late
1960’s and or early 1970’s and people like Joe Lopez were among the most feared
fighters on the east coast. Then there were his students who became kata
champions like Chuck Merriman who was the first real kata champion nationwide.
All of the above has been chronicled in a book written by
Don Warrener called “America’s First karate 10th Dan” plus a lot more including
some early magazine articles written on him. Close to 350 pages and nearly 400
rare photos tellhis story like nothing before or sense. If you want to read about “The Man Who Knew
No Fear” I can’t suggest this book enough.
Endorsed by his family and many of his students this is the book that
tells the entire story of an “America’s National Martial Arts Treasures” Peter
Urban.
