MASUTATSU (MAS.

) OYAMA: THE LEGEND OF KYOKUSHIN

By Bernard Sinai

Kyokushin is a style of karate that emphasizes realistic

training and hard body conditioning. The style was
developed by Masutatsu Oyama, affectionately referred to as
Mas, during his life time and incorporates techniques and
styles from different martial arts.

Oyama was born Choi Yong-i on the 27th of July1923 in Il-

Long, Korea during the Japanese occupation. As a child
Oyama was sent to Manchuria, Southern China to live on his
sister’s farm. At the age of nine (9) he started learning a
form of Chinese Kempo called “Eighteen Hands” from a farm
hand known as Mr. Yi. Oyama trained with Mr. Yi for two (2)
years and achieved the level of shodan (1st black belt or
dan). Oyama would return to Korea at the age of twelve but
Figure 1: Mas Oyama, the
continued to study Korean Kenpō founder of Kyokushin
Karate
In 1938, at the age of fifteen, Oyama travelled to Japan in
pursuit of his dream to become a pilot and enrolled at the Yamanashi
Youth Aviation Institute. However, life as a Zainichi Korean1 in Japan
proved quite difficult at that age and his aviation training fell sideways.
Fortunately, his martial art training continued by participating in boxing
and Judo.

One day Oyama noticed student

practicing Okinwan Karate and became
interested which lead him to Gichin
Funakoshi (1868 – 1957) at the
Takushoki University where he started
studying karate. Funakoshi is the
founder of Shōkōtan2 karate and often
attributed as the ‘father of modern karate’.
Figure 2:
Kyokushin Oyama’s progress amazed his Sensei and those
kanji around him. By the age of seventeen (17) he had
already acquired the rank of nidan (2° Black Belt), and
by the time he turned twenty (20) he was already a
fourth dan. It was also around this time that he
joined the Japanese Imperial Army.

After the defeat of Japan, Oyama fell into despair.

Fortunately, a master by the name of So Chu Nei would
come into his life. Master So was another Korean from Figure 3: Oyama training on
Oyama’s home province and one of the highest makiwara

1 Permanent ethnic Korean residents of Japan.

2 This is a style of karate developed by Funakoshi and named after his first dojo.

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 MASUTATSU (MAS.) OYAMA: THE LEGEND OF KYOKUSHIN
authorities in Gōjū-ryū3 Karate at the time. He encouraged Oyama to dedicate his
life to the Budo (Martial Way) and suggested Oyama retreat from society and to
train his mind and body.

At the age of 23 Oyama went to Mount Minobu, Chiba Prefecture to train in solitude
like Japan’s most famous Samurai Musashi. After six months Oyama’s only
companion, Yoshiro, fled during the night leaving Oyama all alone and the yearning
for civilization became stronger than ever. Master So wrote a letter encouraging
Oyama and to shave off one eyebrow. The shame of such an appearance would
deter Oyama from falling to his desire to return to society. However, after fourteen
months, his sponsors could not continue their support and thus Oyama’s training in
solitude came to an end.

After his return, Oyama won the karate section of the first Japanese National Martial
Arts Championships held after World War Two (WW2). However, he still felt empty
because he had not completed his training in solitude; he decided to dedicate his
life to karate. Again he went into solitude to train. This time he chose Mt Kizoyumi,
also in the Chiba Prefecture because of its spiritually uplifting environment. His
training was fanatical, twelve hours a day and seven days a week against. He would
stand under chilling waterfalls, break water stones with his hands, strike the
makiwara4 and jump over rapidly growing flax plant hundreds of time every day. At
night, he would study ancient Budo texts, Zen and philosophy. After eighteen
months, Oyama finally confident and content with himself, returned to civilization.

In 1950 Oyama began testing his skill and

strength by fighting bulls with his bare hands.
He fought 52 bulls in all, with 3 being killed
instantly and 49 had their horns broken with a
knife hand strike. But it was not as easy as it
sounds, in 1953, at the age of 34 he was nearly
killed in Mexico when a bull gored him.
Fortunately, Oyama was able to break the
bull’s horns before any fatal damage could be
done. He spent six month in recovery and
bedridden.

In 1952, he travelled to the United State (USA)

for a year and gave thirty two live and
televised demonstrations of karate. In years
following, he received challengers and
defeated all of them. In total, he had fights with
270 different people. The majority of his fights
ended with one punch! The fights never lasted
more than three minutes. His prowess earned

3 One of the main styles of traditional Okinawan karate and features hard (gō), closed hand
techniques and linear attacks, and soft (jū) open hand techniques and circular movements.
Figure 4: Oyama after his training
in solitude.
4 Traditional Japanese striking board made from straw that is mainly used for condition the hands and
arms and to practice hand techniques.

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MASUTATSU (MAS.) OYAMA: THE LEGEND OF KYOKUSHIN
him the nickname “Godhand”, a manifestation of Japanese Warriors’ maxim Ichi
Geki, Hissatsu, translated as ‘one punch, certain death’ or ‘one punch, one kill’.
Oyama believed this was the true aim of karate techniques, fancy movements and
intricate techniques were secondary.

When Oyama returned to Japan in 1953, he established his first Dojo and the
beginnings of Kyokushin Karate. He resigned from Gōjū-ryū and named his Dojo
“Oyama Dojo”. He continued his travels and gave demonstrations which included
bare handed challenges. In 1956 he moved the dojo to a ballet studio attached to
the Rikkyo University. Oyama’s curriculum developed a reputation for being tough
and practical, and attracted karatekas from all over Japan and the world. He named
the style Kyokushin, meaning ‘ultimate truth’ in Japanese, in a
ceremony in 1957.

In June 1964 he moved the dojo into a refurbished building at 3-3-

9 Nishi-Ikebukuro, in the Toshima area of Tokyo and formerly
established the International Karate Organization
Kyokushinkaikan (IKO or IKOK). This building remains the
headquarters (Honbu) for IKO1, a faction of Kyokushin.

In 1994, Oyama succumbed to cancer at the age of 70 and IKO

splintered into several groups. This was due to conflict over
Oyama’s successor as chairman. The matter still remains
unsolved.

Many Kyokushinkai Karateka draw inspiration from Oyama’s life,

and even in his death, he still influences the lives of many martial
artists. Never, in our lifetime, has the karate community seen
anyone like him nor will there be anyone else like him.

Osu! Figure 5: Shokei

Matsui, IKO1 leader

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MASUTATSU (MAS.) OYAMA: THE LEGEND OF KYOKUSHIN

REFERENCES
• Sosai Masutatsu Oyama, http://www.masutatsuoyama.com/masoyama.htm
[Accessed 13th July 2009]
• Masutatsu Oyama, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masutatsu_%C5%8Cyama [Accessed
13th July 2009]
• Masutatsu (Mas) Oyama,
http://www.willingtonkarateclub.org/style/masoyamahistory1.html [Accessed 13th
July 2009]
• Kyokushin History, http://nepalkyokushinkarate.tripod.com/id35.html [Accessed 17th
July 2009]
• Masutatsu Oyama, http://www.australiankyokushin.com/oyama.shtml [Accessed 17th
July 2009]

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