Richard Kim (November 17, 1917 – November 8, 2001) was an American martial artist. He was an instructor of various disciplines, including Okinawan Kobudo, Shōrinji-ryū Karate, and Tai Chi, known for spreading traditional martial arts to North America and Europe.

Kim was born in Honolulu, Hawaii. His parents immigrated from Nagasaki, Japan to Hawaii, and were Japanese citizens of Korean heritage.[4] Kim began studying judo as a child in the early 1920s, under Kaneko. Around the same time, he also began studying karate under Arakaki Ankichi.^[10] Before World War II, his service in the United States Merchant Marine took him to east Asia. He cited many martial artists as his teachers, including Tachibana and Chen Chen Yuan.^[11] While in Japan, Kim studied Daito-ryu under Kotaro Yoshida and lived with him for seven years.^[12] Kim stated that he had in his possession the Daito-ryu scrolls and had been granted the Daito-ryu menkyo kaiden, which was confirmed in 2024 by the Zen Bei Butoku Kai, which now has the scrolls in its archives.^[13] Kim also studied and taught Japanese and Okinawan weaponry.

In 1959, Kim began teaching martial arts in San Francisco, particularly at the Chinese YMCA. He traveled extensively throughout the United States, Canada, and Europe, teaching wherever he went. He founded branches of the Butoku Kai in the U.S., Canada, France and Germany.^[14] As well as teaching the physical aspects of the martial arts, Kim taught the philosophy, history, strategy, and spiritual aspects. According to the Original Martial Arts Encyclopedia, “Kim became the foremost karate historian residing in the U.S.”^[14]

Kim wrote a monthly column for Karate Illustrated magazine, and wrote a number of books including: The Weaponless Warriors, The Classical Man, and an instructional series on weaponry (Kobudo). There has been some controversy surrounding The Weaponless Warriors, published in 1974, as the bulk of the work appears taken, without acknowledgement, directly from Eizo Shimabukuro's 1963 work Old Grandmaster Stories,^[15] which was translated into English for the first time in 2003. Kim was named Black Belt Magazine's "Karate Sensei of the Year", in 1967, and was later inducted into the Black Belt Magazine Hall of Fame.^[16] Kim was the Director of the American Amateur Karate Federation, Vice-President for the International Traditional Karate Federation (ITKF),^[17] and coaching staff for the 1980 U.S. National Karate Team.^[14]

Kim died on November 8, 2001.^[18] At his memorial service, Hidetaka Nishiyama of the ITKF presented Kim with the rank of Judan (10th degree black belt) posthumously.^[19] His teachings continue through a number of organizations: the Zen Bei Butoku Kai International, founded by two of Richard Kim’s senior students, Brian Ricci and Frank Gaviola; the Kokusai Butokukai, founded by some of Richard Kim’s senior students, including Jean Chalamon; and the Bu Toku Do, founded by Don Warrener, a senior student of Richard Kim.

1. The Weaponless Warrior. (1974). ISBN-10: 0-89750-041-5
2. Kobudo, Volume 1: Okinawan Weapons of Matsu Higa. (1984). ISBN-13: 9780920129036
3. Kobudo, Volume 2: Okinawan Weapons of Hama Higa. (1985). ISBN-13: 978-092012908
4. Kobudo, Volume 3: Okinawan Weapons of Chatan Yara. (1993). ISBN-13: 978-0920129104
5. The Classical Man. (1999). ISBN-13: 978-0920129012

• KOKUSAI BUTOKUKAI – Official Homepage
• Zen Bei Butoku-Kai International