Rika Usami

Everyone has a goal. Whether that is to become a world champion or not doesn’t really matter. Although your goal may often look hard to achieve at first, if you continually make efforts towards your goal, then your time, energy and commitment will never have been wasted. So, keep it up as much as you can. Stay strong until you win against yourself. And at the end of the day, you will always be a winner you will always be the winner.

Rika Usami

The diminutive Rika Usami ranks among the most recognisable faces in the world of Karate. As a competitor, she continued the line of great Japanese kata champions, including Mie Nakayama, Yuki Mimura, and Atsuko Wakai. Her kata performances were mesmerising displays of grace, strength, and speed, all in equal measures.

Rika Usami was born on 20th February 1986, in Tokyo, Japan. She was the youngest of two children, having an older brother.

When Usami was aged 10, she started practising Goju-Ryu Karate, following in the footsteps of her brother. The Katsushika Dojo was located close to her family home and was affiliated with the Gojuryu Karatedo Shoseikan International. Her motivation to learn Karate had come from watching a female fighter on television.

In 1998, Usami competed in her first tournament. She was a green belt at the time. She started competing in several local tournaments.

In 2001, aged 15, Usami competed in her first big tournament, which was a national schools tournament.

Usami had her first big tournament win in 2003. She won the All Japan High School Karatedo Championships aged 17.

On graduating from High school, Usami enrolled at Kokushikan University, which was renowned for its tough training sessions. It was here that she met Shito-Ryu master Yoshimi Inoue, who would be a major influence on her life.

By 2005, Usami had started training with Inoue. He was known as the ‘Trainer of Champions‘. His students included Mie Nakayama and Antonio Diaz. He was also known for his insistence on working on the individual techniques found within a kata. He also placed a large emphasis on kumite. He firmly believed in the connection between the three Ks of kihon, kata, and kumite.

Usami would take a five-hour train journey from Tokyo to the city of Tottori to train with Inoue. He helped her become mentally focused. Conditioning was an important aspect of her training. This included physical and Karate conditioning. They constantly worked on improving her technical ability.

Inoue’s influence on Usami began to show in her tournament successes. On 11th November 2005, she won the kata title at the 4th World Junior & Cadet Karate Championships, held in Limassol, Cyprus.

While a senior at university, Usami won the first of her five All Japan Kata titles in 2007, at the 35th All Japan Karate-do Championships, held at the Budokan, Tokyo.

After graduating from university, Usami began working for the Tottori Prefectural Board of Education. She also continued training with Inoue.

Between 12th and 13th December 2009, Usami won her second All Japan Kata title at the 37th All Japan Karate-do Championships. This was the beginning of her four consecutive titles.

At the 16th Asian Games held in Guangzhou, China, in 2010, Usami won her first major international title.

On 27th October 2010, Usami took part in her first World Championships at the age of 24. At the 20th WKF World Karate Championships held in Belgrade, Serbia, she finished in third place in the Individual Kata event. The event was won by Yohana Sanchez of Venezuela, with Hoang Ngan Nguyen of Vietnam in second place.

Usami won another All Japan Individual Kata title at the 38th All Japan Karate do Championships, held on 12 December 2010.

By 2011, Usami, under the guidance of Yoshimi Inoue, had become the top kata competitor in the world. During the year she entered a number of prestigious Open tournaments. This included the Paris Open and the Salzburg Open. She won nearly all the tournaments she entered. This included the 39th All Japan Karate-do Championships.

2012 was a phenomenal year for Usami. She competed in the Paris Open, Dordrecht Open, Jakarta Open, and the Istanbul Open. She won all the tournaments. The next big tournament was her second World Karate Championships.

On 21st November 2012, the finals of the 21st WKF World Karate Championships took place at the Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy in Paris, France. Usami had defeated Yaiza Martin of Spain for the right to face Sandy Scordo of France in the final. In arguably the greatest kata performance in a World Championship final, Usami defeated Scordo 5-0. After Usami’s performance, the 12000-strong crowd gave her a standing ovation.

Usami’s performance brought tears of joy to Inoue’s eyes. Inoue made history by becoming the first person to coach both the male and female Individual Kata champions. His student, Antonio Diaz, had won the Men’s Individual Kata title.

At the 40th All Japan Karate-do Championships, held between 8th and 9th December 2012, Usami won her final All Japan Kata title. This was the culmination of a fabulous year for her.

In 2013, Usami retired from active competition. She was only 27 years old. This came as a shock. It was felt that she would go on to dominate her opponents for many years. However, she had achieved her goal of becoming a world champion and wanted to pursue other goals.

Usami’s major titles include:

• 1st Place – WKF Junior World Championship (2005) Limassol, Greece
• 1st Place – All-Japan National Championship (2007, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012)
• 3rd Place – WKF World Championship (2010) Belgrade, Serbia
• 1st Place – Paris Open (2011)
• 1st Place – Asian Games (2011) Quanzhou, China
• 1st Place – Salzburg Open (2011)
• 1st Place – Paris Open (2012)
• 1st Place – Dordrecht Open (2012)
• 1st Place – Jakarta Open (2012)
• 1st Place – Istanbul Open (2012)
• 1st Place – World Championship (2012) Paris, France

One of Usami’s goals was to attend Kokushinkan University’s graduate school. She enrolled at the university where she studied sports systems research. She also wanted to become an instructor at the university’s Karate club.

Usami continued training with Inoue. In 2013, she travelled to Sweden with Antonio Diaz. She and Diaz gave a kata seminar in Stockholm, where they taught Shito-ryu Keishin-kai Karate.

Usami also worked at promoting Karate as widely as possible. As a special instructor in Tottori, she visited firms and organisations to teach their staff Karate.

Usami was married in 2015.

In February 2015, Usami was named a Goodwill Ambassador by the Japan Karate Federation. This was for the 2020 Olympic Games that were due to be held in Tokyo. Karate was due to be a part of the Olympic Games for the first time. Mahiro Takano and Juri Iwata were also named as Goodwill Ambassadors.

As a Goodwill Ambassador, it was Usami’s role to promote Karate. She visited schools in the Japanese prefectures of Akita, Yamagata, Miyagi, Aomori, Tohoku, and Fukushima, giving demonstrations and lectures.

Usami graduated from Kokushinkan University’s graduate school in March 2015. She was appointed to the position of JKF National Team Kata Coach, a position she held until 2016.

On 1 May 2015, Usami’s mentor, Yoshimi Inoue, died from cancer. He had been a big influence on her, and in honour of his memory, Usami, Mie Nakayama, and Antonio Diaz travelled the world promoting Inoue-Ha Shito-ryu Karate.

In 2018, Usami and her husband welcomed their first child, a boy.

In the years following his death, Inoue’s top students, Mie Nakayama and Usami, travelled the world, promoting Inoue-Ha Shito-ryu Keishin-kai Karate. This included seminars in the Swedish cities of Stockholm and Karlstad in 2019, as well as in Belarus in 2020.

In May 2021, Usami was appointed the Chairman of the All Japan Federation Player Strengthening Committee by the JKF Board of Directors. The appointment aimed to boost Japan’s chances of winning medals in all eight of the kata and kumite events at the Tokyo Olympics. She was the first woman appointed to the position. She replaced Masao Kagawa, who had been sacked over allegations of injuring medal prospect, Ayumi Uekusa, with a bamboo sword.

On 2nd August 2021, Usami was appointed the Chief Instructor of the Nergy Karate Club, located in Harajuku, Tokyo. The club was established as a women-only Karate club.

On 3rd September 2021, Mie Nakayama passed away at the age of 64.

Usami successfully transitioned from being a competitor to being a successful coach. Apart from coaching the top competitors of the Japanese national side, she also coaches the next generation of karateka. She is frequently seen at tournaments guiding her young charges. She has also established the Rika Usami Cup, an annual tournament that has been running for several years.

Alongside Ryutaro Araga and Ryo Kiyuna, both Olympic medalists, Usami works as a commentator at the All-Japan Karate-do Championships.

It can be argued that Usami retired from competitive Karate too soon. Many people rank her 2012 World Championship win as one of the greatest kata performances in the sport’s history. She left the world wanting to see more. She inspired a new generation of karateka, and her performances are among the most viewed videos on YouTube.

Some have questioned the validity of Usami’s Karate. They would be mistaken. She is every inch a martial artist. She trained under Yoshimi Inoue, one of the best Shito-Ryu Karate instructors. She learnt that sport Karate is only one aspect of Karate. To fully appreciate the beauty of Karate, all aspects of the art should be embraced. She continues travelling the world to promote her teacher’s style of Inoue-Ha Shito-Ryu Karate. Many people from around the globe visit her dojo in Tottori to learn from her. This includes the likes of Olympic Champion, Sandra Sanchez.