The karate master

If you rip Richard Lim’s chest wide open, you will see a big, pumping heart with the word “karate” boldly written at the center.

Yes, from watching his father lock the dojo doors in curiosity to leading Karate Pilipinas decades later, Lim has dedicated his entire life to karate. His journey has been marked not only by medals and victories, but by persistence, sacrifice, and the vision to take a once-fractured sport into a new era of stability and growth.

“Well, my dad was a black belt. He’s one of the first karate practitioners in the Philippines. He started around 1960, if I’m not mistaken and then he started our association, the AAK (Association for the Advancement of Karatedo), in 1964,” the 59-year-old Lim said in an episode of Off the Court, the weekly online sports show of DAILY TRIBUNE last Thursday.

“So, AAK is the longest-running karate club in the Philippines. We’re 60 years old already. 61, I think.”

Growing up in a karate household meant that the sport was never far from him. But it wasn’t his father who forced him to take the sport. In fact, it was just mere curiosity that pulled him in.

“When I was five to six years old, I kept on watching inside the dojo. What he would do is he would close the door so that we wouldn’t see,” Lim recalled.

“It kept me more intrigued. I was the one who liked it. My father didn’t force me. But when he saw that I really love the sport and I was very curious, he finally allowed me to train when I was already seven years.”

Little did Lim know his curiosity, that small glimpse on a slightly-opened door, would lead him to a lifetime of love and commitment to the sport that promotes the core values of discipline, respect, integrity, humility, perseverance, focus and courage.

Fighting student

During his years with the national team, Lim would compete in the men’s individual kata — an aspect of karate that emphasizes form.

“I started competing internationally in the 1988 World Karate Championships in Cairo. It was my first world championship. It was huge for a young guy like me attending the world championships at the time,” Lim recalled.

“It was overwhelming so I know how it feels and the same way with my team.”

“In the 1991 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games, I won the individual kata also. And then at the 1994 Asian Games, I won the bronze medal in the individual kata. In the 1995 Asian Championships, I won the bronze medal in the individual kata. So overall, my best ranking in the world was No. 8.”

But injuries cut his competitive career short.

“It felt I had a knee injury and I had to be operated. After that, I started my coaching career,” said Lim, who added he had no regrets on how his stint as an athlete went.

“So for me, I think I’ve done my best.”

Becoming the master

Rising up through the ranks, Lim proved he was worthy of becoming the leader of Karate Pilipinas — the country’s national federation. He rose from a coach to a referee and eventually, the president of the federation in 2018 after it gained temporary recognition from the World Karate Federation (WKF).

“I started coaching and then went refereeing. I was one of the first full-licensed referees in the WKF in the Philippines,” said Lim, whose federation enjoys the all-out support of his uncle, Hans Sy — the chairman of SM Prime Holdings.

“And then eventually, I didn’t realize it until I became president after three decades.”

Under Lim’s watch, the Philippines emerged successful right away after Filipino-Japanese karateka Junna Tsukii clinched a bronze medal in the 18th Asian Games in Indonesia in 2018. The following year, they won two gold medals in 30th SEA Games that Manila hosted in 2019 — one of which came from Jamie Lim, the daughter of the late Philippine Basketball Association star Avelino “Samboy” Lim and Solicitor General Darlene Berberabe.

Lim’s experience came in handy during his leadership. Aside from karate, he also got involved in the affairs of the Philippine Olympic Committee under the leadership of Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino, who even appointed him as chief of mission of the Asian Winter Games in Harbin, China last February.

“Actually, it helped me a lot because I was able to pass through all those stages. So as a president now, I understand what the athletes are feeling, understand what the coaches are feeling and so the same as the referees because I went through everything,” Lim said, who was at the helm when Tsukii won a Karate1 Premier League gold medal in 2021 in Lisbon and the World Games medal in 2022 in Birmingham.

“By being a former athlete, I know what they’re going through and I know what they need. Maybe that’s my biggest advantage as the president of the karate federation.”

Like a warrior seeking for the next lesson, Lim carries that mentality even if his days on the mat are already over.

“You are given a talent but that talent has to be coached. You can’t do everything yourself,” Lim said.

“As a leader, be true to yourself. Learn everything because everybody is looking up to you.”

Yes, Lim’s karate are no longer as sharp and as quick as before, but his leadership, love and respect to his fellow practitioners are still there. He may now be a karate master, but he will forever have the heart of a student.