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Mas Oyama's reputation as a man of
incredible power and courage was bolstered by his famous barehanded
battles against bulls which began in 1950. To test his strength, Oyama
fought bulls that were awaiting slaughter. In all, he fought 52 bulls,
killing three of them instantly and taking the horns off 49 of them with
powerful knife hand blows.
Oyama continued to demonstrate the power and
effectiveness of his art by travelling to the United States in 1952 to
compete against a variety of boxers, wrestlers, Judo, and Karate
fighters, and defeated every one of them. He fought a total of 270
matches with many lasting no longer than three minutes and were often
won with a single blow!
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Oyama's Early Years
Masutatsu Oyama, was born Yong-I Choi,
on July 27,1923 in Southern Korea. At the young age of nine, Oyama
began to receive instruction in the southern Chinese Kempo style of
Shi Pa Lo Han Sho (eighteen hands) from a Mr. Yi, who at the time
worked on his family's farm.
Oyama continued his training in
Korean Kempo and also became interested in judo and boxing. His
interests led him to the Takushoku University where he began to
train with Gichin Funakoshi. By the age of twenty, Oyama had
attained the rank of Yondan; 4th degree black belt. He trained
simultaneously in Judo. His progress in Judo was amazing, earning
him the rank of Yondan in four years.
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Following
the war, Oyama then began training with the Master So Nei Chu of the
Goju School of Karate. It was Master So who advised Oyama to dedicate
his life to the Martial Way and to commit himself to three years of
rigorous training in the solitude of the mountains. So in 1946, Oyama
went to a remote spot on Mount Minobu in the Chiba prefecture of Japan
to begin his training. He was accompanied by his student Yashiro. After
six months however, Yoshiro was unable to bear the solitude, and fled
the mountain. A friend, Mr. Kayama, visited Oyama every month to deliver
food and supplies. However, after fourteen months, Mr. Kayama announced
that he was unable to continue this arrangement. This ended Oyama’s
training which had lasted just over a year.
In 1947, a few months
after his return to society, Oyama won the first Japanese National
Martial Arts Championship. Yet, he was unsatisfied and felt there
was still much to be gained. He deeply regretted not completing the
three years of intensive training. It was then that Oyama decided to
dedicate himself completely to Karate and began another period of
training alone on Mount Kiyozumi.
Oyama trained twelve hours
a day. His regimen consisted of physical training, fasting, misogi
(meditation under waterfalls) and study of Zen and philosophy. He
used trees and stones to strengthen his techniques, and bench
pressed his body weight 500 times daily! After eighteen months of
rigorous training, Oyama was ready to leave the mountain and
confidently face his future.
In 1953, a grass lot in
Mejiro, Tokyo served as Oyama’s first “dojo”. In 1956, he opened the
Oyama Dojo in a former ballet studio behind Rikkyo University. By
1957, the enrolment had reached 700 members. Oyama opened the
organization’s world headquarters in Tokyo in 1964 and subsequently
adopted the style name Kyokushin, which translates as “the
ultimate truth”. Oyama’s Karate continued to spread to 123 countries
with over 10 million members.
Oyama was a living legend until his passing on April 26, 1994, at
the age of 71. His Kyokushin Karate continues to thrive today in
countries all over the globe. Oyama firmly believed that hard
training could greatly benefit any person, both physically and
spiritually, and that practitioners would thus contribute to making
the world a better place. The International Karate Organization
Kyokushinkaikan continues to bring Mas Oyama's karate and
philosophy to all those who seek "the way".
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