evergrey
Member
Get over yourself, mate.
Posts: 854
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Post by evergrey on Mar 23, 2011 23:40:19 GMT -5
OSU, I'm trying to research the life and achievements of Mas Oyama, but it seems like every article tells a different story and makes different claims. How on earth do I verify what's actually TRUE, and what's a myth? One article says he was drafted into the Japanese army, another said he chose to move to Japan and enlist. Some say he did 100 man kumites three days in a row for a total of 300 fights, but I cannot seem to find any evidence of this, dates, times, locations, participants, eyewitness accounts, anything. A bunch of websites claim that he fought 52 or 53 bulls, and killed three outright. Another says he might have beat up somebody's tame ox, and that the horn he chopped through was partially sawed off already. Another says he was gored in Mexico. I hear about how he killed a guy in a bar fight who drew a knife on him, and then spent 6 months or a year or something in front of the widow's house until she finally forgave him. Did he actually kill someone? Who was it? When did he do this sitting in front of the house, if he did? I read that he had some teacher in Korea who had him jump over a seedling 100 times a day, but that this might be legend and he might have first started learning martial arts when he took of Shotokan. I've seen people say he was involved with the Yakuza, I've seen people say that he fought the Yakuza. I've heard that he went around challenging and defeating dojos all over Japan. I've heard that he never challenged, because that meant a fight to the death.
Is there actually any way to reliably verify or disprove any of this stuff?
Heh, somebody in my class the other day said "yeah, didn't he do a 500 man kumite? And a 1,000 man kumite?"
I wonder what the story will be in 25 years!
Frustrating.
OSU
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Post by MMX on Mar 23, 2011 23:49:21 GMT -5
There are lots of stories and rumors. Somewhere in the middle is the truth.
What we do know is that he had the courage to develop Kyokushin and it lives on with us today.
The other stuff does not really matter now does it?
Osu!
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evergrey
Member
Get over yourself, mate.
Posts: 854
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Post by evergrey on Mar 23, 2011 23:51:03 GMT -5
Haha, it does if you're supposed to write his biography. :/
(though I do agree with the overall sentiment! OSU!)
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Post by powerof0ne on Mar 24, 2011 9:41:04 GMT -5
If you want to get to some of the middle ground about Sosai I heavily encourage to read up on Kaicho Bluming's interviews on the man.
I'm not saying everything Kaicho Bluming says is true (how could I know?) but he definitely gives you a different perspective then most do.
The Yakuza in Japan are involved in some martial arts and martial arts competition and probably always will be to some degree. However, Sosai was in charge of Kyokushin when he was alive.
The only way I think you could verify anything is if you had direct contact with people that trained for a long period of time with Sosai at the honbu when he was alive.
I personally think that Sosai was a great Man that founded a great style of karate that will live on many years after his death but that he was still a Man. Osu!
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Post by medguy on Mar 24, 2011 12:04:33 GMT -5
I started Kyokushin under a former student of Shigeru Oyama, and who had also trained under Sosai Mas Oyama. He told me a few interesting stories based upon his observations while he was in Japan. I don't know if I should share them over an open forum.
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Post by MMX on Mar 24, 2011 14:43:23 GMT -5
I think we should all best leave those off of the forums... Osu!
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Post by smoke on Mar 25, 2011 0:19:41 GMT -5
I read an article about Oyama recapped by one of his students named Jon Bluming. I heard the bull killing with one strike was well, bull sh--.
I don't blame Oyama for inflating his own reputation, I blame the nut riders for making all these so-called myths or stories that still cause controversy like his one punch one kill stories.
Just like there are fanatics/fan boys out there that still claim Bruce Lee could beat any modern day MMA fighter and he founded MMA.
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fatjoe
Member
Just for Kicks
Posts: 98
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Post by fatjoe on Mar 29, 2011 10:07:25 GMT -5
There are films of Oyama fighting the bulls, old and grainy but there is no denying what is going on and how he is being moved around quite a bit. As for the "one punch, one kill"........maybe??? but i would have to see it and not believe it on blind faith.
Osu!!
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Post by powerof0ne on Mar 29, 2011 12:09:31 GMT -5
There is romantic "tales", "stories", etc. about most founders and high ranking instructors of various martial arts.
One person I learned Muay Thai from was said to have said to invented the "crocodiles tail whip kick" in MT (similar to "Brazilian kick) by fighting crocodiles...I didn't buy that for a second LOL.
Ueshiba O'sensei, the founder of Aikido was have said to get a hole in one the first time he ever swung a golf club and it was supposedly a long drive hole in one, not a simple putt.
So, it does not surprise me one bit that there are some crazy stories about Sosai considering he founded a style that enabled so many to become very tough fighters during his time and after he passed to this current day.
For what it's worth I don't think I ever heard of Sosai going around making these claims and stories for himself. Osu!
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evergrey
Member
Get over yourself, mate.
Posts: 854
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Post by evergrey on Mar 30, 2011 2:36:40 GMT -5
OSU, Would y'all like to see what I ended up writing?
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Post by senshido on Mar 30, 2011 4:12:23 GMT -5
OSU, Would y'all like to see what I ended up writing? yes please
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Post by hokuto12 on Mar 30, 2011 4:16:43 GMT -5
OSU, Would y'all like to see what I ended up writing? Osu That would be great. Thanks.
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evergrey
Member
Get over yourself, mate.
Posts: 854
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Post by evergrey on Apr 1, 2011 3:56:58 GMT -5
Not sure just how good I feel about it, but here you go. :}
Mas Oyama and Kyokushin
OSU
Legends abound about Mas Oyama, his life, his motivations, and his deeds. Stories are told, stories and shared, stories grow and become accepted as fact. Without having been present at these times in his life, it seems to be nearly impossible to verify the veracity of many of the claims people make about him today. Those who knew him tell completely different stories. Politics and grudges taint the telling of tales, and all too often people have used Oyama's name to promote their own egos. Those who never knew him, or never spoke with him directly about the things that he did, are eager to embrace the legends of his heroic feats. Very little documentation seems to have survived to this time, and much of what exists is out of print and difficult to gain access to.
These are things that are generally accepted as facts: Masutatsu Oyama, born to the name Yong-I Cho (or Hyung Yee Choi) in a Japan-Occupied Korea on July 27th, 1923, is the founder of our style, Kyokushin. At the age of 15 he moved to Japan. He was enlisted in the Japanese army, where he attended aviation school. He became a student of Gichin Funakoshi, who founded the Shotokan style. He also said to have studied Goju-ryu, under Nei-Chi So, Aiki-jujutsu Yoshida Kotaro, and Judo. In these early years, he changed his name to Masutatsu Oyama. His name is generally now shortened to simply "Mas Oyama." Oyama spent some time touring the USA in 1952, becoming a member of the Pro-Wrestling Association, and fought a number of matches. Oyama retreated to train in the mountains twice in his life- the first time, for a period of 14 months, and the second time, for a period of 18 months. In 1953 he opened a dojo, which he called "Oyama Dojo." In 1957, he formally named his style "Kyokushin," which means "ultimate truth." In 1964 he founded the International Karate Organization Kyokushinkaikan. Kyokushinkaikan translates roughly to "society of the ultimate truth." His organization continued to grow, with schools opening all over the world. He held numerous full contact karate tournaments, which were open to any style. The All-Japan Full Contact Karate Open Championships were held annually, starting in 1969. The first international tournament, the World Full Contact Karate Open Championships, was held in 1975, and subsequently held once every four years. Kyokushin continued to expand until there were dojos in over 120 countries, and over 12 million students. In April of 1994, Mas Oyama passed away, his life claimed by a foe he could not defeat, lung cancer. Following his passing, massive disputes broke out over who should lead the IKO, legal battles erupted, old grudges and new grabs for power came to a head, and Oyama's organization was torn asunder, splintering into many factions. These factions have, in the years following Oyama's death, splintered again and again, forming numerous organizations and associations which claim to follow Oyama's true vision of Kyokushin. Many of his old students and their students have also broken off to form their own styles, though some of this occurred before Oyama passed away.
Politics are an insidious poison, a cancer in the heat of the martial arts. They distract us from the purity of focus that we should always strive towards. We must remain ever-vigilant and hold true to the spirit of Kyokushin.
Relevant to our own lineage is Oyama's student Don Buck. Don Buck was a powerful man, capable of great feats of strength. He trained in many styles of martial art, including Judo, jujitsu, and Hun-Gar Kung Fu. In the 1950s, Buck met Oyama, and eventually became his student, training intensively for 4 hours a day. After a year of this training Buck began to teach Kyokushin, and some years after this, Oyama came back and tested Buck, promoting him to yondan. It is said that Oyama also took Buck around to different schools to fight so that he could do the 100 man kumite. Buck was a veteran, having joined the Navy when he turned 16. He later became a police officer. Oyama placed him as head of the American Kyokushin Karate Organization. He also founded the Kyokushin School of the Tiger, at which he trained many great karateka. He was said to be a dear friend of Mas Oyama's, and a good man.
There are many legends which have grown over the years. They are difficult to verify, but I will list and discuss some of them here.
It is said that Oyama lived on his sister's farm in Southern China at a young age, where he was trained in a form of kempo by one of the workers there, a man named Lee or Yi. At the age of 13 he was said to have returned to his family and continued to train in some version of kempo.
Oyama was, for a time, quite enamored with the 100 man kumite. It has been said that he fought in three 100 man kumites over the course of three days, fighting his own students until they could no longer take him on. Whether or not this occurred for certain, I do not know, because I have been unable to find any record of it. A number of his students, however, have gone down on record as having fought through 100 man kumites.
Perhaps one of the most disputed and controversial claims are the bull fights. Today, it is generally accepted as common knowledge that Oyama fought 52 bulls bare-handed, killing three or four instantly with one strike and chopping the horns off of the rest with a shuto. There is only one surviving recording of an encounter between Oyama and a bull. Filmed in 1954 in the Chiba Prefecture, one can observe Oyama wrestling with a bull that has a rope running through it's nose and over it's ear or horn. Oyama struggles with the beast, pulling it down with the use of the rope and his own strength, and one can see him knocking off a horn. Some claim that the horn was sawed most of the way through or struck with a hammer before the fight. It is impossible to tell from the short, grainy clips of film. There are those, amongst which John Bluming, a former student, is the most vocal, who claim that Oyama did not fight 52 bulls, and that the ox he wrestled was very old. It appears that he wrestled with at least two bulls, though I have been unable to verify any actual kills. It is also said that Oyama was gored by a bill in Mexico, which took him 6 months to recover from, but I have also been unable to find any mention of this spoken by the man himself.
There is a story that states that Oyama killed a man who was threatening him in a bar with a knife. It is said that he struck the man with a blow so forceful that he died. In this story, Oyama was found innocent because it was a clear case of self defense, but he was very shaken by the fact that he had killed a man, and filled with regret when he discovered that the man had left behind a wife and children. He then went to the home of the widow and worked for her, begging forgiveness until she finally assured him that he was forgiven and that she did not hold him responsible for the death of her husband. This is said to be the reason for Oyama's first retreat into the mountains. I have also not been able to find any records of this event.
Many say that Oyama joined the Japanese army during WWII, that he felt strongly patriotic towards Japan and was crushed by it's defeat. Oyama himself stated in a speech that he was drafted into the army. He said, "I wanted to be today's Miyamoto Musashi. Then the war came. It just happened to be that I did not die in the war, but after the war, and even now, I felt very sorry for my friends who did die. So I started living for Karate, and I suppose I will even die for Karate."
Ultimately, however, from accounts that I have read from people who knew him, and from the interviews I have read or listened to, Oyama felt that he was not a god, not a great hero, but a man. A great man who dedicated his life to karate, and to Kyokushin.
In 1978, he said: "Japan has many Karate styles, but Kyokushin is the strictest. Hard to yourself, kind to others; this is Budo, and this is why I insist that Kyokushin remains strict." He stated that spirit, that Zen, was where Karate came from. That the understanding and control of breath was essential. He felt that instructors should not be soft on themselves while being hard on their students- that "they should never order the students to do 1000 kicks until they themselves have done it." He also held in high esteem those who are fighters, who always meet a challenge. To those who push themselves, and who endure.
When, in an interview in 1992, Oyama was asked what the most important aspect of training was to become a great Kyokushin karateka, he replied, "the most important thing we develop is the attitude and spirit. Of course they train a hard style and become strong, but the most important thing is that strength is pointless without a pure attitude. If I can describe the true spirit of Kyokushin simply, it is this: the person should have their head bowed in humility, whilst their eyes are kept high in hope. They are reserved in speech, but they have a very broad heart. Always thinking of others. At the basis of their attitude is a true filial piety, a true love for their parents, and a constant desire to be of service to other people. That is the true Kyokushin spirit."
And so I believe that the best way we can honor this great man and all that he sacrificed to bring Kyokushin to the world is to do our best to train in the way he intended, to push, to endure, to practice, and to live our lives as warriors, not as thugs. To grow strong, but to always strive for right actions. To be honorable, to have humility, to have compassion for others and to fight for what we feel is right and good in this world.
OSU
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GJEC
Member
LOUGHBOROUGH ENSHIN
Posts: 3,218
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Post by GJEC on Apr 1, 2011 6:41:20 GMT -5
That reads well.
I'm not surprised it's hard to get facts. Most people don't want the truth about any historical or sporting legend. They want the dream and in most cases the bigger the better.
Gary
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