One of the oldest Karate
organisations in Germany
is the Karate Dojo Mönchengladbach.
It was founded by Peter Brockers
in 1964 and
has continued to grow becoming well known to all
practising karateka in North Rhine Westphalia.
Peter Brockers took his 1st Kyu under George Warburg (2nd Dan)
in the spring of 1967.
In the autumn of 1967 he studied under
Sensei Hirokazu Kanazawa (Mr. Shotokan) at a course held in
Cologne and soon became the favourite pupil of the master.
This friendship was cemented when Peter Brockers son Markus
became
the godchild of Sensei Kanazawa.
Peter then passed his 1st Dan at a
course in Mönchengladbach in 1968
and the Dojo Mönchengladbach became one of the most active
organisations in North Rhine Westphalia.
The Dojo took part in the national leagues and secured many 1st
places.
In 1968 after long negotiations it became an officious member of
the
registered organisations of the town of Mönchengladbach and
the German sports federation.
Mönchengladbach soon became known as the centre of Karate
through the efforts of Peter Brockers.
In 1970 Peter Brockers left Germany to travel to the home of
Karate and became a student of the best karate school in the
world -
The Takushoku University in Tokyo, Japan.
To pay for his situation Peter Brockers worked as a bartender
and taught German and English.
This culminated in him passing his 3rd Dan after two years and
became an instructor in the Japan Karate Association.
He then returned to Germany and continued his work in the
Dojo Mönchengladbach passing on the knowledge he
gained in Japan and the Dojo continued to grow.
The most prominent Member of the Dojo Mönchengladbach
is the Astronaut Dr. Reinhold Ewald who successfully finished
the russian Space Mission MIR '97 in March.
He took part in the Dojo team in many National League
competitions.
In 1990, after many years of refereeing Peter Brockers was
appointed as
an international referee by the JKA.
Peter’s son Markus become a 1st Dan at the age of 16 and was
at
that time the youngest black belt in Germany.
During the period 1982 - 1991 he won all the town championships
of the town’s sports federation.
Markus Brockers continued to train hard over the years and
achieved the rank of 4th Dan at the age of 26.
In 1993 he was a member of the German team
to win the European Championship.
In 1994 he attained the 4th place at the world championships
held in Bournemouth, England.
In 1995 he was elected the chief instructor to the Dojo Mönchengladbach.
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Peter
Brockers has devoted himself to the education of children in the ways of the Karate Do and this has now become his main driving ambition. To this end he has, in association with the Mayor of Mönchengladbach Günther Waldhausen, held an international competition for children from 6 to 15 years of age. The competition is now considered as Waldhausen Cup, the Children’s European Karate Championships. |
Peter
Brockers aim is to instil the confidence that |
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Some of the notable
performances of the club are:
1993 - European Kumite Team Champions
Placings for Yvonne and Andreas Heck,
Katherine, Aaron and Louise
Whitehead in the
1994 and 1995 Children’s European Championships
in Bournemouth, England.
In 1995 the Dojo was invited to give a display of
their skills at the annual garden party
held by the Chancellor of Germany, Helmut Kohl.
In 1996 Katherine Whitehead became
World Champion in the Girls Kumite
for over 1.57m between the ages 13 to 16 years.
The children at the Dojo Mönchengladbach have achieved
many victories in International competitions Europe wide.
The final accolade bestowed upon Peter Brockers was
the title of Hanshi (professor) in 1995 and promotion
to the rank of 7th Dan Shihan (Grand Master) in 1995.
In January 2000 Shihan Peter Brockers becomes
8th DAN in Shotokan Karate and now he belongs
to the 3rd highest non-japanese Shotokan Karateka
in the world with this high grade.
Master Peter Brockers celebrates in April 2000 his 40th
Karate-anniversary.
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