The founder of Kyokushin, Masutatsu
Oyama, was born Choi Yeong-eui on
27 July, 1923 in southern Korea. As a
young child, Oyama studied Chinese
and Korean Kempo. In 1938, he
emigrated to Japan and studied Judo
and Okinawan Karate under Gichin
Funakoshi. He attained upper rank or
"dan" status in both disciplines. Also,
at this time he took his Japanese
name, Masutatsu Oyama, in order to
better assimilate into Japan.
Masutatsu, or simply, Mas, Oyama was
the name he would primarily use for
the rest of his life. After World War II,
Oyama trained in Goju Ryu karate
under a Korean master- So Nei Chu.
During this time, he retreated into the
mountains for almost three years to
train in solitude. Oyama engaged in
intense, full-time martial arts training
during this period and also traveled to
the U.S. to engage in exhibition bouts
with professional wrestlers.
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. Oyama's
own curriculum soon developed a
reputation as a tough, intense,
hard-hitting, but practical style. 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
formally organized the style of karate
as Kyokushin-kai.
