Kyokushin's founder : Sosai Masutatsu Oyama

Masutatsu Oyama is one the most respected Karateka in the world. He forged his reputation with his own hands and feet and destroyed the discrimation toward koreans in Japan. He was Born in Korea as Choi Young I in 1923 (at that time, Korea was Imperial Japan) and will leave for Japan at the age of 15. His name will then change to Masutatsu Oyama.

After the second world war and many months of training in the moutains he will defeat many martial art masters and will be nicknamed "The hand of God". He is the incarnation of the japanese proverb "Ichi Geki, Hissatsu" meaning "One hit is sure to kill".

Some important dates

1927 : Birth of Choi Young I in Korea.
1946 : Begins training for 14  months in the mountains.
1947 : Win first place in the First Japanese National Martial Arts Championship open to every style.
1948 : Decides to truly embrace martial art path and begin a new training in the moutain for 18 month. Each day he trains for 12 hours.
1950 : He lives near a slaughter-house and decide to fight bulls. He kills 4 of them and cut the horns of 47 with his hands.
1951 : He wins a fight against Nino Eagle (a well known judoka) and Ryoma (a ninja). In Musashino, he fights with 40 men, defeating them all.
1952 : He goes to the US to show his art and perform demonstrations in 32 cities.
1953 : He returns to the US. In Chicago, he will fight a bull and cut it's horns with his bare hands.
1994 : Dies on April 26, 1994, at the age of 71, of lung cancer.


Currently, Kyokushin Karate is practiced by more than 12 million practitioners in over 120 countries around the world and the number is always growing up!