The ultimate truth

Sosai Masutatsu Oyama was born on July 27, 1923. At age 9, while living on his sister's farm in Manchuria, he began training in Chinese Kenpo, in particular the form known as “The Eighteen Hands”. In 1938 he traveled to Japan hoping to become a pilot, but his destiny lay elsewhere: his interest in martial arts led him to the dojo of Gichin Funakoshi, where he began practicing Okinawan karate.

His dedication was fierce: by age 20 he was already a 4th Dan in karate, and during four years of service in the Imperial Army he also reached 4th Dan in Judo. After the war he found his direction with So Nei Chu, a Korean Goju-Ryu master as famous for his physical strength as for his deep spirituality, who taught him the foundations of Budo and advised him to devote his life to the Way of the Warrior.

Following that advice, Oyama withdrew to the mountains to forge himself in solitude: first on Mount Minobu (1946) and then 18 months on Mount Kiyosumi (1948), training body and mind without rest. In September 1947 he won the All-Japan Open Karate Championship, and he won it again after his mountain retreat. He challenged masters of different martial arts in no-rules fights and defeated them all. That is how he tempered and perfected his karate.

In 1953 he opened his first dojo in Mejiro, Tokyo, where the training was legendary for its toughness. He tested his style against practitioners of every discipline, took the best of each and laid the foundations of a new karate: full contact, with no half-truths. In July 1965 he officially founded the International Karate Organization (IKO) and named his style Kyokushin, “the ultimate truth”, today one of the largest martial arts organizations on the planet. For his contribution to karate he received the honorary title of “Sosai” (founding president).