[2] He achieved his greatest competitive success at this time, including two first-place wins in the annual US Sabaki Challenge and five consecutive gold medals at the International Shidokan Championships.
At the 1994 US International Shidokan Championships, Kucharzewski powered through opponent Christopher Harrison and knocked out Alain Grosdesormeaux with a knee strike en route to reaching the finals.
[3] The following year, Kucharzewski endured a bizarre, DQ-bound single round against Soneybourne Ali before knocking out international karate champion Gerry Marketos and claiming his fourth shidokan title in a hard-fought match against Akio Kobayashi.
His initial bouts proved fruitless: he met Jean-Claude Leuyer and Lloyd van Dams at the K-1 USA Grand Prix '98 and K-1 Braves '99 events, and both defeated him with low kicks which injured his left knee.
He fared considerably better at the K-1 USA Championships 2000 tournament, using substantial boxing skills to score TKO victories over American fighter Jason Johnson and future K-1 World Grand Prix finalist Glaube Feitosa.