Hatsuo Royama

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The name Hatsuo Royama is synonymous with Kyokushin Karate. Around the birth of Kyokushin Karate, he was one of the few students to be involved with Mas Oyama, the founder of Kyokushin, from the art’s start until Oyama’s death. Royama was a phenomenal fighter known for his devastating low kicks, a technique that he made famous.

Named Noh Cho Woong by his Korean parents at birth, Hatsuo Royama was born on 31 March 1948 in Saitama, Japan. He was the eldest of five children.

Growing up in the 1950s, Royama was a big fan of Sumo Wrestling. He particularly liked the wrestler, Rikidozan, who was Korean by birth.

Still a teenager, Royama began training in Karate in 1963 with Mas Oyama at a small dojo behind Rikkyo University in Tokyo. His main motivation for training was to become physically stronger. He was one of Oyama’s first students.

When Royama started training, Oyama had not created the style of Kyokushin Karate. He taught elements of Goju-ryu, Shorei-ryu, and Kobayashi-ryu, all styles of Karate he had learnt. He called what he taught Oyama Karate.

Training at the Oyama dojo was extremely tough. Royama was frequently exhausted after his training sessions. There were normally four classes a week, with each training session lasting 3-4 hours. Sparring sessions lasted over an hour and were filled with intensity and plenty of violence. Injuries were no excuse for not training. Many students joined and left the dojo, finding the training too tough.

It was in 1964 that Oyama officially founded the Kyokushin Karate style. He also established the IKO (International Karate Organisation).

Royama was promoted to 1st Dan by Oyama in 1967. He was 19 years old at the time. By this time, he had become one of Oyama’s top students. He had become an instructor at the Hombu dojo, now located in Tokyo’s Ikebukuro district. He was known for training hard. During one training session, he threw a student, who crashed into a mirror and broke it in the dojo. As expected, Oyama was displeased.

In 1968, Royama arrived at the dojo one day to find a notice stating that he had been expelled. He was not sure why this had happened.

Away from Kyokushin, Royama began exploring other martial arts. He tried his hand at boxing and kickboxing. It was around this time that he started training with Hideo Nakamura. Known as the ‘Fist Saint‘, Nakamura was the Technical Director of the Karate department at the Dai Nippon Butokukai. The aim of the organisation was the preservation of classical Japanese martial arts.

Royama became an uchi-deshi (live-in student) of Nakamura for around five years. During this time, training was focused on perfecting basic techniques. Practice sessions sometimes involved working on a single technique for several hours at a time.

Royama also had the opportunity to meet and train with Kenichi Sawai, a noted Japanese martial artist. Sawai had introduced a modified version of the Chinese martial art, Yiquan, to Japan, which he called Taikken. Taikken is a fighting method that focuses on developing natural movement and fighting ability.

By 1973, Royama was allowed to return to the Kyokushin Karate family. On 4 November, he competed in the 5th Open Karate Tournament, held in Tokyo. 128 competitors were invited to participate in the tournament. Royama won the tournament, with Terutomo Yamazaki and Toshikazu Sato in second and third place.

Between 9 and 10 November 1974, the 6th Open Karate Tournament was held in Tokyo. The tournament was won by Katsuaki Sato, with Takashi Azuma and Royama in second and third place.

Between 1 and 3 November 1975, 128 competitors from 32 countries were invited to compete in the 1st World Open Tournament held in Tokyo. The tournament was unique in that there were no weight classes. The tournament was won by Katsuaki Sato of Japan, with compatriots Royama and Joko Ninomiya finishing second and third, respectively.

During the World Open Tournament, Royama won national acclaim for his bout against the American giant, Charles Martin. Martin was a foot taller than Royama. However, Royama defeated Martin by throwing devastating low kicks, which led to the American succumbing to leg injuries. In the final, he lost to Katsuaki Sato by split decision. The next day after the tournament, he went to his usual training session at the IKO Hombu. This was impressive, as many of the fighters who competed in the tournament spent the next day in the hospital.

Through the 1980s, Royama taught Karate to a new generation of students at the Kyokushin Hombu.

On 26 April 1994, the founder of Kyokushin Karate, Mas Oyama, died. Following his death, the IKO split into various factions. Shokei Matsui had been named as the successor to Oyama. He was Royama’s junior by about fifteen years. Royama saw it as his duty to the late Oyama to act as an advisor to the younger Matsui.

Royama was named to the IKO Executive Committee. He was chosen to be the Chief Advisor. However, he grew frustrated because Matsui rarely followed his advice.

Dissatisfied with the commercial direction that Matsui was taking the IKO, Royama, alongside Tsuyoshi Hiroshige and Akio Koyama, resigned from the IKO in December 2002.

On 13 January 2003, Royama created a new organisation called the International Federation of Kyokushin-Kan Karate-do. He wanted to take Kyokushin back to its roots, which he felt had been lost. He felt that too much emphasis had been placed on tournament competition rather than following Kyokushin’s strong Budo roots. A number of like-minded students of Oyama left with him.

On 17 April 2003, Royama reconstructed the Kyokushin Syogakukai Foundation. Originally formed in the 1960s, the Foundation was a non-profit organisation whose aim was to follow the path outlined by Oyama.

The Foundation had been suspended by Oyama on 15 July 1990. However, before his death, he wanted the Foundation to be reconstructed. According to his will, he had wanted the IKO to become a non-profit organisation. This had not happened and was one of Royama’s major complaints.

Yoshiharu Umeda was named the Chairman of the reconstructed Kyokushin Syogakukai Foundation. Royama was named President. He held the position until 2022.

The International Federation of Kyokushin-Kan Karate-do held its first World Open Karate Tournament in Moscow in 2005.

As part of Royama’s aim to return to the origins of Kyokushin Karate, he organised a match in 2007 at the 5th All Japan Weight Championship, which allowed punches to the face. This was the first match in Kyokushin history to do so.

On 30 November 2011, it was announced that the KWU (Kyokushin World Union) had been established at a founding conference. The event was attended by the likes of Yury Trutnov of the Russian Kyokushin Association, Hatsuo Royama and Tsuyoshi Hiroshige of KI (Kyokushin-Kan International), Kenji Sugekawa of the Kyokushin Foundation, Steve Arneil and David Pickthall of the IFK (International Federation of Karate), and Loek Hollander of the KWF (Kyokushin World Federation).

In 2013, the KWU held the 1st KWU Kyokushin World Championship. It attracted 297 participants from 52 countries.

On 1 November 2021, Royama was baptised and married Victoria Kaminska. The wedding was held at the St Panteleimon Monastery in Kyiv, Ukraine.

It was announced on 17 April 2022 that Hiroto Okazaki would succeed the 74-year-old Royama as the head of the Kyokushin-Kan. Akio Koyama was also named the new Director of International Affairs and General Manager.

In 2024, Royama was inducted into Black Belt Magazine’s Hall of Fame. Alongside Mike Stone and Pam Grier, he received a Lifetime Achievement Award.

Over the years, Royama has written several books. This includes:

• Intro to Junior Kyokushin Karate
• Intro to Kyokushin Karate Striking
• Kensan Secret Principles of Karate
• Master Karate Through Kata
• My Budo Karate
• Karate-Do Kata Kyohan Jin no Maki

Hatsuo Royama has made it his aim to return Kyokushin Karate to being the strongest Karate in the world. Through the reconstruction of the Kyokushin Syogakukai Foundation, he hopes that all associations that want to follow the path set out by Mas Oyama will agree to rejoin it.

Royama has built the International Federation of Kyokushin-Kan Karate-do into a federation with a large global following. It has branches in over 54 countries. He frequently travels the world, looking to teach and promote the real Budo aspects of Kyokushin Karate. He has been influenced by three great Budo masters: Mas Oyama, Hideo Nakamura, and Kenichi Sawai. Many of the lessons he learnt are now being passed to a new generation of students.