Karate
Started Shorin Ryu Karate in Kristiansand.
Feed your mind. Protect your body.
Still a student after more than 40 years.
My journey began as a child watching a karate class through my grandmother’s window in Cape Town. It has taken me across arts, countries and generations of teachers—and repeatedly back to the beginning.
The early years—before martial arts became a profession, a school and a lifelong way of learning.
Cape Town · Norway · 1982–1984
A window into another world
Growing up in Cape Town, I could see directly into a karate school from my grandmother’s bedroom window. I would sit and watch the classes, fascinated by the movement, discipline and possibility. We could not afford lessons, but the idea stayed with me.
My family moved to Norway in 1982. I tried karate briefly in Oslo, then stopped when it became difficult. After moving to Kristiansand, a new language, bullying and frequent fights made those first years hard. Then I saw The Karate Kid and watched Gunnar Nordahl demonstrate karate in person. Something clicked. In 1984, I started again.
That second beginning mattered. I was not naturally gifted, and progress did not come easily. What I had was curiosity, persistence and teachers who gave me a place to grow.
I started as a kid with less than average skill. Curiosity and perseverance changed what was possible.
Shorin Ryu · Japan 2000
Structure—and the freedom to question it
Karate was my first love. Shorin Ryu gave me structure, discipline, strong fundamentals and a community that helped me find my footing in Norway. I earned my first black belt in 1992, but the belt did not answer every question. It gave me better questions.
In 2000, as a third dan, I travelled to Japan to train with Sensei Shigenobu Nakano. His name had been on our black belt diplomas; meeting him and learning about Shorin Ryu Ken Shin Kai made the tradition personal. Ken Shin Kai connected physical practice with the training of mind and spirit.
The journey also showed me that the karate I had considered fixed and traditional had itself evolved. That realization freed me from rigid interpretations and became the foundation of a more open approach to every martial art that followed.
Feed your mind. Protect your body.
Karate remains the foundation: 6th Dan, approved by the Norwegian Martial Arts Federation in 2016.
Kali introduced adaptability, flow and what I came to think of as organised chaos.
Mandal 1995 · KKS 1997
Organised chaos
In 1995, a camp in Mandal with Johan Skålberg and Jeff Espinous changed the direction of my martial arts life. Until then, I had associated Arnis and Kali mainly with sticks. Watching Jeff connect weapons, empty-hand movement and striking revealed an adaptable system rather than a collection of techniques.
Japanese martial arts had taught me order. Kali introduced what felt like organised chaos. I travelled, trained and attended as many as fourteen seminars a year. In 1997, I founded Kristiansand Kampsport Club as a place to explore these ideas alongside karate. That club later became Kristiansand Kampsport Senter.
Jeff was my direct teacher for twenty years, as well as a friend and mentor. On the mat he was a magician—always creating, evolving and refusing to stand still. His influence reached far beyond Kali and shaped how I came to understand martial arts itself.
Teacher · mentor · friend
Richard Bustillo taught me to begin again.
I became Richard Bustillo’s student in 2003. One of Bruce Lee’s original students, he encouraged me to learn before speaking, to step outside my comfort zone and to let go of the ego that comes with experience. His first visit to Norway in 2005 began a mentorship that lasted until his passing in 2017. His guidance shaped my kickboxing, my understanding of Jeet Kune Do and the development of Kali Self Defence.
1997 · Full-time since 2007
Building the place I wanted to belong to
Kristiansand Kampsport began with roughly twenty members and a simple purpose: create a place where people could learn across styles without losing respect for where those arts came from.
In the beginning, I did everything—teaching, cleaning the mats and toilets, answering messages and trying to understand marketing. In 2007, martial arts became my full-time profession and the club became a professional centre.
Today, Kristiansand Kampsport Senter has around 400 members and a strong team of instructors and staff. The most important achievement is not the number. It is the culture: a place where beginners can walk in, feel seen and gradually become part of something real.
Building the academy taught me that sustainable growth rarely comes from one clever idea. It comes from ordinary things being done clearly, consistently and by people who understand why they matter.
Kristiansand Kampsport Senter grew from a small training group into a professional academy with around 400 members.
In 2024, Richard became Roy Dean’s first Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt in Europe.
2009/10–2024
The white belt at 40
For years, I was sceptical about grappling. Then in 2009, a sixteen-year-old two-stripe white belt visited our academy and offered to roll. I had more than twenty-five years of martial arts experience and black belts in standing arts. She controlled me effortlessly.
It was an uncomfortable but useful truth: there was a large hole in my knowledge. I could protect my status or become a beginner again. Around the age of forty, I put on a white belt and started a small BJJ group with five or six students.
Roy Dean’s Blue Belt Requirements gave us the structure we needed. Marcelo “Yougi” Santiago supported our early development, and in 2016 I invited Roy to Norway. We joined Roy Dean Academy in 2018; I earned my brown belt in 2019.
Preparing for black belt, I tore my hamstring only days before the planned demonstration. The demonstration was postponed, but Roy awarded me the belt in 2024. I became Roy Dean’s first Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt in Europe.
The real lesson was not the black belt. It was choosing to become a white belt again.
1 November 2025
A circle closed
After Richard Bustillo died in 2017, I never expected to be promoted in Kali again. On 1 November 2025, Jeff Espinous surprised me with an 8th Dan and recognition as Founder and Punong Guro of Kali Self Defence.
The recognition had been set in motion by Fred Evrard, founder of Kali Majapahit, before his death in January 2024. Fred asked Jeff Espinous and Joe Habis to carry it out when the time was right. Ottar, Mads and Lars Helge kept the plan completely secret.
Jeff had changed my path in the late 1990s. Receiving the recognition from him, after our organisations had followed separate paths, felt like closing a circle between teacher, student and the work that grew from those lessons.
Jeff died on 2 February 2026, only three months later. The memory of that evening is therefore inseparable from gratitude—for Jeff, Joe and Fred, and for the teachers who shaped the journey without asking it to become a copy of their own.
Founder and Punong Guro of Kali Self Defence · 8th Dan.
Selected milestones
A timeline of beginnings
The dates mark progress, but each milestone also opened a new period of learning.
First black belt
Earned the first Karate black belt after eight years of training.
Filipino martial arts
Met Johan Skålberg and Jeff Espinous at the camp that changed the direction of the journey.
Founded the club
Established Kristiansand Kampsport Club, the beginning of today’s academy.
Japan
Trained with Sensei Shigenobu Nakano and found the roots of “Feed your mind. Protect your body.”
Richard Bustillo
Became Bustillo’s student; the mentorship continued until his death in 2017.
Full-time profession
Turned martial arts and Kristiansand Kampsport Senter into full-time work.
BJJ white belt
Started over at around forty with a small local training group.
Roy Dean Academy
Kristiansand became part of Roy Dean Academy.
BJJ brown belt
Completed the brown belt demonstration under Roy Dean.
BJJ black belt
Became Roy Dean’s first Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt in Europe.
Founder & Punong Guro
Recognised as Founder and Punong Guro of Kali Self Defence · 8th Dan.
Background
Belts and titles are markers—not destinations.
For those who need the formal background, the main qualifications are collected here without interrupting the story.
Martial arts ranks
- Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt under Roy Dean · 2024
- Founder & Punong Guro, Kali Self Defence · 8th Dan · 2025
- Shorin Ryu Karate · 6th Dan, approved by the Norwegian Martial Arts Federation · 2016
- Cacoy Doce Pares · 6th Dan · 2016
- IMB Kickboxing under Richard Bustillo · 5th Dan
- Kali Sikaran · Katalungan Guro under Jeff Espinous and Johan Skålberg · 2007
- Krav Maga black belt under Raffi Liven · 2003
Education beyond the mat
- Individual & Team Coaching · University of Agder · 2009
- Practical Pedagogical Education · University of Agder · 2003–2004
- Multimedia and Graphic Design · Noroff · 2001–2003
- Web Design & Development · IT Akademiet · 2000–2001
- Chef’s Certificate · 1989
The journey continues
Do not be blinded by belts and titles.
They can acknowledge work already done, but they can also make us defend who we were. Curiosity, humility and the willingness to keep learning matter more. I still teach, train, question and begin again—and I share what has proved useful along the way.