Leaders

4. Dan, “Czech Samurai”

Sensei Soukup is a Kyokushin karateka and kickboxer who competed in the heavyweight division. His first noteworthy accomplishment was a third-place finish at the European Kyokushin Championships in 2003, followed by winning the All-Japan Kyokushin Championships the next year. After finishing as runner-up in the European Championships and placing third in the European Open in 2005, Soukup had his most successful year in 2007. That year, he won the European Championships and finished as runner-up to Ewerton Teixeira in the final of the 9th Kyokushin World Open.

Soukup began his karate training in Shotokan at the age of eleven. In April 2001, he moved to Kagoshima, Japan, to study Kyokushin in a uchi-deshi program. After four years of training and attaining the rank of 2nd dan black belt—earned by completing a twenty-man kumite and other tests—he returned to the Czech Republic and opened his own Kyokushin dojo in August 2005.

In 2007, Soukup won the 21st European Kyokushin Championships in the +90 kg/198 lb category and finished as runner-up in the 9th Kyokushin World Open, the sport’s most prestigious tournament. In the semi-finals, he avenged his previous loss to Arthur Hovhannisyan, who had defeated him in the 2005 European Championships final, before losing to Ewerton Teixeira via low kick ippon in the final.

Transitioning to professional kickboxing, Jan Soukup made his debut in the Czech Republic in 2008 with a first-round knockout of Tonda Ungerman. Following this, he was recruited by K-1 and returned to Japan to train under Jayson Vemoa at the Ichigeki Academy, where his sparring partners included Glaube Feitosa, Takumi Sato, and former foe Ewerton Teixeira.

In his first K-1 match, Soukup faced reigning K-1 Heavyweight Champion Keijiro Maeda in a non-title bout at the K-1 World Grand Prix 2009 in Tokyo Final 16 Qualifying GP on August 11, 2009. He was dropped with a short right hand towards the end of round two before being knocked out with a right hook in the third round.

Kickboxing Record:
Total: 22
Wins: 15 (5 by knockout)
Losses: 7 (2 by knockout)
Draws: 0