Biography

Mas Oyama (1923 - 1994)

Masutatsu (Mas) Oyama was born in Southern Korea. At the age of nine, he started studying the Southern Chinese form of Kempo. At the age of 15, he travelled to Japan to train as an aviator. 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.

He did however continue training in judo and boxing and he went to train at the dojo of Gichin Funakoshi. 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.

When he was 23 years old, Mas Oyama Oyama went to Mt Minobu. Oyama thought that this would be an appropriate place to commence the rigours of training he had planned for himself.

After 6 months, his helper student secretly fled during the night and then his sponsor informed him that he was no longer able to support him and so after fourteen months, he had to end his solitude.

A few months later, in 1947, Mas Oyama won the karate section of the first Japanese National Martial Arts Championships. However, He then decided to dedicate his life completely to karate. So he started again his mountain training this time on Mt. Kiyozumi.

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.

After eighteen months he came down fully confident of himself, and able to take control of his life. Never again would he be so heavily influenced by his society around him.

In 1950, Sosai 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. At the age of 34, he was nearly killed in Mexico when a bull gored him. He was bedridden for 6 months.

In 1952, he travelled the United States demonstrating his karate and during subsequent years, he fought 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, he hit you, you broke.

He became known as the Godhand, a living manifestation of the Japanese warriors or "One strike, certain death". To him, this was the true aim of technique in karate. The fancy footwork and intricate techniques were secondary.

In 1953, Mas Oyama opened his first "Dojo", a grass lot in Mejiro in Tokyo. In 1956, the first real Dojo was opened. By 1957 there were 700 members, despite the high drop-out rate due to the harshness of training.

Practitioners of other styles came to train here too, for the full contact fighting. 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 current World Headquarters were officially opened in June 1964, where the name Kyokushin, meaning "Ultimate truth" was adopted. In the same year the International Karate Organization (IKO) was established. From then, Kyokushin continued to spread to more than 120 countries, and registered members exceed 10 million making it one of the largest martial arts organisations in the world.

Sosai Mas Oyama died and left Shokei Matsui in charge of the organisation. This had many political ramifications and resulted in a splintering of Kyokushin. It has even been suggested that maybe Oyama created the turmoil on purpose, because he didn't want Kyokushin to survive without him!

Mas Oyama (1923 - 1994)

The Eleven Mottos of Mas Oyama are:-

1. The Martial Arts way begins and ends with courtesy. Therefore, be properly and genuinely courteous at all times.
2. Following the Martial Way is like scaling a cliff - continue upwards without rest. It demands absolute and unfaltering devotion to the task at hand.
3. Strive to seize the initiative in all things, all the time guarding against actions stemming from selfish animosity or thoughtlessness.
4. Even for the Martial Artist, the place of money cannot be ignored. Yet one should be careful never to become attached to it.
5. The Martial Way is centred on posture. Strive to maintain correct posture at all times.
6. The Martial Way begins with one thousand days and is mastered after ten thousand days of training.
7. In the Martial Arts, introspection begets wisdom. Always see contemplation on your actions as an opportunity to improve.
8. The nature and purpose of the Martial Way is universal. All selfish desires should be roasted in the tempering fires of hard training.
9. The Martial Arts begin with a point and end in a circle. Straight lines stem from this principal.
10. The true essence of the Martial Way can only be realised through experience. Knowing this, learn never to fear its demand.
11. Always remember: in the Martial Arts, the rewards of a confident and grateful heart are truly abundant.

Dojo Kun : Training Hall Oath

Said by all at the end of every Karate training session, the dojo oath serves to remind us of our commitment to Kyokushin and it's goals. It repeating the oath we reiterate to ourselves that Karate does not have to be just a sport or something that we do to get fit or lose weight, but that it really is a lifestyle choice. The dojo oath should reflect our attitude both in and out of the dojo.

1. We will train our hearts and bodies for a firm unshaking spirit.
2. We will pursue the true meaning of the martial way so that in time our senses may be alert.
3. With true vigour we will seek to cultivate a spirit of self denial.
4. We will observe the rules of courtesy, respect our superiors and refrain from violence.
5. We will follow our gods and never forget the true virtue of humility.
6. We will look upwards to wisdom and strength not seeking other desires.
7. All our lives through the discipline of Karate, will seek to fulfill the true meaning of the Kyokushin way.

"The Spirit of Kyokushin is to overcome oneself, not others (Mas Oyama)"

The OSU! in Kyokushin comes for the expression “Oshi shinobu! ” which means to push oneself to the limit of one's ability and yet to continue, to persevere under pressure, and to endure.

It is used as a word of many meanings, expressing the willingness to strive against all odds, to persevere on the road to physical, mental, and spiritual strength, an expression of respect of ones seniors and responsibility to ones juniors.

It is pronounced “OSS!”, with a long "O", and not "Oosh" or "Oos" as is commonly heard outside of Japan".