Richard Haye
Kristiansand academy founder who, after 25 years in other martial arts, became a BJJ white belt at about forty and got his black belt from Roy Dean in 2024.
Biography
Sources for this profile
Richard Haye, 'My Journey', haye.no (personal website).(opens in a new tab)
In 2007 Haye began working in martial arts full-time, and the club turned into a professional centre.
Where in the source: Chapter 04 section, second paragraph; timeline entry for 2007
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In his own account, Haye grew up in Cape Town, where he could watch a karate school's classes from his grandmother's window; his family could not afford lessons.
Where in the source: Chapter 01 section (Cape Town/Norway dateline), first paragraph
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By his own account, his family moved to Norway in 1982; he tried karate briefly in Oslo and gave it up, and after a further move to Kristiansand his first years were difficult, with a new language to learn, bullying and many fights. Seeing The Karate Kid and a live karate demonstration by Gunnar Nordahl brought him back to training in 1984.
Where in the source: Chapter 01 section, second paragraph (Oslo, Kristiansand, The Karate Kid, Gunnar Nordahl) — 'Something clicked.'
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Haye describes himself as not naturally gifted as a beginner; he credits curiosity, persistence and his teachers for his progress.
Where in the source: Chapter 01 section, third paragraph and the pull quote below it
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Haye trained Shorin Ryu karate, which he calls his first love, and earned his first karate black belt in 1992, after eight years of training.
Where in the source: Chapter 02 section (Shorin Ryu · Japan 2000 dateline), first paragraph; timeline entry for 1992
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In 2000, then a third dan, Haye went to Japan to study under Sensei Shigenobu Nakano of Shorin Ryu Ken Shin Kai. He writes that the visit showed him that the karate he had regarded as fixed had itself changed over time, which released him from strict readings of the tradition and opened his approach to the arts he took up afterwards.
Where in the source: Chapter 02 section, second and third paragraphs (Japan 2000, Shigenobu Nakano, Ken Shin Kai)
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Haye writes that a 1995 camp in Mandal led by Johan Skålberg and Jeff Espinous turned his martial arts life in a new direction: seeing Espinous link weapon work, empty-hand motion and strikes showed him Kali as an adaptable system. Afterwards he travelled to up to fourteen seminars in a single year.
Where in the source: Chapter 03 section (Mandal 1995 · KKS 1997 dateline), first and second paragraphs
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- Conflicting accounts
Haye founded Kristiansand Kampsport Club in 1997 to practise Kali next to karate; the club later became Kristiansand Kampsport Senter. It started with about twenty members, and in its first years he did the teaching, cleaned the mats and toilets, replied to messages and ran the marketing himself.
Where in the source: Chapter 03 section, second paragraph; Chapter 04 section (1997 · full-time since 2007 dateline), first and second paragraphs
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Haye describes Jeff Espinous as his direct teacher over two decades and also a friend and mentor, whose influence shaped his understanding of martial arts well beyond Kali.
Where in the source: Chapter 03 section, third paragraph (Jeff Espinous) — 'direct teacher for twenty years'
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Haye became a student of Richard Bustillo, one of Bruce Lee's original students, in 2003. Bustillo first came to Norway in 2005, the start of a mentorship lasting until his death in 2017; Haye credits him with shaping his kickboxing, his grasp of Jeet Kune Do and the growth of Kali Self Defence, and with teaching him to set aside the ego that experience can bring.
Where in the source: Bustillo section after Chapter 03 (Teacher · Mentor · Friend), paragraph on 2003, 2005 and 2017
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- Conflicting accounts
Haye's current website describes Kristiansand Kampsport Senter as having around 400 members and a team of instructors and staff, and says he values the culture, where beginners feel seen, more than the number.
Where in the source: Chapter 04 section, third paragraph — 'around 400 members'
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Haye had long doubted the value of grappling. In 2009 a visiting sixteen-year-old white belt with two stripes offered to roll with him and controlled him with ease, despite his more than twenty-five years of training and his black belts in stand-up arts. He writes that he could either defend his status or start again as a beginner; at about forty he tied on a white belt and began a BJJ group of five or six students.
Where in the source: Chapter 05 section (2009/10–2024 dateline), first and second paragraphs — 'She controlled me effortlessly.'
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Haye writes that Roy Dean's Blue Belt Requirements gave his early BJJ group the structure it needed and that Marcelo 'Yougi' Santiago supported its early development; he invited Roy Dean to Norway in 2016, the Kristiansand academy joined Roy Dean Academy in 2018, and he earned his brown belt in 2019.
Where in the source: Chapter 05 section, third paragraph (Blue Belt Requirements, Marcelo Santiago, 2016, 2018, 2019)
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Haye writes that a hamstring tear a few days before his planned black belt demonstration led to it being postponed, and that Roy Dean awarded him the black belt in 2024, which made him Dean's first Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt in Europe. He says the real lesson was the choice to be a white belt once more.
Where in the source: Chapter 05 section, fourth paragraph and closing line; timeline entry for 2024
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Haye writes that on 1 November 2025 Jeff Espinous unexpectedly promoted him to 8th dan and recognised him as Founder and Punong Guro of Kali Self Defence; the process had been started by Fred Evrard, founder of Kali Majapahit, before Evrard died in January 2024, and was completed by Espinous and Joe Habis. Espinous died on 2 February 2026.
Where in the source: Chapter 06 section (1 November 2025 dateline), first, second and fourth paragraphs
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Haye's rank list includes: 6th dan in Shorin Ryu karate (2016), which he says the Norwegian Martial Arts Federation approved; 6th dan in Cacoy Doce Pares (2016); 5th dan in IMB kickboxing under Richard Bustillo; the Kali Sikaran instructor title Katalungan Guro under Jeff Espinous and Johan Skålberg (2007); and a Krav Maga black belt under Raffi Liven (2003).
Where in the source: Background section, expandable panel of martial arts ranks (collapsed on the rendered page; read in page HTML)
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Outside the mat, Haye lists a Practical Pedagogical Education course (2003–2004) and an individual and team coaching course (2009) at the University of Agder.
Where in the source: Background section, expandable panel on education (collapsed on the rendered page; read in page HTML)
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Haye's website presents Kristiansand Kampsport Senter as the academy he founded and still leads, where he continues to teach.
Where in the source: Chapter 04 section, third paragraph (the academy today); closing section, paragraph beginning 'They can acknowledge'
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Richard Haye, 'My Academy', haye.no (personal website).(opens in a new tab)
Haye's academy page says he left his previous job in 2007 to work full-time, starting the professional centre in Lund; Kristiansand Kampsport Senter later had two locations, Lund and Vågsbygd, and students who trained there as children now bring their own children.
Where in the source: Sections 'Turning Passion into Profession' and 'Our Journey Continues' — 'Lund and Vågsbygd'
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Roy Dean, 'Richard Haye', roydean.com.(opens in a new tab)
Roy Dean's website gives Haye's birthplace as Cape Town, South Africa, and his birth year as 1970, and says his family moved to Norway in 1982.
Where in the source: Biography section, second paragraph (birthplace, birth year and move to Norway)
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Haye is quoted on Roy Dean's website saying he learned karate so slowly that his instructor advised him to concentrate on chess; he went on to attend every class over the following eight years.
Where in the source: Biography section, first quoted passage (his karate instructor's advice about chess) and the paragraph after it
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According to the roydean.com biography, Haye grew up on Bruce Lee's films and books, and says the Jeet Kune Do philosophy made him want to become the best martial artist he could be; alongside karate he travelled across Europe to seminars to cross-train.
Where in the source: Biography section, paragraphs on Bruce Lee and cross-training — 'The JKD philosophy'
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According to the roydean.com biography, Bustillo encouraged Haye to study Muay Thai and Brazilian jiu-jitsu; at first he resisted, because years of karate had led him to see ground fighting as inferior.
Where in the source: Biography section, the two paragraphs after the Bustillo paragraph
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According to the roydean.com biography, Kristiansand had no BJJ school when Haye started, so he assembled a handful of students for improvised ground training; within weeks he had found Roy Dean's Blue Belt Requirements and got in touch with Marcello Yogui, whom the page calls Scandinavia's highest-ranked instructor, who took the group on and later promoted Haye to blue and then purple belt.
Where in the source: Biography section, paragraph on starting BJJ at forty — 'ground version of Fight Club'
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Haye is quoted on roydean.com saying that teaching on his own with no curriculum was hard, so he relied on all of Dean's videos, and that Dean, who also came from Japanese martial arts, spoke in terms he could relate to.
Where in the source: Biography section, quoted passage on teaching without a curriculum
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According to the roydean.com biography, Haye got in touch with Roy Dean in 2015 and set up a seminar with him for 2016; Dean then came to the Kristiansand academy on a regular basis, and in 2018, after long consideration, the school formally became part of Roy Dean Academy. In 2019, aged 49 and nine and a half years after he bought Blue Belt Requirements, Haye took and passed his brown belt test.
Where in the source: Biography section, paragraphs on 2015, 2018 and 2019
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Haye is quoted on roydean.com telling his students that the grades and titles he has earned are meant not to impress them but to inspire them.
Where in the source: Biography section, final quoted passage addressed to his students
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Roy Dean, 'BJJ Black Belt Richard Haye', roydean.com blog, 2 May 2024.(opens in a new tab)
Roy Dean wrote on 2 May 2024 that Haye had spent months preparing for his black belt demonstration but tore his hamstring; Dean did not allow the full technical demonstration and sparring, promoted him to black belt at the close of the first seminar day, and said he was pleased with how Haye's training had evolved.
Where in the source: Blog post 'BJJ Black Belt Richard Haye', written by Roy Dean, published 2024-05-02 (datePublished in page metadata) — 'I forbade him'
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Fædrelandsvennen, 'Mitt treningstips', 19 February 2008.(opens in a new tab)
Fædrelandsvennen reported in February 2008 that Haye, then 37, led Kristiansand Kampsportklubb, had practised martial arts since 1985 starting with karate, and held a 4th dan black belt; his advice to karate students was to draw inspiration from other martial arts and attend weekend seminars.
Where in the source: Short feature 'Mitt treningstips', published 19 Feb 2008, opening sentence and first quote
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Fædrelandsvennen Lokalsporten, 'Fikk sortbeltedrømmen oppfylt', 7 December 2014 (reader-submitted).(opens in a new tab)
In a December 2014 contribution to Fædrelandsvennen's reader-written Lokalsporten section, Haye, identified as instructor and general manager of Kristiansand Kampsportsenter, reported that a student who had trained at the centre since the age of six had passed his Kali Self Defence black belt grading, the first to do so after starting as a child. In the same piece the student described Haye as his instructor since the start and said the centre placed great weight on mental training under the motto 'feed your mind, protect your body'.
Where in the source: Lokalsporten article published 7 Dec 2014 (byline Richard Haye, Kristiansand Kampsportsenter): photo caption, quoted Facebook post, and the student's paragraph on his largest role model
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Colin Leigh, 'Training Report: Kristiansand Kampsport Senter, Norway', BJJEE, 14 November 2017.(opens in a new tab)
In a 2017 training report on BJJEE, visiting practitioner Colin Leigh described being welcomed by the whole class at Kristiansand Kampsport Senter and noted that many of the students were older; he wrote that Haye taught a closed-guard class built on kimura variations, including shrimping out to the kimura side rather than rolling back, stayed present throughout the drilling, and was an excellent teacher with close attention to detail.
Where in the source: Training report dated 14 Nov 2017, by Colin Leigh; paragraphs on the warm welcome, the kimura variation and the closing assessment — 'attention to detail'
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Kristiansand Kampsport Senter, 'Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu', kristiansandkampsport.no.(opens in a new tab)
Kristiansand Kampsport Senter's BJJ Fundamentals classes are based on Roy Dean's blue belt curriculum, Blue Belt Requirements 2.0, supplemented with parts of version 1.0.
Where in the source: BJJ programme page, class description 'Fundamentals' — 'Blue Belt Requirements 2.0'
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Kristiansand Kampsport Senter's website states that the academy was founded by Richard P. Haye.
Where in the source: BJJ programme page, 'Faglig bakgrunn' line near the foot of the page — 'grunnlagt av Richard P. Haye'
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Kristiansand Kampsport Senter, 'Roy Dean – årlig BJJ-workshop i Kristiansand', kristiansandkampsport.no.(opens in a new tab)
Kristiansand Kampsport Senter hosts Roy Dean's annual BJJ workshop in Kristiansand and describes itself as the only Roy Dean Academy in Europe.
Where in the source: Roy Dean workshop page (3–4 April 2027), paragraph under 'Presisjon. Flyt. Forståelse.' — 'den eneste Roy Dean Academy i Europa'
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Kristiansand Kampsport Senter, 'Kali Self Defence', kristiansandkampsport.no.(opens in a new tab)
Kristiansand Kampsport Senter's website states that the Kali Self Defence system was founded by Richard P. Haye.
Where in the source: Kali Self Defence programme page, 'Faglig bakgrunn' line near the foot of the page
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Kali Self Defence, 'About Richard Haye', kaliselfdefence.com.(opens in a new tab)
The Kali Self Defence website says Haye trained BJJ occasionally from the early 2000s and started formal Brazilian jiu-jitsu training under Marcelo Yogui in 2010.
Where in the source: Section 'Starting over — The white belt at forty', first paragraph
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The Kali Self Defence website names Johan Skålberg, a co-founder of Kali Sikaran International, as a formative early instructor in Haye's Filipino martial arts training, and says Cacoy Cañete and Vicharn Krumkratok contributed further perspectives on close-quarters fighting and Muay Thai Boran.
Where in the source: Section 'Teachers and mentors', second paragraph
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brasilianskjiujitsu.no, 'Om Richard'.(opens in a new tab)
Through brasilianskjiujitsu.no, Haye offers small, independent Norwegian BJJ clubs technical follow-up, grading and instructor support; the site stresses that clubs keep their own name, logo and identity and do not automatically become Roy Dean academies.
Where in the source: Page 'Om Richard', sections 'Hvorfor dette prosjektet finnes' and 'Ikke en ny organisasjon'
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brasilianskjiujitsu.no, 'Join the team'.(opens in a new tab)
brasilianskjiujitsu.no describes Haye as Roy Dean's representative in Norway and says that partner clubs are taught with Roy Dean's grading curriculum; it lists instructors who have taught seminars in Kristiansand, among them Roy Harris, Roy Dean, Paulo Miyao, Priit Mihkelson and Marcelo Yogui, and describes the aim of building a network large enough to bring leading instructors to Kristiansand.
Where in the source: Page 'Join the team', sections 'Hva med tilknytningen til Roy Dean?' and 'Hvorfor vi gjør dette:' (list of visiting instructors)
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Richard Haye, 'Seminars', haye.no (personal website).(opens in a new tab)
Haye offers seminars including 'BJJ over 40', built around managing energy, choosing battles and adapting technique to an older body, drawing on his own start in BJJ at about forty; he also teaches Kali Self Defence and knife-awareness training for professional groups.
Where in the source: Seminars page, 'Seminar options' 02 'BJJ over 40' and 05 'Professional groups'
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Richard Haye, 'Upcoming Events', haye.no (personal website), as read 28 September 2026.(opens in a new tab)
Haye's 2026 calendar lists him teaching Brazilian jiu-jitsu at BJJ Summer Week in Cagliari, Sardinia, and at camps in Norway, and hosting Roy Dean's annual workshop in Kristiansand in April 2027.
Where in the source: Upcoming events page, 2026 entries (16–20 September, Cagliari) and 2027 entry (3–4 April, Roy Dean workshop)
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Richard Haye, 'Academy Mentoring', haye.no (personal website).(opens in a new tab)
Haye also mentors martial arts school owners; he writes that building his academy from about 20 members was not a straight line, that he made mistakes, changed systems and learned to delegate, and that growth rarely comes from one clever campaign.
Where in the source: Academy mentoring page, section 'Built in the real world' — 'not a straight line'
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Richard Haye, haye.no home page (personal website).(opens in a new tab)
Haye describes himself as an international seminar instructor and mentor whose teaching spans karate, Filipino martial arts, kickboxing, Muay Thai and Brazilian jiu-jitsu, and calls his teaching style relaxed and direct, with complex ideas broken into usable parts.
Where in the source: Home page, section 'A lifetime of learning' — 'relaxed and direct'
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BJJ Beltchecker, 'Richard Haye' profile.(opens in a new tab)
In his BJJ Beltchecker profile, Haye writes that he moved from Marcelo Yougui, who took him from white to purple belt, to Roy Dean because Dean's highly structured curriculum gave the clarity and consistency he needed to build a BJJ programme in Kristiansand without a resident black belt, and that his focus is making BJJ accessible for practitioners over 40. The profile lists Roy Dean as his coach and Kristiansand Kampsport Senter as his verified academy.
Where in the source: Profile 'Richard Haye', 'Bio' section (second and third paragraphs) and 'Coaches' list
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