Georg F Brueckner

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Georg Frederic Brueckner (30 July 1930 - 30 December 1992) was a German martial arts pioneer and inventor of fighting sports gear used for boxing, kickboxing and other pugilistic sports. He died in Berlin aged 62.

Contents

Martial arts career

In 1952 he began practicing martial arts and studied judo, karate, jujutsu. [1] In 1961 he opened his first karate dojo in Wilmersdorf, West-Berlin. When Mike Anderson and Hans Vierthaler opened the first Taekwondo sports club in Garmisch Partenkirchen in January 1963 he started studies in Taekwondo. [2] He and Vierthaler became the first Germans to receive black belt diplomas from Korean Grandmaster Choi Hong Hi. Starting in 1974 Bruckner promoted the first kickboxing and martial arts shows in Europe which earned him recognition as the "Father of European Kickboxing". [3] [4]

Together with Mike Anderson Brueckner went on to create sport karate tournaments where contact was allowed. In 1976 they founded WAKO, a global sanctioning body for amateur kickboxing. Brueckner went on to promote the first WAKO World Championships in 1978 in Berlin and the fifth WAKO World Championships in 1987 in Munich's Olympic Hall. Both events created large crowds and publicity for the sport of kickboxing. He promoted many more events staging the heroes of martial arts including Bill Wallace, Joe Lewis, Jhoon Rhee, Fumio Demura, Bruce Lee widow Linda Lee, Jeff Smith and many others.

Inventions

Georg Frederic Brueckner was a vivid proponent of fair sports competition and sought to create safety gear for the martial arts that would allow practitioners of various styles competing against each other without the risk of serious injuries. With the support of the medical and scientific community Brueckner created the Top Ten equipment using a highly flexible polyurethane padding for head, foot and hand protectors for pugilistic sports. [5] Initially designed for kickboxing competition, Brueckner modified the hand protectors to become boxing gloves used in amateur boxing competition. Many of his inventions were patented in the USA, Germany, Japan and other countries. [6] His boxing gloves and headgear were introduced as official gear for the Olympic Games in Barcelona 1992, Atlanta 1996 and Sydney 2000. It was the first modern boxing glove made with highly shock dampening polyurethane padding.

Related Research Articles

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Full contact karate Competition formats of karate where competitors spar full-contact and which allow a knockout as winning criterion

Full contact karate is any format of karate where competitors spar full-contact and allow a knockout as winning criterion.

Punch (combat) Striking blow with the closed fist

A punch is a striking blow with the fist.

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to martial arts:

Sanda (sport) Chinese self-defense system and combat sport

Sanda, formerly Sanshou, also known as Chinese boxing or Chinese kickboxing, is the official Chinese full contact combat sport. Sanda is a fighting system which was originally developed by the Chinese military based upon the study and practices of traditional kung fu and modern combat fighting techniques; it combines full-contact kickboxing, which includes close range and rapid successive punches and kicks, with wrestling, takedowns, throws, sweeps, kick catches, and in some competitions, even elbow and knee strikes.

Combat sport

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Troy Dorsey American former boxer and kickboxer

Troy Glenn Dorsey is an American former boxer and kickboxer who competed in the bantamweight, featherweight and lightweight divisions. Known predominantly for his indominatable spirit, amazing physical endurance and a propensity to hammer an opponent with a withering constant barrage of punches, Dorsey began his martial arts training in karate and taekwondo at the age of ten before later making the switch to full contact kickboxing where he was a three-time world champion as well as a gold medalist the WAKO Amateur World Championships in both 1985 (London) and 1987 (Munich). He began dedicating himself to boxing in 1989 and would win the IBF World Featherweight Championship and IBO World Super Featherweight Championship before retiring in 1998.

International Sport Karate Association The governing body of sport karate

The International Sport Karate Association (ISKA) is one of the major international bodies regulating sport karate and kickboxing matches, and is based in the United States. It was established in 1985 as a response to legal and revenue issues that sent the Professional Karate Association (PKA) into decline.

Contact sport Sport that emphasizes or requires physical contact between players

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Roundhouse kick type of kick used in martial arts and combat

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Joe Lewis (martial artist) Kickboxer (1944-2012)

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World Association of Kickboxing Organizations

The World Association of Kickboxing Organizations is an international organization of kickboxing. The governing body of amateur kickboxing certified by WAKO is created to develop support and govern at an amateur level In addition to holding world championship events, WAKO sanctions the champions of kickboxing. WAKO is the only organisation worldwide that is recognised by the GAISF and the IOC.

W.A.K.O. European Championships 1977

W.A.K.O. European Championships 1977 were the first ever W.A.K.O. European kickboxing championships introduced by the pioneer of German Karate Georg Brueckner and the first ever event hosted by the W.A.K.O. organization – then known as the W.M.A.A. who itself had only just recently been founded in 1976. There had actually been an amateur kickboxing European championships held a year previously but this event was not officially recognized by any federation. The W.A.K.O. championships were open to amateur men based in Europe only and all bouts were fought under Full-Contact kickboxing rules, with each country allowed more than one competitor in each weight category. By the end of the championships the Netherlands were the most successful nation, with West Germany second, and Norway a distant third - more detail on the winners and medal tables can be found in the sections below. The event was held in 1977 in Vienna, Austria.

W.A.K.O. World Championships 1978

W.A.K.O. World Championships 1978 were the first ever W.A.K.O. World kickboxing championships introduced by the pioneer of German Karate Georg Brueckner and the third major event hosted by the W.A.K.O. organization – formerly known as the W.M.A.A.. The W.A.K.O. championships were open to amateur men only from eighteen countries across the world and all bouts were fought under Full-Contact kickboxing rules - differing from modern rules in that there was a platform instead of a ring and fighters wore no protective clothing or head guards. Semi-Contact, which had been introduced at the 1978 European championships, would have no place at this event. At the end of the championships, the USA was the top nation, with hosts West Germany a close second, and the Dominican Republic in third. The event was held in West Berlin, West Germany on November 5, 1978.

W.A.K.O. World Championships 1987

W.A.K.O. World Championships 1987 were the sixth world kickboxing championships hosted by W.A.K.O. arranged by the German Karate pioneer Georg Brueckner and Carl Wiedmeier. The event was open to amateur men and women, with 290 competitors from 29 countries taking part. The styles on offer were Full-Contact, Semi-Contact and Musical Forms. Typically, each country was allowed one competitor per weight division, although in some incidences more than one was allowed. Participants were also allowed to compete in more than one style. By the end of the championships, USA was the top of the medals tables, with hosts West Germany in second and Canada way behind in third. The event was held at the Olympiahalle in Munich, Germany over two days and were attended by an estimated 11,000 spectators.

The first American sanctioning body to regulate kickboxing matches, the United States Kickboxing Association (USKA) was established in early 1970 by former Green Beret Lee Faulkner following his promotion of North America’s debut kickboxing bout featuring Joe Lewis’ knockout victory over Greg Baines. The USKA’s rules permitted kicking, punching, knee and elbow strikes, and footsweeps. Only crescent kicks and round kicks were allowed to the head. Hitting below the belt and striking-and-holding were prohibited. Bouts consisted of four by three-minute rounds inside a boxing ring, with one-minute rest periods. Contestants wore twelve-ounce gloves and elective gym shoes or no shoes.

Doris Köhler Austrian boxer

Doris Köhler is an Austrian kickboxer and boxer. Since 2002, she has won a total of seven World Championships and four European Championship titles in light-and full-contact kickboxing according to the rules of the World Kickboxing Association (WKA), International Amateur Karate-Kickboxing Sport Association (IAKSA) and the International Sport Karate Association (ISKA). Since 2007, she has also competed in professional boxing competitions under the Women's International Boxing Federation (WIBF) rules.

Karate in the United States Overview of Karate in U.S.

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References

  1. Falsoni, Ennio (1987). "The first heroes of kickboxing". Wako. Archived from the original on 26 July 2011. Retrieved 13 April 2018 via Google Books.
  2. Held, Andreas (2004). "Traditionelles Taekwondo: Eine Kampfkunst und Ihre Wirkungen". Books on Demand. Retrieved 13 April 2018 via Google Books.
  3. Cave, Eddie (1 January 2001). "Kickboxing". New Holland Publishers. Retrieved 12 April 2018 via Google Books.
  4. Deubner, Michael (1 January 2013). "Georg Brueckner died 20 years ago". Backkicks.com. Retrieved 12 April 2018.
  5. "US Patent for hand protectors made with soft polyurethane padding". USPTO. 1 April 1987. Retrieved 12 April 2018 via Google Patents.
  6. "List of patents". Google Patent Search. 1 April 1987. Retrieved 12 April 2018 via Google Patents.