My (kyokushin) story

 

I was born in Poland in 1956. I took an interest in martial arts when karate was considered mysterious and not of this world. There were no clubs of any style in the town were I lived. I travelled to the city of Radom where I trained in Kyokushin Dojo run by Ryszard Szczepanski. In the seventies Kyokushin Karate rapidly spread across European countries. At the time in Poland there were only a handful of black belt instructors. I took upon myself to open a club in my home town. When the doors opened for the first time there were more than 70 students wanting to participate. Eventually the numbers grew even further, to which point the classes had to be split into two parallel classes. I continued a hard training regime, 3 nights a week in my club and 2 nights a week with my black belt instructor.

In 1976 I attained 8th kyu. Three years later I was a very proud owner of 3rd kyu certificate.

During my training in Poland, I attended international camps conducted by the leading karateka at the time, such as Loek Hollander, then President of Kyokushin Karate in Europe. I took part in training camps in Krakow, and Szczecin

Roman K. in Szydlowiec Dojo Poland 1978

Sensei Roman-training camp Poland-Szczecin 1980