Otti Roethof (born ) is a former Dutch

karateka (; ; Okinawan pronunciation: ), also , is a martial art developed in the Ryukyu Kingdom. It developed from the indigenous Ryukyuan martial arts (called , "hand"; ''tī'' in Okinawan) under the influence of Chinese martial arts. While moder ...

. Roethof was born on

Curaçao Curaçao, officially the Country of Curaçao, is a constituent island country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located in the southern Caribbean Sea (specifically the Dutch Caribbean region), about north of Venezuela. Curaçao includ ...

and moved with his family to

Suriname Suriname, officially the Republic of Suriname, is a country in northern South America, also considered as part of the Caribbean and the West Indies. It is a developing country with a Human Development Index, high level of human development; i ...

at the age of 10.Otti Roethof nog altijd succesvol
, at Radio Nederland Wereldomroep Suriname, 5 July 2007 (in Dutch) In the early 70s he moved to the Netherlands, where he lived in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

. Between 1977 and 1984 he won multiple Karate medals at the

European European, or Europeans, may refer to: In general * ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe ** Ethnic groups in Europe ** Demographics of Europe ** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe and other West ...

and

World Karate Championships The Karate World Championships, also known as the World Karate Championships, are the highest level of competition for karate organized by the World Karate Federation (WKF). The competition is held in a different city every two years. Championshi ...

. In 1977 in Tokyo he became the first non-Japanese world champion.Otti Roethof rustig op weg naar twee wereldtitels
Leidse Courant, 22 November 1980. (in Dutch) In 1984 he published the book ''Karate: een handboek voor trainer, coach en karateka'' (). In 1985 he became coach of the Dutch national karate team. At his last world championships in 1986 he comes in fourth.Dossier Otti Roethof
limburger.nl. 13 April 2010 Roethof ran several sport schools and owned a sports retail shop in the 1990s.

References

1950 births Living people Dutch male karateka Karate coaches Dutch people of Curaçao descent Dutch sportspeople of Surinamese descent Wadō-ryū practitioners World Games bronze medalists for the Netherlands 21st-century Dutch people Medalists at the 1981 World Games 20th-century Dutch sportsmen {{Netherlands-karate-bio-stub