Sosai Masutatsu Oyama

Masutatsu (Mas) Oyama was born Yong I-Choi on the 27th of July, 1923, in a village not far from Gunsan in Southern Korea. At the age of nine, he started studying the Southern Chinese form of Kempo called Eighteen hands from Mr. Yi who was at the time working on the farm.

In 1938, at the age of 15, he travelled to Japan to train as an aviator, to be like his hero of the time, Korea's first fighter pilot.

He continued martial arts training and one day, he noticed some students training in Okinawan Karate. This interested him very much and he went to train at the dojo of Gichin Funakoshi at Takushoku University.

His training progress was such that by the age of seventeen he was already a 2nd dan, and by the time he entered the Japanese Imperial Army at 20, he was a fourth dan. At this point he also took a serious interest in judo, and his progress there was no less amazing.

Master So, another Korean (from Oyama's own province) living in Japan, was one of the highest authorities on Goju Ryu in Japan at the time. He was renowned for both his physical and spiritual strength. It was he who encouraged Mas Oyama to dedicate his life to the Martial Way. It was he too who suggested that Oyama should retreat away from the rest of the world for 3 years while training his mind and body.

When he was 23 years old, Mas Oyama met Eiji Yoshikawa, the author of the novel Musashi based on the life and exploits of Japan's most famous Samurai. The novel and novelist left a lasting impression on Oyama, who was inspired by Miyamoto Musashi’s ideals and thoughts. That same year, Oyama went to Mt. Minobu in the Chiba Prefecture, where Musashi had developed his Nito-Ryu style of swordfighting.

In 1947, Mas Oyama won the karate section of the first Japanese National Martial Arts Championships after WWII. However, he still felt empty for not having completed the three years of solitude. So he started again, this time on Mt. Kiyozumi, also in Chiba Prefecture.

This time his training was beyond the boundaries of normal human tolerance. All day long he trained hard under waterfalls in all sorts of weather, training his hands and feet by kicking and punching trees and then later, by breaking rocks.

In 1950, Mas Oyama decided to test his power by fighting bulls. He fought 52 bulls, three of which were killed instantly earning him the name of GOD-HAND, while the rest 49 were over come with sheer effort and will. In 1957, at the age of 34, he was nearly killed by the bull he was facing, who gored him in the stomach with it’s horns. He still persevered and ended up killing the bull. However, it took him a few months to recover from an otherwise fatal accident.

In 1952, he travelled the United States for a year, demonstrating his karate live and on TV. In the following years, he took on all challengers of different martial arts resulting in over 200 hundred fights, all of which he won.

In 1953, Mas Oyama opened his first Dojo, 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.

By 1957 there were 700 members, despite the high drop-out rate due to the harshness of training.

The World Headquarters were officially opened in June 1964, where the name Kyokushin, meaning "Ultimate truth" was taken. In the same year the International Karate Organization (IKO) was established. From then, Kyokushin Kaikan has continued to spread to more than 120 countries and has more than 10 million registered members.

 Mas Oyama died April 26, 1994 leaving behind a legacy which continues to flourish all around the world.