Sosai Masutatsu Oyama
1923-1994
Masutatsu Oyama was born in July 12, 1923 in Qa-Ryong-Ri
Yong-chi-Myo'n Chul Na Do South Korea. His child given
name was Young-Li, but when he immigrated to Japan, they
pressured him to take a Japanese name. He chose Oyama which
means "great mountain". At a relatively young age he was sent
to Manchuria, in Southern China, to live on his sister's farm.
At the age of nine, he started studying the Southern Chinese
form of Kempo called Eighteen hands from a Mr.Yi who was at
the time working on the farm. When Oyama returned to Korea at
the the age of 12, he continued his training in Korean Kempo.
These Korean arts were a mixture of Kempo, which was similar to
kung fu, and Ju Jitsu. This training continued until about the
age of 13 years.
At this point he was moved to Tokyo, Japan to train as an aviator.
He was enrolled at the Yamanashi Youth Aviation Institute. Survival
on his own at that age proved to be more difficult than he thought,
especially as a Korean in Japan, and the aviator training fell by the
wayside. During this time he started training in boxing and Judo.
Sosai also got intrested in the Okinawa Karate (now known as Shotokan),
and started learning it at the Dojo of Gichin Funakoshi (founder
of Karate) at Takushoku University. His training progress was very
impressive, by the age of seventeen he was already a 2nd Dan, by the
age of 20, he was a 4th Dan. At this point he also took a serious
interest in judo, and his progress there was no less amazing. By
the time he had quit training in Judo, less than four years after
he had started, he had achieved the rank of fourth Dan in Judo.
Then, he decided to continue his training under the direction of
Master So Nei Chu, also a Korean living in
Japan was a
Goju expert and student of Chojun Miyagi, the founder of
Goju Karate. So Nei Chu renowned for his physical and spiritual
strength, was purported to be the leading expert of Goju Karate
in Japan at the time, next to Miyagi Sensei. It was Master So who
encouraged Sosai Oyama to undertake his mountain retreat to
Mt.Minobu in the Chiba Prefecture to strengthen his technical
skills and temper his spirit. He was accompanied by one of his
own students, but after six months of
isolation, the student secretly fled during the night leaving Mas
Oyama to continue his vigorous training alone which became even
harder for Oyama, who wanted more than ever to return to
civilization. So Nei Chu wrote to him that he should shave off an
eyebrow in order to get rid of the urge. Surely he wouldn't want
anyone to see him that way! This and other more moving words
convinced Oyama to continue, and he resolved to become the most
powerful karate man in Japan. Soon however, his sponsor informed
him that he was no longer able to support him and so after 14
months, he had to end his solitude.
A few months later in 1947, after returning to civilization,
he tested his abilities in the Karate division of the first
Japanese National Martial Arts Championships, which he won.
However, he felt empty for not having complete the 3 years of
solitude. He then decided to dedicate his life completely to
karate-do, so he started again, this time on mount Kiyozumi
also in Chiba Prefecture. He chose this site for its spiritual
uplifting environment. This time, his training was fanatical -
12 hours a day every day with no rest days, standing under (cold)
buffeting waterfalls, breaking river stones with his hands, using
trees as Makiwara,
jumping over rapidly growing flax plants hundreds of times each
day. Each day also included a period of study of the ancients
classics on the Martial arts Zen, and philosophy.
In 1950, Sosai (the founder) Mas Oyama started testing
(and demonstrating) his power by fighting bulls. In all, he fought
52 bulls, three of which were killed instantly, and 49 had their
horns taken off with knife hand blows. That it is not to say that
it was all that easy for him. Oyama was fond of remembering that
his first attempt just resulted in an angry bull. In 1957, at the
age of 34, he was nearly killed in Mexico when a bull got some of
his own back and gored him. Oyama somehow managed to pull the bull
off and break off his horn. He was bedridden for 6 months while he
recovered from the usually fatal wound.
In 1952, he traveled the United States for a year, demonstrating his
karate, live and on national television. During subsequent years, he
took on all challengers, resulting in fights with 270 different people.
The vast majority of these were defeated with one punch! A fight never
lasted more than three minutes, and most rarely lasted more than a few
seconds. His fighting principle was simple — if he got through to you,
that was it. If he hit you, you broke. If you blocked a rib punch, you
arm was broken or dislocated. If you didn't block, your rib was broken.
He became known as the "God Hand", a living manifestation of the
Japanese warriors' maxim Ichi geki, Hissatsu or "One strike, certain
death".
To Sosai, this was the true aim of technique in karate. The fancy footwork
and intricate techniques were secondary (though he was also known for the
power of his head kicks). It was during one of his visits to the United
States that Mas Oyama met Jacques Sandulescu, a big (190 cm and 190 kg of
muscle) Romanian who had been taken prisoner by the Red Army at the age of
16, and sent to the coal mines as a slave laborer for two years.
In 1953, Mas Oyama opened his first "Dojo", a grass lot in Mejiro in Tokyo.
In 1956, the first real Dojo was opened in a former ballet studio behind
Rikkyo University, 500 meters from the location of the current Japanese
Honbu Dojo (headquarters). By 1957 there were 700 members, despite the high
drop-out rate due to the hardness of training. Practitioners of other styles
came to train here too, for the jis-sen kumite (full contact fighting). One
of the original instructors, Kenji Kato, has said that they would observe
those from other styles, and adopt any techniques that "would be good in a
real fight".
This was how Mas Oyama's karate evolved. He took techniques from all martial
arts, and did not restrict himself to karate alone. The Oyama Dojo members
took their Kumite seriously, seeing it primarily as a fighting art, so they
expected to hit and to be hit. With few restrictions, attacking the head was
common, usually with the palm heel or towel-wrapped knuckles. Grabs, throws,
and groin attacks were also common. Kumite rounds would continue till one
person loudly conceded defeat. Injuries occurred on a daily basis and the
drop out rate was high (over 90%). They had no official do-gi and wore
whatever they had.
The current World Headquarters of Kyokushin was officially opened in June
1964, where the name Kyokushin, meaning "Ultimate truth", was adopted. From
that point forward, Kyokushin continued to spread to more than 120 countries
around the world, and registered members exceed 10 million, making it one of
the largest martial arts organizations in the world. Among the better known
Kyokushin Yudansha (black belts) are Sean Connery (Honorary Shodan), Dolph
Lundgren (Sandan, and former Australian heavyweight champion. Famous movie
star).
Sosai Masutatsu Oyama passed away due to lung cancer (as a non-smoker), at the
age of 70 in April 1994, leaving behind a confused organization which split
into three mayor groups. The IKO1, under the leadership of Shihan Akiyoshi
Matsui, the IKO2, under the leadership of Shihan Yasuhiro Shichinohe, and
the IKO3, under the leadership of Shihan Yoshikazu Matsushima. Those three
groups have the difficult task of maintain the spirit and the teaching of
Kyokushin alive.
This has had many political and economic consequences throughout the
Kyokushin world, which are still being resolved. In the end, the result
may well be a break of Kyokushin, much like Shotokan now appears to have
done, with each group claiming to be the one-and-only true heir of Mas
Oyama's Kyokushin, either spiritually or even financially. It is however
reasonably certain that all Kyokushin groups, regardless of their ultimate
allegiance, will still maintain the standards set by Mas Oyama.
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