It doesn’t matter what you choose, all Truth leads to the same path.
"Keep your head down, your eyes high,your mouth narrow, your mind wide, and your thoughts at the origin for the benefit of others.
It is the process of reaching the divine art that is more important to man than the art itself.
Losing money is a small thing.To lose faith is a great thing.To lose courage is to lose oneself.
The courage to keep going is the key,not to skills, not to knowledge,but to the final victory.
Having something to believe in is the most unshakable justice of all.
Repay double the favor you have received.Forget the grudge
Mas Oyama
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KIWAMI

極真(KYOKUSHIN)。
それは、常に現状に満足せず、
さらなる高みを目指し続ける精神。

Prologue
The aim of Kyokushin is to focus upon and achieve harmony between mind and body.

精神と肉体の完全なる調和を目指すのが、極真の道である。

精神と肉体の完全なる調和を目指すのが、極真の道である。

Never satisfied, Mas Oyama constantly strived to achieve a higher level of mastery of mind and body. Through a lifelong dedication to the thorny path of disciplined martial arts training, through devotion and self-sacrifice to the art, he laid the foundation for modern karate and spread the art of Kyokushin Karate world-wide.

For Mas Oyama the idea of "Kyokushin" was not limited to karate.
This limitless spirit of Kyokushin is at the heart of every path - it can be found in the sciences and arts of education, sport, music, cooking...The target of Kyokushin is to catch a glimpse of the ultimate - the culmination of the path one has chosen - this is achieved by exerting a great deal of energy and results in a total vitalization of one's life. Even after reaching the mastery of his art, Mas Oyama remained tireless in his pursuit of further evolution of his karate. Kyokushin also refers to the spirit of never giving up on the pursuit of growth, and the carving out of a path forwards.

"I would like to convey the importance and a deep greatness of the spirit of Kyokushin to the world, in my high-hopes to inspire this modern world of today and to humbly share the life experiences of the path I have taken. It is my sincerest intention to help some, if not all readers in some way. ” - Founder of IKO Kyokushinkaikan and Kyokushin Karate Masutatsu Oyama

再生
停止
Biography
Longing for strength awakened at the age of nine.

若干九歳で目覚めた「強さ」への憧れ。

若干九歳で目覚めた「強さ」への憧れ。

As a child, Masutatsu Oyama was a normal boy who felt he had a calling to be something big. He was a dreamy boy who watched movies, longed to be a ninja, and worked hard at his correspondence course in Kiai-jutsu( a type of martial art discipline, training one’s supernatural power or magic in Japan). Later years he read the Bismarck biography and had great ambitions to be involved in politics and the military.
The turning point for Oyama came at the age of nine, when he saw a small and middle-aged man defeat a huge guy in an instant moment. Since then, Oyama has had a special interest in "strength" and has studied various martial arts. And one of them was karate, which he would spend his life training. Oyama was meticulous and sincere and had the patience to practice for hours and hours by himself.

A lifetime together after encountering Karate and Chiyako.

生涯を共に歩む「空手」と「智弥子」との出会い。

生涯を共に歩む「空手」と「智弥子」との出会い。

It was shortly after the WW2, the scenery that were left was of a national despair and burnt fields of Tokyo, that he met his wife, Chiyako. In the moment, Oyama fell in love with her and made passionate approach to her, making daily visits to her home and eventually winning her heart.
Their life together was rough from the beginning. Like the words of the wedding vows, "for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health" she was stood by side of Oyama until his last breath. When they were poor and living in a wood shack Oyama used to study and read while rain leaked from the rooftop, Chiyako quietly held an umbrella over her husband and his books.
In later years Oyama would frequently note to others that he did not become strong on his own. He always thanked Chiyako for her endless support to him and his passion hence the world-famous karate master and the creation of Kyokushin Karate was born.
Mas Oyama hid himself in the mountains and trained karate. After coming down from the mountains, he won a karate tournament held in Kyoto and trained even harder to become a great karate master.

The “God Hand” that shook the world. And then, To the fight with 47 southern oxen.

世界を震撼させたGOD HAND。そして、四十七頭の南部牛との激闘へ

世界を震撼させたGOD HAND。そして、四十七頭の南部牛との激闘へ

In 1952, Oyama was invited by a famous a “Ni Sei” a second generation Japanese / American wrestler named “Great Togo” to the United States with another fellow Japanese judo fighter Kokichi Endo. The three formed a unit and adopted their wrestling alias - “The Togo's Brothers”. As Oyama became “Mas Togo", he toured with other “Togo Brothers” and participated in the wrestling matches around the Midwest and South Atlantic to show Americans the power of Karate. He showed his strength by breaking wooden boards, crushing stones, and sometimes inviting challengers such as wrestlers and huge guys from spectators. People marveled at his lightning quick moves (some people named him "Thunderbolt Togo"), praised them as magical, and eventually called him the “God Hand” or “Hand of God.”
In 1954, Oyama challenged himself to break the horns of a Japanese bull with his bare hands, each bulls weighed over 900 lbs and filmed for a documentary at the beach in Tateyama, Chiba Prefecture. Oyama had successfully broke the horns of 47 bulls in the previous six months of the training period, the bull that was chosen for the film was a size of another level. It was his first time to fight a bull of that size, he was very nervous. After a fierce battle, he broke the horns with a shuto (knife-hand strike) blow and finally ripped them off. Although he may be criticized today, he was undoubtedly the result of his dedicated training of “Oyama Karate”.

Wise sayings by Mas Oyama
大山倍達の名言たち
It doesn’t matter what you choose, all Truth leads to the same path.
It doesn’t matter what you choose, all Truth leads to the same path.
Keep your head bowed but aim high, keep your mouth shut, your heart and mind open and be devoted to the welfare of others.
Keep your head bowed but aim high, keep your mouth shut, your heart and mind open and be devoted to the welfare of others.
The process of pursuing the mastery of each technique is more important than the technique itself.
The process of pursuing the mastery of each technique is more important than the technique itself.
To lose money is a small thing. To lose faith is a great thing. To lose courage is the greatest loss of oneself.
To lose money is a small thing. To lose faith is a great thing. To lose courage is the greatest loss of oneself.
Courage, faith and determination are more important in the final victory than skill or knowledge.
Courage, faith and determination are more important in the final victory than skill or knowledge.
To cultivate the ability believe in yourself is the right way of living truthfully.
To cultivate the ability believe in yourself is the right way of living truthfully.
Repay double the favor you have received and forget all grudges.
Repay double the favor you have received and forget all grudges.
An insatiable quest for strength. The strength that went beyond oceans, attracted Karate practitioners from all over the world.

強さへの飽くなき探求心。その強さは海を越え、世界各国から空手修行者を集めた。

強さへの飽くなき探求心。その強さは海を越え、世界各国から空手修行者を集めた。

After the bull fight Oyama wanted to fight Hokkaido grizzly bear. He had planned to keep a bear cub and live in the area for research of bear's living. He was forced to give up the fight due to protests from both the prefecture and the environmentalist in the area. However Oyama's personal fighting history took a drastic shift in another form.
Mas Oyama dedicated his life to Budo Karate. Focused on becoming the strongest in the world he was reluctant to take any disciples.
He was a fervorous seeker, sometimes asking Chiyako to stab him in the buttocks with an ice pick to lift a heavy barbell he otherwise could not lift.
However, there was the number of neighborhood boys who admired Oyama's strength, and soon he had a growing number of students at home.
At that time, Oyama wanted to publish a book on karate overseas based on his experience in the US. He also received numerous invitations to teach karate overseas, but there was a limit to what he could do on his own.
In 1957, Oyama opened The Oyama Dojo (training hall) in Ikebukuro, Tokyo, which he had renovated from a ballet studio the previous year. Oyama decided to teach karate to many young people as well and named his karate dojo "Kyokushin-kai (society of ultimate truth)".

Holding the world's All-Japan Karate Tournament with “full-contact karate rule”, he built up the ultimate form of Karate in his lifetime.”

直接打撃制による空手世界大会の実施。空手の究極の形を、一代で築きあげた。

直接打撃制による空手世界大会の実施。空手の究極の形を、一代で築きあげた。

In 1958, Oyama published his first technical book "What is karate?", the first karate book in English. As a result, it blazed overseas triggering an instant karate boom.
In 1965, he published a sequel and another international best-seller, “This is karate", which attracted many foreign karate practitioners to the Tokyo Headquarters and further spread karate to the world.
In 1969, Oyama, who was dissatisfied with the traditional non-contact karate rule, advocated a system of direct strikes with bare knuckles, which he named it “full-contact karate rule” and the tournament with the new rules. Some magazines ridiculed as a "deadly karate tournament", eventually created a trend and became a major force.
In 1991, more than 200 fighters from over 100 countries gathered at Oyama's world tournament and fought fiercely. This was probably the world's largest tournament by a single organization which not affiliated with a nation. Oyama had accomplished a great deal in his lifetime. Now he became the man who accomplished the great things he once dreamed of.
In 1994, Mas Oyama was passed away. Many of his students were saddened by his passing and all individually vowed to carry on his legacy.
The achievements of Oyama, who continued to fight until the end of his life, are represented by his 12 million students in 130 countries. He did not appoint successor for the organization he built.
And even today, those who admire his strength and philosophy are studying Kyokushin Karate, and fulfilling the path of Kyokushin which he founded.

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極真とはなにか