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Automatically translated version. May contain inaccuracies compared to the original.
Stanislav Horuna is one of the best Ukrainian karateka in history. Over his career he managed to win medals at all the most prestigious karate tournaments, including the Olympic Games 2021 in Tokyo, where he took bronze. In 2020 he became a deputy of the Lviv District Council from the Samopomich party. He was a long-time leader of Ukraine’s national team. And it seemed he quietly ended his career in 2024, since he hadn’t competed since then. But it wasn’t that simple.
In October 2026 Stanislav returned to professional competition after a two-year break, took part in the final stage of the Karate 1 Series A in Salzburg in a new weight class for him (84 kilograms) and became champion. It looked like Horuna was getting back to business. In reality, it was a farewell. Stanislav decided to finish his career to focus on other directions, including sports management, coaching work, and developing himself in business.
In a long exclusive interview with LB.ua Horuna summed up his career, explained why he still has unresolved issues in karate, recalled how he won an Olympic medal without preparation, shared what he can teach Japanese karateka, and for the first time told details of the conflict with his former coach, whom he previously called a second father.
He also opened the closet with skeletons a little and analyzed how his views transformed after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
People were saying behind his back that Horuna was no longer the same. He decided to prove to himself there was still gunpowder in the powder horn
Stanislav, your trophy cabinet contains medals from all the major international karate tournaments. Despite that, there’s an impression you’re not fully satisfied with your career and still have unresolved issues. Is that true?
Maximalists will always have some dissatisfaction with themselves and what they’ve done. I always aimed for much more than just medals, titles, and so on.
There was a French athlete, Alexandre Biancardi, who became a game-changer in karate. After him our sport changed because he showed you could work completely differently. He was my benchmark for what I wanted from karate. In 2014 I won my first medals among men at the European and World Championships — so to speak, I asserted myself — and then I wanted something much bigger. And what could be bigger? To leave a mark on karate, to implement my own fighting style, to change the picture of the bout. Perhaps that is the not-quite-closed issue.
What do you mean when you talk about changing the picture?
I see karate as the fencing of combat sports. It’s much more complex and multifaceted because movement isn’t just linear but across the tatami plane, because you use the whole body in many different ways (punches, kicks, and throwing techniques). So I’d like to see more deliberate, tactically complex work, preparing attacks through distance provocations as opposed to instinctive work based on reflexes and speed.
If I remember correctly, you implemented something like that at your tournaments where children competed in “fencing” style karate.
Yes, yes. At the tournaments I organize we lay out two nonstandard tatami so children shift focus to other aspects of the fight. I think that’s important. If I couldn’t change karate through my work, maybe I can through my tournament, seminars, and regular training sessions.
Do you coach in Ukraine or abroad as well? What kind of training is it?
I work both in Ukraine and abroad. This year I’ve already been to Aruba, the United Kingdom, Estonia, Japan, and twice to the USA. I work with both children and national teams of countries. Personally, I’m more interested in working with adult athletes, because my goal is not to motivate and entertain but to work on deeper tactical aspects of karate.
Stanislav Horuna during a performance at the Salzburg tournament
Judging by the fact you won your last professional tournament, you’re still on trend in karate despite the long break. Why did you enter the competition in the 84 kilogram weight — the largest of your career?
I just hadn’t trained for two years. One way or another, weight increases, and it’s even good that I fit into 84 kilograms. In professional sport, those who know, know — the worst thing can be to cut weight. That process destroys the body more than a fight. It was important for me to come to the tournament strong, not exhausted. Also, in my career I often had to face heavyweights in team tournaments, so it’s not a problem for me.
Did you expect to win? After all, two years off at the professional level is serious.
Yes, of course. I always feel confidence. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t have entered. But I considered different scenarios. Despite many skeptics who doubted and said behind my back that Horuna was no longer the same, that he was old and should retire, I decided to prove to myself there was still powder in the powder horn. Yes, it was a risk, but when has that ever stopped us?
I went to Kyiv for two months to prepare. If I’d had that kind of preparation throughout my career, results would have been much better. During that time I probably did a year’s worth of work — what we had in the Olympic cycle.
Horuna during a bout
What’s the difference between competing at 27 and 37 years old?
Recovery speed. When you’re young, the body is obviously more resilient. On the other hand, at 27 years you don’t have the same fight understanding, that experience. I confirmed that at the competition. I also want to stress these were the highest ranking competitions I could participate in now. I didn’t pick some small tournament; I went all-in.
When you succeed in sport, you can stay to compete for money, but not in karate
Readers might logically think: if at 37 years you can still compete at the highest level and win, why retire?
Sooner or later you still have to finish. The question is whether you leave at your peak or not. I see no point in delaying, because in the future luck might run out, some judges’ decisions could influence outcomes, and the ending won’t be as beautiful. Leaving as a champion — that’s what many professional athletes, myself included, strive for.
I’ll add that I competed against guys who had won medals at the junior world championships. And my wins weren’t squeakers. These were confident bouts with significant score differences. That also says a lot.
Stanislav Horuna with his son Lev
A video went viral online where your son Lev at first went crazy with joy and danced when you won, then cried when he realized it was all over. Do you think he’ll remember your performances?
That was the first and last time he was with me at a tournament. I’d really like him to remember that moment — not the fights but the emotional state and the joy he felt after my victory.
Have you thought about making karate a family affair?
I thought about it, but the thinking was short. I don’t want my son’s activities to be my choice. I won’t close my issues through him. Everything depends on his desires. If he wants to, I’ll help and advise, but it must be his decision. And no, I won’t coach him, because nobody will pay me for that (laughs). I’m joking, of course!
By the way, about money. In one interview you said karate is not profitable. How did you earn over the years?
Good question. I made small real estate investments, tried crypto. When I left law in 2017, my main income came from holding seminars and online trainings. So I earned not as an athlete.
Stanislav Horuna with the European Championship gold medal 2021
And prize money for tournament victories?
There was no prize money. Money wasn’t the issue because there was no money (laughs). The real cash prizes were for winning at the World Games — 500 thousand hryvnias. That was about 20 thousand dollars. And of course for the Olympic bronze they gave 55 thousand dollars. A nice thing: the city of Lviv gave an apartment. Prize money for medals at European and World Championships is laughable — a thousand or two dollars.
At the same time, I want to thank the Ukrainian Karate Federation, which supported us all those years, even when it was hard. Travel, hotels, and competition participation were paid by the federation. So to complain that it didn’t pay prize money would be ungrateful.
Then what’s the point of doing karate?
Good question. I always traveled to competitions and saw that about 80 percent don’t have the potential to win but still try. It turns out an athlete has two paths: either travel to tournaments, enjoy the atmosphere, the process, meeting people, visiting other countries, or work at the edge of your abilities to achieve something, to prove to yourself and others that you can. That’s the driver in sport. When you succeed in sport you can continue to compete for money, but that’s not the case in karate. Ukrainian athletes have a ministry salary, but it’s very small.
I have medals from all the most prestigious tournaments: World Championship, European Championship, European Games, World Games, and even the Olympic Games. So it’s time to move on. One of my directions will be sports management, in particular to improve conditions for athletes. We managed to attract a patron to karate, Vasyl Kostiuk, who allocates money for the development of our sport, funds trips to tournaments from his own pocket, and even paid prize money for medals to both athletes and coaches. I hope our sport will continue to be supported.
If some patron wants to bring you to give a masterclass, how much would it cost?
It depends on the number of days and trainings you want me to conduct. Sometimes they invite me for one day, sometimes for a week. Sometimes they ask for a lower price, sometimes I do it for friends, so the price varies. I’m flexible in that regard. Sometimes people pay what they can. Don’t forget sessions can be for a private club or a seminar for 200–300 people.
Horuna with his Olympic medal
If karate hadn’t been removed from the Olympic program, would you have stayed for the Los Angeles Games in 2028?
Well, considering how I feel now after the Salzburg performance, I know I would. This time there would have been an opportunity to prepare professionally for the tournament. My point: we now have professional coaches in karate who can prepare much better than for the Tokyo Olympics.
Karate is long since not purely a Japanese sport but a global one
Is there any chance for karate to return to the family of Olympic sports?
Yes, of course. We have a very cool sport. It’s one of the most popular — everyone knows about it. Karate is accessible and widespread. At the World Championship, for example, there were 114 countries. Show me a sport besides football with that coverage. Plus our matches are dynamic and full of highlights. Content is readily available and keeps the marketing around the sport alive. MMA, boxing, Formula-1… everything is built on highlights and reels. You just have to make that content. But some international federations’ leadership struggles with it. They have a different vision. So we’re waiting for changes in the international karate federation’s leadership.
Why not try to join the international federation yourself? Haven’t you thought about changing things on your own?
I did. I was even a member of the athletes’ committee of the international federation. I saw how internal communication happens, how actors operate, and I realized it’s not for me yet. I consider myself a person of action. I come in and start from what the situation is, what needs to be done and how. I need a task I can start executing. When you’re offered to formally spin around a small group of people, that’s not it.
Horuna in Aruba
Are you leaving karate with a calm soul?
Calm — that’s for the dead. Mine is worried, but not from the word “worry” — more like “turbine.” I don’t look back; I think about what I can do now. Right now I’m working with a small team from Aruba (a small island country north of Venezuela — Ed.), we’ll develop karate there. In addition, I have tasks in the Ukrainian Karate Federation. Seminars, training. There’s an unworked field ahead, so calm is just a dream.
Tell us more about Aruba.
We have a project there, partners with whom we can build an “Aruba sporthub.” We want it to become the center of Caribbean karate and further develop the sport in the region.
You recently were in Japan to reclaim your Olympic medal, which had been auctioned off at the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. How did you find the country?
I liked everything in Japan. I’m delighted with the people, their culture, discipline, perfectionism, the culture of respect for each other, including respect for oneself and one’s work. I went there because the patron who bought my medal at the beginning of the full-scale invasion decided to return it now rather than when the war ends, as he initially planned. As we see, there’s no end in sight yet.
He invited me; we met. A very pleasant man, family-oriented, a businessman with values. It was also surprising that Japan supports Ukraine despite cultural differences and distance between our countries. They support human values and see who the aggressor is. So both their government and people are with us. I took the opportunity when the Japan Karate Federation offered me to conduct training for the national team. Frankly, it was a pleasant recognition and a gesture of trust. An unplanned achievement, if you like, because teaching Japanese people their own sport says something.
Stanislav Horuna conducting a karate seminar in Japan
Readers might perceive your training of Japanese athletes as if someone from Japan came to Ukraine to teach children the combat hopak. Why isn’t that the case?
Because karate is long since not solely a Japanese sport but a global one. In a sense, I could invent my class, glue chewing gum to the ceiling, but over time someone will learn to do it better or in their own way. That doesn’t mean it’s no longer mine, but I’ll have to learn from them.
Did you manage to talk with any of our people in Japan?
I met with the Ukrainian ambassador to Japan. We exchanged thoughts about the situation. We discussed the possibility of cooperation between our karate federations to organize camps for children. The idea is good, but everything comes down to money. Someone has to fund it, because even a flight for 20 children to Japan is very expensive.
You can go and ask the Japanese, but it would be good if we didn’t always beg and instead acted proactively to find funds ourselves.
How does Ukrainian karate differ from Japanese?
Ukrainian karate is very, very diverse. It is intellectual, more practically literate than in some other countries. In general, you can trace common schools across countries. Arab countries work one way, the Japanese another, Latin Americans have their style. You can see it clearly because regardless of individuals you understand how karateka from certain countries will operate.
There are several major Ukrainian karate centers: Kyiv, Chernivtsi, Odesa, Zaporizhzhia. Each region has its style, and that makes our karate diverse. If you single out something common, it’s the mind during a fight.
Ukrainian karate delegation at the World (U21) Championship in Poland
How would you, as an insider, assess the current level of Ukrainian karate and the national team?
Starting from 2010, we have a clear selection system for the national team, a clear federation structure involving many coaches and athletes. When there’s a system and transparent athlete selection, there’s development. That’s one of our strengths. This filter allowed athletes like me, Anita Seriogina, Anzhelika Terliuga, Valerii Chobotar, and others to show themselves and win medals internationally.
The level of Ukrainian karate has been growing year after year without pause since the federation existed. I’m delighted by this consistency and systematization.
Who will be the next big star in karate?
I don’t want to single anyone out. The junior world championship just ended where we took eight medals. Our team isn’t limited to those thirty people. The potential is large; there are many both promising and already ready athletes. Unfortunately, some ready athletes left the country and began working in other countries under foreign coaches, but that’s today’s reality. We lost a piece of the Ukrainian cake, so to speak.
Horuna with the Olympic bronze medal in Tokyo
You said before the Tokyo Games 2021 you and your coach were amateurs. What would you change in the preparation for those games?
Yes, we were amateurs, and there wasn’t real preparation, except for a 10-day intensive training camp before the competition.
What would I change? I’d change the coach, add complexity and planning to my preparation, definitely add video analysis of opponents and game-plan preparation for each possible Olympic opponent, add pharmacological support and more work with a sports psychologist. That was an important period, and we needed to prepare more intelligently. Such preparation doesn’t cost astronomical sums. At least the last 2–4 months could have been planned and organized.
If everything was so bad, how did you win the bronze?
For me the Olympics were a matter of life and death. Not only metaphorically or in terms of a sports career, but psychologically I perceived the event that way. There’s no more dangerous athlete than one who has no backup option and can’t make excuses. That attitude provokes an adrenaline surge that helps get results, however hard it was. At the same time, that state is very exhausting and literally drains your energy.
Stanislav Horuna during a bout at the Tokyo Olympics
If there was no video analysis before the competition, does that mean you adapted to opponents directly during the bout?
Yes and no. During the last week before the tournament I watched opponents myself, made some primitive notes, recorded how each attacks and defends, two counteractions per opponent. It was essentially one notebook page per opponent. Obviously, ideally you’d work this in training. It would help understand if the plan works.
The coach wrote a letter to the federation demanding my disqualification
You don’t hide that you’re dissatisfied with your former coach Anton Nikulin. In 2018 you once called him your second father. What changed, and why don’t you communicate now?
You’re actually the first to ask this directly. Let me tell you. Our relationship had several turning points. It began in 2017 when Anton Nikulin became head of the Sports Department in Lviv. He got carried away with that career opportunity and the political movement. Because of that he became less involved in sport and our training process, often working from his phone. This coincided with the Olympic cycle; we needed to plan my preparation since he was also coach of the national karate team.
Within six months in that position his self-esteem skyrocketed so high everyone felt it. Opportunities that come through sport are cool; that’s not the problem. The issue wasn’t that he had other priorities but that he continued to pretend coaching was still his first priority. From then his words and actions often diverged. Of course, sitting on three chairs is hard (leading Lviv sport, administering the national team, and planning Olympic preparation).
Anton Nikulin and Stanislav Horuna
Then — 2020. We went to training camp in Turkey where I and several athletes were isolated on suspicion of COVID-19. Because of this I missed the camp and then didn’t show up for the team photo. I basically wasn’t there, so I thought there was no point in being photographed. He perceived that as disrespect and wrote a letter to the federation demanding my disqualification. The length of the disqualification would have made me miss the final Olympic qualifying competitions. I actually needed to compete there to earn additional points and secure an Olympic quota via ranking, not a qualifying tournament.
For me that action was a betrayal. How could a person with whom we went through so much and who formed me as an athlete do that? All because of ego I touched? Instead of talking to me like a man and resolving issues personally, he resorted to pressure using his position as head coach at the federation. Fortunately, the federation significantly reduced my disqualification term so I could take part in the decisive ranking tournament.
2022. He kicked me out of the karate club. The reason was this: he made reviews of the national team’s performances on YouTube and recorded podcasts. In these videos he harshly “canceled” me: Horuna is no longer the same, we already know who will replace him, he needs to retire. This was because of my poor performance at the European Championship in Turkey. I physically couldn’t prepare for those competitions… it was the start of the full-scale invasion. And a coach would have helped.
After that I went to Chernivtsi to the Lider club, where, with Valerii Chobotar and Pak Hnat as coaches, I prepared for the World Games. I consider them among the best coaches in Ukrainian karate. They’re also top athletes in international karate. I prepared properly, flew with the team to Birmingham (USA) and performed very well, winning silver. Then I made a highlights reel and posted it with Nikulin’s critical voiceover. In response he told me to find another coach and prepare on my own.
Then 2024. Someone created an anonymous Telegram channel where they smeared everyone: federation leadership, judges, coaches, certain athletes. The federation investigated and found Anton was the channel admin.
The federation decided to temporarily suspend Nikulin’s powers as a UFK presidium member and put his disqualification from the federation to a vote at the general meeting. Since I was also a presidium member, I was one of the first to learn of this decision. I posted about it on Instagram, and accordingly all the negativity from people who supported Nikulin poured onto me. That included athletes and coaches from the Union club, where I grew and formed as an athlete and person. The post contained only facts. The story ended with the general meeting vote where, with regional representation, he was disqualified.
Why would he create that channel if it was him?
There were assumptions he planned to create some alternative karate organization in Ukraine, so he began to “rock the boat” of the federation that functioned successfully.
Was there a chance to talk face-to-face during all this time?
In all those years our frank conversations can be counted on one hand, though we saw each other almost every day. I initiated a conversation over the disqualification situation, but he never spoke on equal terms. And we are godfathers to each other. I think this isn’t the end of the story…
Remove Putin — and the war will stop. The herd will remain, but there will be no one to drive it to slaughter
I read your interview 2019 when you expressed many, to put it mildly, controversial theses about the war against Russia. It was essentially a set of clichés about a “conflict between politicians” and so on. Looking back, do you regret saying that, including in a conversation with Andrii Senkiv, who now serves in the Armed Forces of Ukraine?
We always react to the information field we live in, and back then it seemed adequate to me. Now I see how little I knew, although it’s still Putin’s war. The Russian people turned out to be an inert herd, incapable of resistance. Remove Putin — and the war will stop. The herd will remain, but there will be no one to drive it to slaughter. I sincerely wish Andrii to stay alive and unharmed.
What advice would Stas give his past self?
Evaluate situations more critically; take more interest in political and geopolitical problems, try to predict the development of events. Very often things are quite obvious; we just don’t have enough information.
Horuna during the Tokyo Olympics
A bit more about changes. You once said Vasyl Lomachenko was a sports example for you. How do you assess him now?
He is, essentially, a person who plays into the enemy’s hands. He absolutely doesn’t understand his public weight. What he broadcasts to his audience now is extremely harmful for our information space and for people’s mood. He was an inspirer, an idol. People with such authority should understand their public responsibility for their words. Either he doesn’t perceive or read society’s reaction, or he simply doesn’t care and blindly stubbornly defends his “Moscow orthodoxy of the brain.” In contrast, Oleksandr Usyk stood with society. Lomachenko has lost the respect and love of his own people. Applause for Usyk and forgetting Lomachenko.
At competitions our athletes have a simple task: destroy Russians and Belarusians during bouts
There is a creeping return of Russians and Belarusians to sport. What should we do?
Pressure, bribery and blackmail — that’s Russian tactics on this issue and on most issues. Those who allow them to return to sport either have personal gain or feel threatened. There are also ideologues, but that’s pathological.
How should we act? There must be a comprehensive strategy in the public-political-sporting plane at the level of athletes, federations and politicians. Accordingly, we must have a clear understanding of what to do, who to pressure, who to negotiate with, and what steps to take. Communication must occur at all levels, and then we can slow them down. Recently there was an illustrative case in Poland at the Karate World Championship. The international karate federation allowed Russians to compete, but the Poles refused to let them in. They even warned they might not go. The Russians thought they could push through, but it didn’t happen as planned. To-do-do!!!
One thing: boycotting isn’t an option. That way we’d simply give them our platform. If we aren’t at tournaments, they will be there with their propaganda. At competitions our athletes have a simple task: destroy Russians and Belarusians during bouts, win convincingly.
In short, pull the blanket over to our side with all our strength. Countries that aren’t at war or aren’t under direct threat from Russia, including some European ones, don’t feel the danger, and some people see only personal gain. It’s the fifth year of war, war crimes are increasing, Russian sport is increasingly used in propaganda, and they get concessions… It’s terrible!
Obviously. As a now-former athlete with authority, you should also be involved in this. What do you generally plan to do next? As far as I know, you’re actively working on developing a ground robotic complex (GRC).
We received a grant from Brave1 (a state platform for developing defense technologies — Ed.), at first invested our own money and still do. For two years we’ve been developing the GRC. We’ve already passed the main stage and are at the final product stage. The military have tested our device, gave feedback, and we can refine the product further. The hardest part is behind us.
What kind of GRC is it?
The GRC has many applications: reconnaissance, mining and demining, as a combat infantry unit, perimeter security, and as a platform for launching drones. Right now we have a mobile platform that demonstrates good cross-country ability. The military confirmed this. Next we need to equip it according to military requests and needs. This is very important and responsible work!
Your message to readers, to Ukrainians.
As an athlete I can say that during a career there are different situations. Sometimes you’re unprepared, sometimes injured, exhausted, lacking support from friends. Unfortunately or fortunately, no one cares. You have a competition and a direct task — beat each opponent, one by one, regardless of personal circumstances.
Right now our shared task in the war is to survive, stand firm and win. Feeling sorry for ourselves changes nothing. No matter how hard it is for us, no matter how partners “surprise” us, we must remember we have no other choice but to win. We must live in the mode of completing necessary tasks, find ways to solve problems and adapt to the situation. Then everything will be fine! And it will be!
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