In 1953, a young sailor was introduced to karate, in Yokohama, Japan. His name was Peter Urban.

He was boxing with a guy named Schmidt at the Black Friar’s Gym in Yokohama and Sensei Kim saw them sparring. He saw that Peter Urban was being given a lesson but would not quit, so he stopped the fight and told him, “Hey kid, you should do Karate or Judo, not boxing, you’re not built for it.” That was the beginning.

After training for one year with Richard Kim, Peter Urban traveled to Tokyo and was introduced first to Mas Oyama, and later to Gogen “The Cat” Yamaguchi, by Sensei Kim, where he was accepted as a student by them both. In 1957, Peter Urban opened a small dojo in Tokyo, and competed in the All-Japan College Championships that same year. In 1959, Urban moved back to America with a 5th dan by Gogen Yamaguchi – the highest rank a foreigner was given at that time – and opened his first American Dojo, in Union City, N.J. The following year, he opened another school on 17th Street in Manhattan and then came the infamous China Town Dojo, located at 232 Canal Street in 1965-1966, making Japanese karate open to the public.

Peter Urban is one of the men responsible for establishing structured tournaments in America, one of the first of those being the North American Karate Championships in 1962 (where he fought Isshin Ryu Karate Master Don Nagle in an exhibition match where, as Sensei Urban would say, this was the first time two masters put it on the line. This tournament was held at Madison Square Garden. In his early 20s, Urban self published his first book, “The Karate Dojo”. In 1967, The Karate Dojo was published by Charles Tuttle but much of the original book was left out and, as Sensei Urban said, it was left on the cutting room floor. Only a few copies remain of the original book.

A student of Sensei Kim’s in the late 1960s, Urban eventually decided to start his own organization with the blessing of Sensei Kim, called USA Goju. He then proclaimed himself a 10th Dan.

Chief Grand Patriarch of all American Goju Systems, Peter Urban is credited with training some of the greatest North American martial artists in this generation. Names like Merriman, Dalgleish, Ingraham, Banks, Ruiz, Gote, Hooker, Van Clief, and Maldanato.

Upon Sensei Kim’s passing, one single lily was laid at the alter for Sensei Urban and a simple message that simply said, “Thank you Sensei your student, Peter”.

One of his greatest treasures came in 1999, when Sensei Kim sent him a note saying, “Dear Peter, I saw you on your web site. Remarkable achievement. I am proud of you. You are the best martial artist among the “Gaijin”, The Best. Sincerely, Sensei Kim. P.S. regards to all your students.”

Sensei Kim often said that Peter Urban was the only man he ever met that had no fear whatsoever.