Royama, Hatsuo
Hatsuo Royama was born in Saitama, just north of Tokyo, in
1948. Inspired by a country-wide boom in popularity of celebrity fighters and
wrestlers, he traveled to Ikebukuro at the age of 15 and entered Mas Oyama's
legendary «Oyama Dojo» where his Kyokushin Karate was being born. Having trained
there at the birthplace of Mas Oyama's Kyokushin, Royama was one of a very few
of Mas Oyama's students to still be closely affiliated with Mas Oyama's
organization from so close to the beginning all the way until Mas Oyama's death
in 1994.
Royama rose to some notoriety when at the age of 25 he became
champion of Kyokushin's 5th All Japan Tournament, and later when he defeated the
American, Charles Martin, a giant who stood nearly a foot taller (about 30 cm)
than himself, in the 1st World Open Karate Tournament in 1975. This young
prodigy of Mas Oyama then went on to a historic finish in that 1st World Open
Tournament, when a split-decision was finally broken by the tournament judges in
the final match and 1st place was given to Katsuaki Sato, leaving Royama with no
choice but to accept 2nd place. The day following the tournament when more than
a few fighters entered the hospital for injuries sustained during the
competition, Royama attended his usual training.
No one who knows
Kyokushin Karate today can hardly separate the style from its devastatingly
powerful low shin kick. Not everyone knows, however, that it was Royama who made
this technique famous. At the early World Tournaments the Japanese would hear
the foreigners yell, «Low kick! Low kick!," and since the pronunciation of «R»
in Japanese is so similar to «L», it was an honest mistake for them to hear «Ro
kick! Ro kick!" instead, believing that even the foreigners had named this
technique after the first Japanese fighter to make it famous. After all, it was
with Royama that all of Japan had associated the introduction of this
bone-breaking technique ever since they'd watched Royama break down Charles
Martin in the 1st World Tournament with one destructive low shin kick after another
On the Second World Championship in 1978 Royama leads the Japanese team. But
misfortune happened, he could not fully prepare for the competition, but took
part in 2nd World Championship anyway, where in the third circle he broke the
ribs. From that time Royama went out of «fighters». After the death of Oyama
Masutatsu Royama remained in Saytama with 25 dojos and 10000 students and
became a curator in former USSR countries and Far East.
Since January
2003 Royama Hatsuo is the president of the International Kyokushin-kan karate
Federation..
18.11.2008 Volkov Alexey