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KyokushinKyokushin (極真) or Kyokushinkai (極真会) is a style of Karate founded by Masutatsu Oyama (大山倍達) in 1964. Kyokukushinkai is Japanese for "the society for the ultimate truth". It is considered one of the most challenging forms of Karate. Developed by Masutatsu Oyama , this is probably the hardest form of Karate today, placing great emphasis on combat effectiveness. Oyama himself has fought and killed bulls in demonstration fights, fighting unarmed and without protection. This form of Karate takes on all comers, the instructor and its students all must have taken part in sparring. Unlike other forms of Karate, Kyukushin demands the black belts spar without any gloves or safety gear on. Each fighter is expected to be not only strong, but be able to take the hits as they come, making this martial art both dangerous and difficult to master. History and philosophy Masutatsu Oyama Sosai Mas Oyama An Early Start Masutatsu (Mas) Oyama was born Yong I-Choi on the 27th of July, 1923, in a village not far from Gunsan in Southern Korea. At a relatively young age he was sent to Manchuria, in Southern China, to live on his sister's farm. At the age of nine, he started studying the Southern Chinese form of Kempo called Eighteen hands from a Mr. Yi who was at the time working on the farm. When Oyama returned to Korea at the the age of 12, he continued his training in Korean Kempo. In 1938, at the age of 15, he travelled to Japan to train as an aviator, to be like his hero of the time, Korea's first fighter pilot. Survival on his own at that age proved to be more difficult than he thought, especially as a Korean in Japan, and the aviator training fell by the wayside. Gichin Funakoshi He did however continue martial arts training, by participating in judo and boxing, and one day he noticed some students training in Okinawan Karate. This interested him very much and he went to train at the dojo of Gichin Funakoshi at Takushoku University, where he learned what is today known as CyberDojo home pages. His training progress was such that by the age of seventeen he was already a 2nd dan, and by the time he entered the Japanese Imperial Army at 20, he was a fourth dan. At this point he also took a serious interest in judo, and his progress there was no less amazing. By the time he had quit training in Judo. So Nei Chu The defeat of Japan and the subsequent indignity of Occupation almost proved to be too much for Mas Oyama, who nearly despaired. Fortunately for all of us, So Nei Chu came into his life at that time. Master So, another Korean (from Oyama's own province) living in Japan, was one of the highest authorities on Goju Ryu in Japan at the time. He was renowned for both his physical and spiritual strength. It was he who encouraged Mas Oyama to dedicate his life to the Martial Way. It was he too who suggested that Oyama should retreat away from the rest of the world for 3 years while training his mind and body. Mountain Training When he was 23 years old, Mas Oyama met Eiji Yoshikawa, the author of the novel Musashi, which was based on the life and exploits of Japan's most famous Samurai. Both the novel and the author helped to teach Mas Oyama about the Samurai Bushido code and what it meant. That same year, Oyama went to Mt. Minobu in the Chiba Prefecture, where Musashi had developed his Nito-Ryu style of swordfighting. Oyama thought that this would be an appropriate place to commence the rigours of training he had planned for himself. Among the things he took with him was a copy of Yoshikawa's book. A student named Yashiro also came with him. The relative solitude was strongly felt, and after 6 months, Yashiro secretly fled during the night. It became even harder for Oyama, who wanted more than ever to return to civilisation. So Nei Chu wrote to him that he should shave off an eyebrow in order to get rid of the urge. Surely he wouldn't want anyone to see him that way! This and other more moving words convinced Oyama to continue, and he resolved to become the most powerful karate-ka in Japan. Soon however, his sponsor informed him that he was no longer able to support him and so, after fourteen months, he had to end his solitude. A few months later, in 1947, Mas Oyama won the karate section of the first Japanese National Martial Arts Championships after WWII. However, he still felt empty for not having completed the three years of solitude. He then decided to dedicate his life completely to karate-do. So he started again, this time on Mt. Kiyozumi, also in Chiba Prefecture. This site he chose for its spiritually uplifting environment. This time his training was fanatical - 12 hours a day every day with no rest days, standing under (cold) buffeting waterfalls, breaking river stones with his hands, using trees as makiwara, jumping over rapidly growing flax plants hundreds of times each day. Each day also included a period of study of the ancients classics on the Martial arts, Zen, and philosophy. After eighteen months he came down fully confident of himself, and able to take control of his life. Never again would he be so heavily influenced by his society around him. (Though it is probably safe to say that his circumstances were also probably never again as traumatic!) Kancho Shokei Matsui It was with much sadness that in late April of 1994, the Kyokushin family across the globe learnt that its founder Sosai Masutatsu Oyama had died in a Tokyo hospital. He is missed by not only the masses that have followed in his footsteps but by the martial arts community as well. His successor. Kancho Shokei Matsui Eighth Dan was named by Sosai himself to carry on the task of building and preserving the name of Kyokushin. Kancho Matsui was born in 1963, and commenced his illustrious karate career at the age of 13. He quickly established a firm reputation for being a karate man of exceptional skill and ability, with a highly individual, technically superior style of fighting. He took the basics he learnt in the dojo, and through intense and dedicated training, he made these techniques work for him. Students around the world continue to try and capture some of the essence of Kancho's style of fighting in their own training. His exceptional tournament record, over three successive years in particular, led Sosai Oyama to call him "a true champion". In 1985, at the age of 22, he won the 12th All Japan Open Tournament. In 1986, he won the 13th All Japan Open Tournament and in 1987, he won the 4th World Open Karate Tournament. Additionally, in 1986 he succeeded in the One Hundred Men Kumite, achieving the highest rate of knockdowns and wins in this ultimate challenge, which only a select few have managed to complete. Ultimately, the stature of the man is confirmed in his designation as Sosai Oyama's successor in Sosai's last will, and he now heads the largest karate organization in the world. Techniques The Kyokushin system is based on traditional Karate like Shotokan and Goju Ryu, but incorporates many elements of combat sports like Boxing and Kickboxing in Kumite. Many techniques like Hiza-Geri (knee kick), Kakato-Otoshi (axe kick) and Gedan Mawashi Geri (low kick) aren't found in traditional Karate. Today, some Kyokushin fighters (like Francisco Filho and Glaube Feitosa) appear in Kickboxing events like K-1. Grading Kyokushin karate has a belt grading system similar to others in existence. The belt assigned to each student upon commencing training is a white belt. With each successful grading attempt, the student is awarded a kyu ranking, and either a stripe on his current belt or a new belt color altogether. The corresponding kyu and belt colors are as follows: 10th Kyu (Orange), 9th Kyu (Orange Stripe), 8th Kyu (Blue), 7th Kyu (Blue Stripe), 6th Kyu (Yellow), 5th Kyu (Yellow Stripe), 4th Kyu (Green), 3rd Kyu (Green Stripe), 2nd Kyu (Brown), 1st Kyu (Brown Stripe). Once a student has attained his 1st Kyu ranking, he may apply for Dan grading: the rigorous process of attaining a first-degree black belt, also referred to as 1st Dan. External links
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