Inducted into the A.M.A.H.O.F.(Inc) for 2005
Instructor of the Year – Zen Do Kai (Queensland)

Inducted into the W.K.U.H.O.F. for 2005
Instructor of the Year – Zen Do Kai (Queensland)

Peter Rowe has been involved in the martial arts continuously since June 1972, when he commenced training at the Frankston Zen Do Kai club in Victoria under Dave Pendleberry (Berry) and then Billy Manne. Over the ensuing fifty-four years (at 2026) he has developed a reputation not only as a highly respected martial artist and instructor, but also as a teacher, mentor, lawyer, military officer and community leader whose professional life has been closely intertwined with the martial arts.

Peter currently holds the rank of 10th Degree Black Belt (Soke) in Bob Jones Martial Arts / Zen Do Kai, having been promoted by Bob Jones in 2021. He is a member of the BJMA International Leadership Group and serves as the Bob Jones Martial Arts Aboriginal Elder, reflecting both his senior standing within the system and his pride in his Tasmanian Aboriginal heritage. Peter and his partner Sapphire live in Tasmania near Hobart, where he enjoys painting and photography.

From his first club at Albury-Wodonga in 1978, Peter has established and taught at schools across Australia including Wodonga, Albury, Tallangatta, Beechworth, Myrtleford, Wangaratta, Corowa, Howlong, Jindera, Wagga Wagga, Culcairn, Junee, Mentone, Canberra, Darwin, Townsville, Brisbane, Gold Coast and now Tasmania. Many of these schools have gone on to produce instructors and leaders in their own right, with several of his direct students attaining senior black belt ranks of 8th and 9th Dan and continuing to lead successful clubs today.

Throughout his career Peter has believed that martial arts should be practical, disciplined and relevant to the real world. This philosophy led to extensive involvement in operational safety, defensive tactics and law enforcement training. He became a PPCT Defensive Tactics Instructor Trainer and also qualified as an Instructor Trainer in baton, handcuffing, spontaneous knife defence, tactical simulation and a range of specialist operational skills. Peter has instructed police, corrective services, military personnel, health workers and the security industry throughout Australia and has been recognised as a firearms and defensive tactics instructor by a number of Australian policing jurisdictions.

Away from the dojo, Peter has enjoyed a distinguished and diverse professional career. A graduate in Education and Law, he has worked as a secondary school teacher, university tutor and law lecturer before being admitted to legal practice in 1993. His early military service included membership of the Australian Army's 2 Commando Company, where he trained in military unarmed combat and parachuting, before later serving as an Intelligence Officer with ASIO and a General Duties Police Officer with the Australian Federal Police. Following his commissioning as an Army Legal Officer in 1997, he completed service with the Australian Army Legal Corps, retiring with the rank of Major after appointments that included Senior Command Legal Advisor to Army training establishments. He continues to practise as a
commercial lawyer and legal adviser.

Community service has remained an important part of Peter’s life. Over the years he has served as an Albury City Councillor, member of the Tourism Albury-Wodonga Board, volunteer Snow Ski Patroller, volunteer member of the Surfers Paradise Surf Life Saving Club and has contributed extensively to Aboriginal community organisations and veterans’ initiatives. He was awarded the ACT Emergency Services Medal for his contribution during the devastating Canberra bushfires of 2003, together with the Australian Defence Medal and the Defence Long Service Medal and Clasp.

Peter was inducted into both the Australian Martial Arts Hall of Fame and the World Karate Union Hall of Fame in 2005 as Instructor of the Year – Zen Do Kai (Queensland). More than twenty years later, he remains actively involved in teaching, mentoring and preserving the traditions and values of the Bob Jones Martial Arts system. His enduring contribution has been not simply the development of successful clubs or the achievement of senior rank, but the encouragement and guidance of generations of martial artists who have benefited from his example of service, integrity and lifelong learning.