Master Christopher M. Brooks
Master Brooks started training in the martial arts in 1994 just before his 9th birthday. He has trained consistently, since then 6 days a week for the past 31 years.
After years of teaching at his original dojo, he opened his own dojo, CMB Karate in 2012, and with it, became the founder of TAE KENPO.
Nowadays he teaches every class daily, from the 3 year old white belts to the 85 year old Black Belts.
His school CMB KARATE in West Windsor New Jersey now boasts 140 students, a breaking team called the CMBreakers, and a Kids Demonstration Team that performs for college and professional sports teams. In 2024 CMB Karate was named the #1 karate school in Central Jersey by the Community Choice Awards.
It wasn’t until 2019 when he started competing competitively, his first big accomplishment being an International Breaking Federation World Record Head Butt Break. That’s where he was introduced to GM Israel Velez and GM Paul Hickey. Grandmaster Hickey to Master Brooks under his wing and began mentoring him. After Master Velez’s untimely passing, GM Hickey and Master Brooks began the task of rebuilding the International Breaking Federation. They have been incredibly successful, bringing the IBF to new heights along with fellow board members Mirielle Palonco and Steve Jackowicz. Currently Master Brooks is the Vice President and Secretary of the IBF and serves with the others on the Board of Directors. The International Breaking Federation continues Master Israel Velez’s mission to bring breaking to people of all abilities, to make it accessible, and to accomplish huge personal goals.
The COVID shutdowns in New Jersey in 2020 forced him to temporarily closed his school for 4 months. Like many people, the caused emotional and financial strains. However the covid shutdowns in 2020 didn’t slow him down as he competed virtually in the Sports Martial Arts Virtual Tour finishing in 1st place in Breaking in 6 of the 8 tournaments, and going on to win the World Championship that year. This was his first World Championship. After the shutdowns his dojo CMB Karate grew bigger and better then even before the shutdown.
In 2023 he got the call up to the big leagues to compete in the ISKA World Championships finishing 3rd his first year. Since then he has competed in the USBA/WBA events taking 1st places at the North East Open & Hall of fame breaking championships.
Recently in 2024 he placed in 7 of 9 divisions he competes in at the US Open and finished with two more 3rd place finishes in the ISKA World Championships.
His personal best concrete elbow strike stands at 11 Bricks, and personal best wood elbow strike is at 16 boards!
This year Master Brooks is in training to compete for the United States Martial Arts team as a breaker. Chris tried out for the team this past November, and finding out he made the team is one of his biggest accomplishments. This upcoming November, he and the rest of the team will compete on behalf of the United States for a Gold Medal at the World Martial Art Games in OSLO NORWAY!
Currently is Master Brooks is a 7th Dan Black Belt, and a 6x Hall of Fame Inductee. He was just named the New Jersey Director of the American Breaking Combative Taekwondo Federation. He looks forward to bringing his expertise to the ABCTF as well as sharing everything the ABCTF has to offer to his dojo and his state!
He lives near his dojo in West Windsor NJ with his black belt wife Cathy and their two great black belt kids, Luke & Emma. He may be a master at Karate, but as a husband and a father, he’s still in the beginners class.
You can check out some of his videos at YouTube.com/CMBKARATE
Reach out on Facebook at
Or @CMBKarate on Instagram
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