Kyokushin Karate

There are very comprehensive details about Mas Oyama's life on Wikipedia, Australian Kyokushin, and elswehere, as well as the history and spread of Kyokushin worldwide.

Below is just a very brief note about Kyokushin. Click the links above if you want more details.

Kyokushin was formally founded by Masutatsu Oyama in 1964, but he had been developing since the early 1950s. As a child, he also trained in Kempo, and later extensively in Shotokan under Gichin Funakoshi, Goju Ryu under So Nei Chu, and Judo.

Kyokushin rapidly gained in popularity, to the extent that more than 12 million people worldwide practice it. It became known as "The Strongest Karate", not only because of the incredible feats of strength and endurance that Mas Oyama performed, such as the 300 man kumite, but also because of the rigorous requirements of training and tournaments.

It requires you to be strong in mind and body, and this characteristic of its practitioners is generally well recognised among the martial arts in general. Kyokushin is best known for its full contact fighting.

In 1994, Mas Oyama died, leaving behind a saddened organisation. The original one he formed broke up into a number of different ones using the same, or similar, name, which sometimes is a source of confusion to the uninitiated.

The spirit of Kyokushin however still remains much the same in most of the groups.

KYOKUSHIN means "search for the ultimate truth"

This is represented by the stylised Japanese kanji characters on the left (or above if you're on mobile) of this paragraph. These are embroidered over the heart on every Kyokushin karate uniform, and some practitioners even have it tattooed on their chest in the same place.

This truth is a personal truth - it cannot be given to you. You must find it through training, sweat, pain, but above all, persistence.

It is almost universally recognised by most established martial arts. The logo was developed for Mas Oyama by a renowned calligrapher.

The Kanku (to the right on large screen, but below on mobile) represent two hands raised high, index fingers and thumbs touching and wide apart, gazing at the sun in the space in between.  This is not an original Kyokushin symbol though, with its origins in Shotokan where Sosai got his initial training. It is however very significant in Kyokushin, and the Kanku Kata is the signature Kyokushin kata.