Mas Oyama

Mas Oyama
Mas Oyama
Occupation(s)	Karate-ka, Martial Artist
Spouse	Chiyako Oyama (1926–2006)

Masutatsu Oyama (大山倍達 Ōyama Masutatsu), also known as Mas Oyama was a karate master who founded Kyokushinkai, a major style of full contact karate. He was born Choi Yeong-eui (최영의; 崔永宜), but preferred to be called Choi Bae-dal (최배달; 崔倍達) to indicate his Korean ethnicity, since Baedal is a word for the Korean people. A Zainichi Korean, he spent most of his life living in Japan and had citizenship in both Japan and South Korea.^[2]

Early life

Oyama was born in Gimje, North Jeolla in what is now South Korea, but was then Imperial Japan. At a young age he was sent to Northeast China to live on his sister's farm. Oyama began studying martial arts at age 9 from a man who was working on the farm. Five years later he moved to Japan where he enlisted in the Imperial Japanese Army at 15, apparently hoping to become a Japanese fighter pilot. He went to Japan at the inspiration of General Kanji Ishihara who was against the invasion of Asian neighbours (as a consequence he was ostracised by higher ranks of the Japanese Army), to carve out his future in the heart of the Empire of Japan.

Some say that he was recruited by the Imperial Japanese Army to unwittingly be a kamikaze pilot^{[citation needed]}, but before he could realize this goal, World War II had ended with Japan in defeat. He studied shotokan karate and various other styles of martial arts, training alone on Mt. Minoubu in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. It was said that he shaved one of his eyebrows so he would not leave the mountains. He stayed in the mountain for a total of 14 months and was forced to leave after his sponsor had stopped supporting him. Months later, after he had won the Karate Section of Japanese National Martial Arts Championships, he was distraught that he had not reached his original goal to train in the mountains for three years, so he went into solitude again, this time on Mt. Kiyosumi and he trained there for 18 months. Although many of Oyama's followers repeat the story of Oyama's training alone in the mountains, Oyama apparently never confirmed whether this story was true or not.^[3]

Oyama enrolled at Takushoku University in Tokyo and was accepted as a student at the dojo (training hall) of Gichin Funakoshi, the founder of shotokan. He trained with Funakoshi for two years, then studied Goju Ryu karate for several years with So Nei Chu (소네이쥬, 1907-?), a senior student of the system's founder, Chojun Miyagi.

Portions of the early history of Mas Oyama are disputed, particularly by one of Oyama's early students Jon Bluming.^[3]

Founds Kyokushin

In 1953, Oyama opened his own karate dojo, named "Oyama Dojo," in Tokyo but continued to travel around Japan and the world giving martial arts demonstrations, including the fighting and killing of live bulls with his bare hands. His dojo was first located outside in an empty lot, but eventually moved into a ballet school 1956. Oyama's own curriculum soon developed a reputation as a tough, intense, hard-hitting, but practical style, which was finally named "kyokushin" in a ceremony 1957. He also developed a reputation for being "rough" with his students, often injuring them, during training sessions. As the reputation of the dojo grew, students were attracted to come to train there from in and outside Japan and the number of students grew. Many of the eventual senior leaders of today's various Kyokushin-based organizations began training in the style during this time. In 1964, Oyama moved the dojo into the building that would from then on serve as the kyokushin home dojo and world headquarter. In connection with this he also formally founded the organization "International karate organization kyokushinkaikan" (commonly abbreviated to IKO or IKOK), to organize the many schools that were by then teaching the kyokushin style.

After formally establishing Kyokushin-kai, Oyama directed the organization through a period of expansion. Oyama and his staff of hand-picked instructors displayed great ability in marketing the style and gaining new members. Oyama would choose an instructor to open a dojo in another town or city in Japan. The instructor would move to that town and usually demonstrate his karate skills in public places, such as at the civic gymnasium, the local police gym (where many judo students would practice), a local park, or conduct martial arts demonstrations at local festivals or school events. In this way, the instructor would soon gain a few students for his new dojo. After that, word of mouth would spread through the local area until the dojo had a dedicated core of students. Oyama also sent instructors to other countries such as the United States of America and Brazil to spread Kyokushin in the same way. Oyama also promoted Kyokushin by holding "All-world" karate tournaments every few years in which anyone could enter from any style.

Final years

Before dying, Oyama built his Tokyo-based International Karate Organization, Kyokushinkai, into one of the world's foremost martial arts associations, with branches in more than 120 countries boasting over 10 million registered members. In Japan, books were written by and about him, feature-length films splashed his colorful life across the big screen, and comic books recounted his many adventures.

Oyama died at the age of 71, on April 26, 1994, of lung cancer, as a non-smoker.

Depiction

A manga about Oyama's legacy, Karate Baka Ichidai (literal title:"The Fanatical Karate Generation") was published in Weekly Shonen Magazine in 1971, the manga was written by Ikki Kajiwara while the art was done by Jirō Tsunoda and Jōya Kagemaru. A 47 episode anime adaptation was released in 1973, the anime had several changes in the plot and for some reason replaced Mas Oyama with a fictional character named Ken Asuka as the main character. However the anime, although some of its plot was different from the manga was still inspired by Oyama's legacy like in the manga.

Oyama was played by Japanese actor Sonny Chiba in the martial arts film trilogy based on the manga (Ikki Kajiwara, Jirō Tsunoda and Jōya Kagemaru were credited as original creators) Champion of Death (1975), Karate Bearfighter (1975), and Karate for Life (1977). Oyama also appears in the first two films.

Oyama's life story is also portrayed in the 2004 South Korean film Fighter in the Wind or Baramui Fighter.

Books

File:Kyokushin way.jpg

Oyama also wrote books on the philosophy of Kyokushin.

The Kyokushin Way. ISBN 0-87040-460-1
What is Karate? ISBN 0-87040-147-5
This is Karate. ISBN 0-87040-254-4
Advanced Karate. ASIN B000BQYRBQ
Vital Karate. ISBN 2-901551-53-X

References

^ MAS OYAMA'S BUDO KARATE. Mrs Chiyako Oyama
^ "최영의는 싸움꾼이 아니라 진정한 무술인 Choi Yeong-eui was not a fighter but a true martial artist" (in Korean). Retrieved 2007-01-20. Interview with his son
^ ^a ^b RealFighting.com - Reality-based Self-defense. Jon Bluming, Europe’s first Mixed Martial Artist Bluming asserts, based on first-hand history with Oyama, that most, if not all, of the legends about Oyama's early years are false and were perpetrated by Oyama's followers, not Oyama himself.

External links

[1] MAS OYAMA'S BUDO KARATE. Mrs Chiyako Oyama

[2] "최영의는 싸움꾼이 아니라 진정한 무술인 Choi Yeong-eui was not a fighter but a true martial artist" (in Korean). Retrieved 2007-01-20. Interview with his son

[WR-3] RealFighting.com - Reality-based Self-defense. Jon Bluming, Europe’s first Mixed Martial Artist Bluming asserts, based on first-hand history with Oyama, that most, if not all, of the legends about Oyama's early years are false and were perpetrated by Oyama's followers, not Oyama himself.

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