by Devon McNeely
Who was Mas Oyama?
Masutatsu Oyama was the founder of the full contact style of Kyokushin Karate. He was also famous for extreme demonstrations of skill which included fighting live bulls. He trained his body to its extremes and earned the nickname “Godhand”. He was one of the toughest Martial artists of his day and possibly of all time.
But who WAS Mas Oyama?
Early History
The man who would be known as Sosai (President or Great Teacher) Mas Oyama was born in Korea in 1923 as Choi Yeong-eui. As a child, he moved to southern China where his sister had a farm and it was there at 9 years old that he began his martial arts journey. He began training under a man working at the farm named Mr. Lee who taught him a Southern Chinese Kempo style called ‘Eighteen Hands’.
At age 12 he moved back to Korea. At this point in history, Korea was under Japanese rule since the Annexation in 1910 and the practice of Korean martial arts was looked down on and at times outright banned. Similarly, many Japanese styles were introduced in Korea and became the most practiced styles. Oyama continued his training in a Korean Kempo style.
At age 15 he moved to Japan enrolling in aviation school to become a fighter pilot. Eventually, he took the Japanese name of Masutatsu Oyama. Oyama was the surname of the family that took him in while he lived in Japan. Masutatsu was a Japanese transliteration of ‘Baedal’ another name for the ancient Gojoseon empire of Korea.
At this time Oyama began training under Gichin Funakoshi who he would refer to as his true Karate teacher.
Life in Japan
At Takushoku University, Oyama trained under Gichin Funakoshi the founder of Shotokan Karate. By the age of 17, he was already a 2nd Dan and at age 20 when he enrolled in the Japanese army, he was a 4th Dan. He also (supposedly) trained in Judo similarly earning the rank of 4th Dan. This rank is commonly asserted though some have denied that he ever trained in judo saying he himself never caimed to have.
Oyama served in the Imperial Japanese Army during World War 2 stationed at an airbase near Tokyo. Towards the end of the war, there was an incident in which he struck an officer, but he was found to be not at fault as he was provoked by the officer. Due to the incident, he was going to be transferred to the Pacific but the transfer was halted by Japan’s Surrender, ending WWII.
After the war, Oyama trained in Goju-Ryu under Nei-Chu So, a Korean man who was from the same province Oyama was born in. So also taught philosophy and spiritualism and converted him to the Nichiren sect of Buddhism.
Oyama would also get into fights with American Soldiers stationed in Japan. Having served and having lost friends in the war created a lot of resentment for the American military there.
Out at a local Dance competition one night Oyama came across a man harassing a woman and intervened. The man was a Murder suspect and had a history of other crimes and when confronted he pulled a knife and attacked. Oyama defended himself and with a single punch to the head killed the man outright. Though eyewitnesses confirmed it was in self-defense and justified the event was devastating to Oyama. Worse yet was he learned the man he killed had a wife and children. He quit his martial arts training and moved to the woman’s farm. He worked there for several months until she could manage running it herself and until she did not hold him responsible for her husband’s death.
Dedicating his life to Karate
When Mas Oyama returned to karate he found his life had little other purpose. He had been having legal troubles due to the fights with military personnel and street thugs. He had accidentally killed a man in an altercation. His military career was over with the end of WWII and replaced with the same and dishonor many Japanese felt with their countries defeat. it was at this time that Nei-Chu So convinced him that he should officially dedicate his life to Karate.
The plan was to train in seclusion for 3 years. Oyama chose a location on Mt. Minobu, the same area which the famous samurai Miyamoto Musashi went to perfect his sword style 2 centuries earlier. He brought just the basics he would need to survive and a number of books including Musashi’s Book of five rings. And in the seclusion of the mountain, he began his arduous training.
He trained more hours than he slept. In the harsh environment of Mt. Minobu he can through the wilderness carrying large rocks. He used stones for weights with which he lifted for reps. He punched trees and practiced breaking rocks to train his hands to act like hammers. He practiced Kata and Individual techniques hundreds of times a day and meditated under icy waterfalls.
Oyama also worked on his philosophy and Spiritualism. He studied the books he bought with him on budo and on Buddhism and each training day was a disciplined meditative practice.
After 18 months of this training he came down from the mountain. Soon after, he competed in the All Japan Karate Tournament held in Kyoto, the first Karate tournament held since the end of the war. Oyama won the tournament becoming its first champion but he was not satisfied. He had not yet completed his training and returned to the mountains, this time to Mt. Kiyosumi for another year.
The results of training
When Mas Oyama descended the mountain for the second time he began demonstrating the results of his training. He did this in a way no one had ever seen.
He fought live bulls.
by the end of his career Oyama had fought a total of 52 defeating each by either wrestling them to the ground, breaking off their horn with a knife hand strike or, in the case of tree of them, Killing them with a punch. This earned him his nickname ‘Godhand’. Only once was he seriously injured. At one of these demonstrations in Mexico the bull gored him in the back and despite the major injury he was able to continue and win by break off the bulls horn. He then spent 6 months in bed healing from the wound.
Oyama was also fond of other demonstrations such as brick and stone breaking and sparing matches. He would take on challengers even of different styles and would fight in full contact matches that were often finished in mere seconds. Like with the bulls some matches finished with a single punch, if it hit you your ribs would break and if you blocked it your arm would break.
Teaching and Legacy
He started the Oyama Dojo which he would later officially rename as Kyokushen Karate meaning ‘Ultimate Truth’. His teaching was harsh as was his fighting style. Many students would injure themselves through the rigorous training methods or get injured in the full contact sparring matches. To Mas Oyama this was the truth of Karate, it would have to be practiced at full force or it would not be useful when that power is needed. Though this philosophy and the resulting injuries would keep many students away it had others flocking to it.
At one point in his training he decided he wanted to test himself with the most rigorous challenge he knew. Mas Oyama had heard of other martial arts masters performing a 100 man Kumite, where they spar 100 men in succession. His kumite however became 300 fights as he sparred in full comtact matches with each and every one of his students before cycling through them again, for 100 fights each day for 3 days in a row. Some have said he was willing to go for a 4th day but not enough of his students were able to get back into the ring with him. He instituted a mandatory 100 man kumite for those testing for their 4th dan though this was later made optional as it is a severe challenge even for those of the highest skill.
Mas Oyama was the author of over 80 books in Japanese. Among those are the following which create a core study for practitioners of Karate:
1. The Kyokushin Way
2. What is Karate?
3. This is Karate
4. Advanced Karate
5. Vital Karate
6. Essential Karate
Sosai Masutatsu ‘Godhand’ Oyama passed away in 1994 to lung cancer at the age of 70.