Masutsu Oyama was born on July 27th 1923 in a village in Southern Korea. At the age of 9 whilst staying on his sister’s farm in Manchuria, he first learnt the Martial Arts, studying the southern Chinese Kempo form known as “eighteen hands”. In 1938 Mas Oyama traveled to Japan with the desire to enter an aviation school and become a fighter pilot, but he was forced to abandon his dream and find work. He continued practicing Judo and boxing and his interest in Martial Arts led him to the Dojo of Gishin Funakoshi and thus, he started practicing Okinawa Karate.
With his dedication, Mas Oyama progressed quickly and by the time he was 20 years old he obtained his fourth Dan. It was at this time that Mas Oyama entered the Japanese Imperial Army and began studying judo in the hope of mastering its holding and grappling techniques. By the time he stopped training in Judo, after about 4 years, he had gained a fourth Dan.
In 1950, Mas Oyama began his famous battles with bulls’ partly to test his strength and also to make the world sit up and notice the power of his Karate. All together, Oyama fought 52 bulls, killing 3 instantly and taking the horns of 49 with knife-handed blows. Mas Oyama opened his first “Dojo” in 1953 in Meijiro, Tokyo. This was the time that Mas Oyama’s karate strength was at its peak so the training was severe. Many students were members of other styles and Mas Oyama would compare styles and build on his own karate. He would take what he felt were the best techniques and concepts from any Martial Art and gradually fit them into his training; therefore, laying the foundation of Kyokushin Karate.
Hi Caleb,
Your Blog post is so informative and I certainly learnt a lot from it. I especially found the part where he did bull fighting and was super successful, intriguing and interesting. Maybe next time you could add a question and give some information why you chose to write about this topic. Your writing is amazing. Keep up the good work.
– Lauren