The founder of Kyokushin karate, Masutatsu Oyama, was born in 1923 near Seoul in South Korea. He studied Chinese kempo at 9 years of age. When he was 12, he went to Japan to live and enrolled at university. After mastering judo, he became a pupil of Gichin Funakoshi himself making such rapid progress that at 17 he was 2nd dan and at 24 became 4th dan. Deciding that he wanted to devote the rest of his life to spreading the knowledge of karate, he spent the next year in seclusion from human society, living in temples and in the mountains; subjecting himself to the physical rigours of martial arts training day and night and meditating on zen precepts, seeking enlightenment. In 1951 he returned to civilisation and started his own training hall in Tokyo.
Karate is both an art and philosophy and, because each person has a different personality, this reflects in their interpretation. Therefore, many karate masters founded their own schools, teaching their style or ryu. “Kyokushin” is the name given to our style.
Masutatsu oyama is the author of many reference books on Kyokushin karate.