Special Achievements

1968-2000 Won 127 awards in National and International competition, including 80- 1st place and Grand Championships.

1968 USKA Texas Open,  Black Belt Forms Champion

1969 Colorado Collegiate Champion

1970 Won 1st Place Fighting at Osan Moo Duk Kwan Championships in Osan, Korea.

  • Southwest Black Belt Heavyweight Champion

1971 Won 1st Place fighting in Yong San All-American Tae Kwon Do Championships in Seoul, Korea.

  • Central North American Middleweight Champion

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1972 United States Middleweight Champion

1973 All American Middleweight and Grand Champion United States Middleweight Champion

1974 Western National Grand Champion

1972-76 Nationally ranked in the “Top Ten” black belt fighters by Black Belt Magazine, Karate Illustrated Magazine, Official Karate Magazine and Professional Karate Magazine. Kurban_ProfKarateCvr

 

1975-76 World Ranked Fighter by Professional Karate Magazine and Traditional Taekwondo Magazine.

1975

  • Ranked among the Top Ten in the World for two years.
  • Four Seasons  National Light Heavyweight Champion

1975 Outstanding Mainland Competitor, Hawaii vs. Mainland Black Belt Team Match, Honolulu, Hawaii.

1975 Winner of Full Contact Match vs. Blinky Rodriquez, National Karate League, Ft. Worth Texas.

1976 United States Tournament of Champions, Heavyweight Champion

1977 A founding Member of the Amateur Organization of Karate in Texas

1977-2004 Kickboxing Referee for the Professional Karate Association and Karate International Council of Kickboxing

1978 Author of Kicking Techniques for Competition and Self Defense– Ohara Publications.

1978-90 Co-producer of Kick Boxing Promotions.

1979 Professional Karate Association” Instructor of the Year.”

1970’s- 1980’s Contributing writer for Karate Illustrated, Black Belt Magazine, Traditional Taekwondo Magazine, and Martial Arts Journal.

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1980 Selected the Outstanding Tournament Referee by Karate Illustrated Magazine.

  •  Inducted into the Legion of Honor by Official Karate Magazine as “Man of the Decade.”

1981 Inducted into the Black Belt Hall of Fame as “Man of the Year”, an award previously bestowed upon Chuck Norris, Bruce Lee, and Bill Wallace.

1989 Won 1st Place Black Belt Fighting, Texas State Police Olympics.

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1991

1st Place Fighting Masters Team, International Karate Championships – Los Angeles, California.

1990 Wins first term as elected official. Becomes Judge Roy Kurban, Tarrant County, Texas

Judge RDK

1991 Created video Practical Kicking Techniques in conjunction with Black Belt Magazine and Ohara Publications.

1994 Inducted into World Martial Arts Hall of Fame.

1994 Runs uncontested for a second term as judge.

1995 Presented Colonel Ike Slaughter Warrior /Gentleman Award by Grandmaster Jim Harrison.

1996 World Martial Arts Hall of Fame Silver Lifetime Achievement Award

1997 Ranked among the “Top Seven Fighters in the U.S.” for the entire decade of the 70’s by Black Belt Magazine Yearbook.

1998 Re-elected for 3rd Term as a Judge in Tarrant County, Texas

2002 Re-elected for 4th and final Term as Judge in Tarrant County, Texas

2003 Featured in Rising Sun Productions’ New Gladiators; documentary about sport karate during the 1970’s, known as “ golden age of martial arts competition.”

2009 Inducted into the United States Karate Championships Walk of Fame.

2010

  • Inducted into the United States Taekwondo Grandmaster’s Hall of Fame
  • Inducted into the American Karate Black Belt Association Masters Hall of Fame
  • Awarded Honorary Tenth Degree Black Belt by American Karate Black Belt Association
  • Selected to serve on the AKBBA High Dan Board, Dallas, Texas.

2014  Inducted into the Texas Martial Arts Hall of Fame, Houston, Texas Master’s Hall of Fame Platinum Lifetime Achievement Award

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Grandmaster Roy D. Kurban

AT A GLANCE:

Ninth Degree Black Belt from the United States Taekwondo Grandmaster’s Society.

Won 127 awards in National and International competition, including 80- 1st place and Grand Championships.

Martial arts instructor for over 47 years.

Co-founded the Traditional Karate League in the 1980's.

Certified Texas Peace Officer, North Central Texas Council of Governments Regional Police Academy.

Dalworthington Gardens Dept. of Public Safety Peace Officer.