Georg Frederic Brueckner (30 July 1930 - 30 December 1992) was a German

martial arts Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defense; military and law enforcement applications; combat sport, competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; a ...

pioneer and inventor of fighting sports gear used for boxing, kickboxing and other pugilistic sports. He died in Berlin aged 62.

Martial arts career

In 1952 he began practicing

and studied

judo is an unarmed gendai budō, modern Japanese martial art, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyclopedia Nipponi ...

karate (; ; Okinawan language, Okinawan pronunciation: ) is a martial arts, martial art developed in the Ryukyu Kingdom. It developed from the Okinawan martial arts, indigenous Ryukyuan martial arts (called , "hand"; ''tii'' in Okinawan) under the ...

jujutsu Jujutsu ( ; ja, link=no, 柔術 , ), also known as jiu-jitsu and ju-jitsu, is a family of Japanese martial arts and a system of close combat (unarmed or with a minor weapon) that can be used in a defensive or offensive manner to kill or subdu ...

. In 1961 he opened his first karate dojo in Wilmersdorf, West-Berlin. When Mike Anderson and Hans Vierthaler opened the first

Taekwondo ''Taekwondo'', ''Tae Kwon Do'' or ''Taekwon-Do'' (; ko, 태권도/跆拳道 ) is a Korean form of martial arts involving punching and kicking techniques, with emphasis on head-height kicks, spinning jump kicks, and fast kicking techniques. T ...

sports club in Garmisch Partenkirchen in January 1963 he started studies in Taekwondo. He and Vierthaler became the first Germans to receive

black belt Black Belt may refer to: Martial arts * Black belt (martial arts), an indication of attainment of expertise in martial arts * ''Black Belt'' (magazine), a magazine covering martial arts news, technique, and notable individuals Places * Black B ...

diplomas from Korean Grandmaster

Choi Hong Hi Choi Hong-hi (9 November 1918 – 15 June 2002) was a South Korean Army general, defector to North Korea, and martial artist who was an important figure in the history of the Korean martial art of Taekwondo, albeit controversial due to 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". 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 Kickboxing is a combat sports, combat sport focused on kicking and punch (strike), punching. The combat takes place in a boxing ring, normally with boxing gloves, mouthguards, shorts, and bare feet to favour the use of kicks. Kickboxing is pract ...

. 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

. He promoted many more events staging the heroes of martial arts including Bill Wallace, Joe Lewis,

Jhoon Rhee Rhee Jhoon-goo (January 7, 1932 – April 30, 2018), commonly known as Jhoon Rhee or Grandmaster Jhoon Rhee, was a South Korean master of Taekwondo who is widely recognized as the 'Father of American Taekwondo' for introducing this martial art ...

Fumio Demura is a well known Japanese master of karate and kobudo (traditional weaponry).Clayton, B. D., Horowitz, R., & Pollard, E. (2004): ''Shotokan's secret: The hidden truth behind Karate's fighting origins'' (p. 108). Black Belt Books. ()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. 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. His boxing gloves and headgear were introduced as official gear for the Olympic Games in

Barcelona 1992 The 1992 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1992, ca, Jocs Olímpics d'estiu de 1992), officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XXV Olimpiada, ca, Jocs de la XXV Olimpíada) and commonly known as ...

Atlanta 1996 The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

and

Sydney 2000 The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

. It was the first modern boxing glove made with highly shock dampening

polyurethane Polyurethane (; often abbreviated PUR and PU) refers to a class of polymers composed of organic chemistry, organic units joined by carbamate (urethane) links. In contrast to other common polymers such as polyethylene and polystyrene, polyurethan ...

padding.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brueckner, Georg F. 1930 births 1992 deaths 20th-century German inventors Sportspeople from Berlin German male taekwondo practitioners German male karateka German male kickboxers