Kyokushin Karate

The founder of Kyokushin Karate, Masutasu Oyama, was born on July 12th, 1923 in Korea, and immigrated to Japan as a young boy. Upon arriving in Japan he took the name Oyama, meaning "Great Mountain" in Japanese. Sensei Oyama studied karate under Giko Funakoshi (the son of Gichin Funakoshi, founder of Shotokan Karate), and later studied martial arts in isolation in order to increase his understanding of the martial arts.

Kyokushin Karate as envisioned by Sensei Oyama is a discipline which can focuses as much on physical discipline as it does on the spiritual development of the individual. "Kyokushin" is composed of of two words, Kyoku (ultimate) and Shin (reality or truth from within). The physical discipline is necessary for the development of mental discipline. Kyokushin Karate teaches practical kicks, blocks, punches and movement as well as mental discipline. The use of circular movement in the execution of techniques distinguishes Kyokushin Karate from other traditional styles of Karate, which rely on linear motion.

To demonstrate the power of his karate, Mas Oyama began fighting with Bulls in 1950. In total he fought 52 bulls, killing 3, and taking the horns of 49 with knife hand blows. Only once did he get injured, being cored through the side. He still managed to take the bull by the horn and defeat his opponent before going to the hospital to recover.

Kyokushin training is noted for being very rigorous and it's belief in fighting with hard contact to simulate a realistic situation. This form of karate believes that this contact serves to allow students to realize how strong their body and spirit is, and helps to prepare the student for fighting in a real situation. The phrase "osu no seidhin", perseverance under pressure, signifies this belief.

Kyokushin philosophy is stated in the following quote from Sensei Oyama,

"1000 days of training a beginner, 10000 days of training, a glimpse of the mysteries"

Mas Oyama started a tradition unique to the Kyokushin style, the One Hundred Man Kumite. Each person in the kumite has to fight 100 other Kyokushin fighters in a full contact match lasting two minutes each. If a fighter is knocked down to the ground for more than 5 seconds, the fighter would lose the contest. The fighter with the most full points, and the one that threw the most offensive techniques, would win the contest.

Mas Oyama himself fought 100 opponents a day for three consecutive days, and did not continue on the fourth only because there were no more opponents left to fight! To this day there are only 13 other people to successfully complete this challenge.

In order to successfully navigate this challenge, a Kyokushin fighter must understand the philosophy "osu no seidhin", or perseverance under extreme pressure. No other style has a challenge like this one.

Mas Oyama died in 1994, leaving Kancho Shokei as the head of the Kyokushin organization. He was the winner of the 12th, 13th and 14th World open Karate Championship, and successfully completed the 100 man challenge in 1986, compiling the most knockdowns and wins in this challenge of any competitor ever. Confirming his status as the current day premiere Kyokushin stylist is Mas Oyama's will, naming him his one and only successor as the heir of Kyokushin Karate.