Masutatsu Oyama
大山倍達
The founder of Kyokushin karate, who in 1953 opened the Oyama Dojo in Tokyo and in 1964 founded the International Karate Organization (IKO).
Quick Facts
JapanBiography
Masutatsu Oyama was the founder of Kyokushin karate. He was born on 27 July 1923 in Kintei (Gimje) in Korea under Japanese rule as Choi Yeong-eui, the official IKO website gives the date as 4 June 1923. The Japanese name Oyama Masutatsu is a transcription of the Korean word Baedal, the name of an ancient Korean kingdom. He died on 26 April 1994 in Tokyo at the age of 70.
In 1946–1950 he trained at the Kanbukan dojo and studied Shotokan karate at the dojo of Funakoshi Gichin, and some sources name Funakoshi's son Gigo as his teacher. For several years he also studied Goju-ryu with Nei-chu So. He completed 14 months of isolated training on Mount Minobu and, after winning the Japanese national championship, another 18 months on Mount Kiyosumi.
The name Kyokushin is linked with the hyakunin kumite test (one hundred fights). The claim that Oyama himself completed it three times in three days is questioned, according to Wikipedia, by his former students, and the official IKO website does not mention it. According to the IKO, in May 1954 a sign Oyama Dojo appeared in the garden of his house in Tokyo's Mejiro, other sources give 1953. In 1957 he named his style Kyokushin-kai (ultimate truth) and in 1964 formally founded the International Karate Organization (IKO). His students included Hideyuki Ashihara, Jon Bluming and Peter Urban. He wrote over 80 books in Japanese, including What is Karate? (1958) and This is Karate! (1965).
The IKO states that in 1950 in Tateyama he fought 47 bulls and killed four on the spot, other sources give 52 and three. We have not found independent evidence. His life was adapted in the manga Karate Baka Ichidai (1971) by Ikki Kajiwara. He was also an inspiration for the character Ryu in the game Street Fighter.
Early life
Masutatsu Oyama was born as Choi Yeong-eui in Kintei, today Gimje in Korea. The date of birth differs in the sources: Wikipedia gives 27 July 1923, the official IKO website 4 June 1923. According to Wikipedia he came from a wealthy family and his father Choi Seung-hyun was a respected author of classical Chinese poetry. As a child he was sent to his sister's farm in Manchuria and at the age of nine, according to the traditional account, began learning Chinese martial art from a local farmer.
In March 1938, according to Wikipedia, he went to Japan to join his brother, who had entered the Japanese army's air school. The IKO states that in 1943 he joined the Japanese air corps and in 1946 entered the physical education faculty of Waseda University. According to Wikipedia, he married the Japanese Chiyako that year and they had three children. He acquired Japanese citizenship in 1968.
Training and teachers
The IKO counts among Oyama's teachers Funakoshi Gichin of Shotokan, Yamaguchi Gogen of Goju-ryu and Cho Nyusu (Nei-chu So), in Korean Cho Nyeong-ju, who according to Wikipedia taught him Goju-ryu for several years. According to Wikipedia, Richard Kim introduced him to Kotaro Yoshida, whom Oyama later called his greatest teacher, but another source does not confirm this.
In 1946 he went to train on Mount Minobu in Yamanashi, where, according to Wikipedia, he stayed fourteen months instead of the planned three years. In September 1947, according to the IKO, he won the first postwar All-Japan karate championship in Maruyama Hall in Kyoto. In April 1948 he decided to devote his life to karate and went to Mount Kiyosumi, where, according to the IKO, he trained eighteen months and descended in 1950.
Contribution and innovations
In 1951, according to the IKO, he taught karate to members of the occupation forces at the request of the American army, and in 1952 he demonstrated karate in eleven months at 32 places in the United States. In May 1954 a sign Oyama Dojo appeared in the garden of his house in Tokyo's Mejiro, and in June 1956 training began in a former ballet hall in Ikebukuro, the predecessor of today's headquarters. According to Wikipedia, the style received the name Kyokushinkai in 1957.
In July 1958 the first foreign branch was founded in Hawaii, and in December 1960 Kyokushin had 72 branches in 16 countries. In June 1964 the headquarters building in Nishi-Ikebukuro was completed and the International Karate Organization IKO Kyokushinkaikan was formally established, headed by former prime minister Eisaku Sato. In 1969 Oyama held the first All Japan Open Karate Championship with full contact, and in 1975 the first World Open Karate Championship. According to Wikipedia he published the books What is Karate? (1958) and This is Karate! (1965).
Legends and documented facts
The best-known legend tells of fights with bulls. The IKO states that in 1950 in Tateyama in Chiba Prefecture he fought 47 bulls and killed four on the spot, other overviews give 52 bulls and three killed. According to Wikipedia, former students called the story legend-building, and the only known film footage of a fight with a bull was, they say, staged.
It is similar with the hundred-fights test. The claim that Oyama himself completed it three times in three days is considered practically impossible by his former students, and the official IKO website does not mention it.
The succession is also disputed. The IKO claims that Akiyoshi Matsui was appointed according to Oyama's wish, while according to Wikipedia he was appointed by a will written a few days before his death, which a Tokyo family court found invalid in 1995. We have not found an independent source on the court decision. The IKO gives his eleven principles without a reference to a book or year, so we treat them as attributed sayings.
Legacy
Oyama died on 26 April 1994 of lung cancer at the age of 70. The IKO states that in May 1994 Akiyoshi Matsui became his successor according to his wish. After his death, however, the organization split, and besides the IKO led by Matsui there arose, according to Wikipedia, among others Kenji Midori's Shinkyokushinkai and other groups. According to Wikipedia, his widow Chiyako established a foundation to honor his legacy.
In April 1996 the IKO lifted earlier expulsions and severed relations, and since 2022 some groups have been rejoining it, among them Gogi-kai in 2022, Renkubukan in 2023 and Shinseikai in July 2025.
Teachers, students and family
Associated Martial Arts
Kata and forms
Organisations
- IKO Kyokushinkaikan↗Founder · 1964
Works and sources
Quotes
The way of the martial arts begins and ends with courtesy.
武の道は礼に始まり礼に終わる
Attributed
On the martial path, the first thousand days are the beginning, and only ten thousand days of training bring mastery.
武の道においては千日を初心とし、万日の稽古をもって極みとす
Attributed
Filmography
A screen role does not mean the person actually practises the art — that is listed above.