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The sub ject of tbis 'Fighting Arts' interuiew has been accuratell'

Jescribed as "Kdrate's Liaing Legend" I{orean born A4astttatsu Oynrna,

tl.te head of the K)tokttsbinltai l{arate School, has ouer tbe years bttilttr.p a 14/orld-wide repntation second to 7?one.

llis tlemonstrations oJ storte-breaking, op,en-challenge (figbt all-comers)

;our of tbe U.S.A., fighting bttlls to tbe deatb and ouerall prescntdtion

of'power-house Karate, whilst sometimes smacking of Vaudeuille, baae

bad tbe tlesired eff-ect of'making Oyama, a household name to martial

urtists. Additionatllt, tbese feats, alctn{ uitb the mony excellent books

l,r bas autbored haae spread the I{arate gospel - particularly tbe gospel

i.tccording to Oyama, alJ ouer tbe 14'orld.

.lltbougb be bas, come under criticsrn from a few jetractors, ruainly forl:is show-bttsiness approacb, it is an undeniable fact that he bas done

t lot of good for Karate . . . and many of his achieaements bqae yet to be

equalled...

Photos: Courtesy of Master Oyama

Photos: Arthur TansleylVlasutatsu Oyama Sensei, you are probably the most famous Karate man in theWorld . . . how did it all begin for you?

It was in 1932 when I was nine years old that I first took an interest in fighting.lsaw some Sumo-like wrestling on my sister's farm in Manchuria. Here I watchedone man weighing no more than 132 lbs. defeat in less than 30 seconds anotherman weighing24O lbs and really it was so quick that nobody there could tellyou how it was done. I begged this man several times to teach me - - - - -.

Excuse, me can you tell us his name?

Yes, it was Mr. Lee. Well, Lee San was so quiet and reserved that at first herefused but eventually he began to teach me just the basic movements.

Could you tell us about his training?

Sure, his main theme was cf point and circle. So if you imagine a full stop this isreally a part of a continuing circle stretching out in a spiral.

Thereby making a line but in fact part of a circle - all Karate is circular - eventhat which appears straight. I studied with him about a year but really I wasstill too young to understand his meaning.

You came to Japan in 1938, what happened then.?

ljoined the Shotokan school and received mylst Dan (Black Belt) but by then I

had come to question Shotokan's emphasis on the straight line and anyway I

didn't like their idea of pulling your punches.

How was Shotokan then?

Too straight . . . just up and down, up and down. At that time they only hadMae'Geri (f ront kick) and Yoko Geri (side kicks), no Mawashigeri, (roundhouse),Ushiro-Mawashigeri (back roundhouse) or low kicks, i.e. Kansetsu Geri, (kick tothe knee joint) it was the Kyokushinkai that started these techniques.That really is the most distinctive part of the Kyokushinkai Karate, its emphasison round techniques and mobile stances * not deep postures of Shotokan, it wasall too stiff for me, so I quit.

At that time, in addition to your Karate it is well known that you trained a lotwith weights. Who did you admire most, Karate-men, wrestlers, body builders?Nobody in particular but really my first teacher made a big impression on me;Mr. Lee was a really strong guy, he could do one-arm hand stands and from thatposition, push ups, l've never seen anybody do that since.

Moving forward to 1952 when you first went to America the facts of your tripare quite well known concerning the six months you spent touring the States,giving demonstrations and accepting challenges from all comers, boxers, wrestlers,judo men etc but what about the reaction in Japan?

well, first let me make it clear, I didn't want to go really, because to me moneyfor Budo just didn't seem right, but I had to live and at that time I was offered5100 per week, plus all expenses and by comparison to post-war Japan that wassuch good money I just couldn't refuse, a lot of people, Budomen particularlywere jealous of that!It was the Pro-Wrestling Association that invited the top Judo and Karate man togo to the U.S.A. and about 40 people in all applied. Finally, Judo ChampKokici Endo and myself were chosen, I was about 25 or 26 then and wasreally good looking - perhaps that had something to do with it. {general laughter)

Boy! . . . was lstrong then, I could have been a body BuildinE Champion but allI wanted to do was Karate.

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Just let us get some quick opinions from you on some controversial points.?

Sure!

Bruce Lee!

Monkey! Shinichi Chiba (a Japanese martial artist/actor who has portrayedOyama in a feature movie. Editor) is much stronger. Allthe fuss about him isfoolish.

Okinawan Karate

Just for exercise.

Kick Boxing

Japanese boxers are weak, the Thais are good - really tough.

Zen

Karate shor-rld have zen! But its difficult

Foreigners

Good - really good - not only do they understand Karate technique but theyalso understand Japan. Listen, I tell you that soon the strongest Karate man in

the world will be a foreigner and he'll be black. Boy, are they good - really

supple.

One question t would like to ask now is about your time training on the mountain

- really would you advise people to go for the length of time you did - twoyears wasn't it?

One and half a years actually, well, that's a good question, as yoU know I didn'tgo alone one of my deshi(students) came with me but he quit after a while so I

was alone for nearly all that time, Loneliness is the greatest enemy, man has tofight. Believe me I found out - but also I found out that even as the world.lirng.r - truth remains the same so even in 1977 or 2077 man has to findhimself, so in answer to your question I would say Yes! but many try and the

most anybody managed was two months, so its up to the individual student,isn't it?

A simple question, do you still train?

Yes, five times a week for about 2 hours a time - twice by myself and three

times with my Black Belts. Our training consists of in-depth Kata study plus

theory of 'Rikigaku' (Dynamics) in Tameshi-wari (breaking) and KickingTechniques plus some study of Jumping Kicks, in addition, once a month I

invite a teacher oI'Kappo'(resuscitation) and first aid to come and we studywith him,

Do you have any retirement Plans?

I just don't know - I expect to die alone - so I really haven't thought about it.

But, surely with such a large organization, so many instructors and students, you

mujt have given some thought to how Kyokushinkai will develop in later years.

Well, now I have a2OVear plan for Kyokushinkai. Part of which is to open up

communist countries to Karate and just last Year, Poland, Hungary, Rumania,

Czechoslovakia and Russia - Moscow to be precise - adopted KyokushinkaiKarate -This was I want to do - but the big problem is language.

We seem to be ranging over a wide field, just another question springs to mind

- what about contact Karate - American Style.

Great - This is really good Karate - when I was in the U.S. several years ago I

saw it and was verY imPressed.

23

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What things inftuenced you in the creation of Kyokushinkai. How about KoreanStyles?

Not the fighting techniques but really the'Aiki'the spirit, was what I got fromthat.

Anything fronn Okinawa?

Nothing! That Karate is too - Let me see - straight! Linear! That,s why I madeKyokushinkai rike it is, arr round techniques. LoJt< at it this way, my opinionis that shotokan 9al'1 be beaten, for exercises that is - but if t; *untopractise Kyokushinkai you will find after one hour, you are exhausted - its theiound techniques you see. Funakoshi couldn't teach anything brt.*.rcise.(the okinawan who f irst introduc'ed Karate to Japan. guitor.i

Going on to your latest book in Japanese - you've taken the title of Musashi,sfamous 'Korin No sho" (The book of s ringsl,-.rn yo, tell us someti;;;;;;'"that. ?

To put it simply the.human body has five parts - head, left side arm, right sidearm, left side leg, right side leg, so thglg can only be 5'Kamae' (guard position).(11 Ten No Kamae (21 U No kamae (3) iansa Ui Cni Uo ki.r'i (il"U*rn ruoKamae (Sl Chi No Kamae

All other Kamae come from these - They are at once both offensive anddefe ns i ve.

There is a lot of talk about Mas. oyama's secret techniques, have you or will youteach anybody these particular moves?Nobody - but one day when I find one person who fits three criteria I will teachhim.

Can you tell us what these three consist of?Yes! Firstly he must be of sound character, secondly he must be a good Karateman and lastly he must be abre to keep his mouth shut!

I see. well, on a differen_t point, do weapons i.e., sai, Nunchaku, have any partin Kyokushinkai Karate?

Well, basically nol We do some go (long staff) and Kusarigama (chain and sickle)work for balance but r wourd say mostry we are purery karate.At this point the conversation turned to boxing and the, subject of Muhammed Ali'srecent fight with a Japanese pro wrestler, Antinio tioke - euestioned about hisopinion of that match - A reply which iu urrr a lot and which is characteristicof this direct man was given in Engtish.

Monkey Business.

There have been -3-ny changes in karate recentry among them the use ofcoloured "Gi" (uniforms), that is red, bruelnJ'.*n:,si.rs anJ striprr;,What are your thoughts on that.?well, firstly Japan and U.s.A. are fre.e countries. so people can do as they please,but its not good budo. lts a stupid idea becaur"-th.t'tr,., only lead to badpublicity for karate-do. Just one point, in.Korea it vou wore a coloured ,Dogi,you would be arrested - think about that!

Who was your first foreign black belt?Itwould be John Bluming l.think, of Holland, Anton Geesink (also of Holland),wanted to come but as he didn't get on with tiluming he never came. They wereall at the Kodokan Judo Hall at that time.

The Kyokushinkai Headquarters in Toyko

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To finish off with a question on which I'm sure Mas' Oyama has strong opinions -What is the biggest problem in Karate today'?

It seems that everybody wants Karate into the olympics and of course for

sport karate it woliJ 6. gooO. I think that a problem how to get in - there are

so many styles, but if tht did accept karate it should be in four weight categories'

Light, Middle, Hr;;t and'Open. But really, that's not budo and so for the real

Budo-ka itdoesn,t matter. Anyway I'll teil you my opinion again the guy who

would be champion would be a 'black' - they're the best.

Jr*lr*Accompanying' F ighting Arts' carrespondents, Arthur Tansley and steve

Bellamy was martl;l utti writer, Andy Adams, and the following are responses

to questions Put bY hirn'

WhatisthedifferencebetweenShotokanandKyokushinkai?

Shotokan is straight, Kyokushinkai is round. Our techniques don't clash with

the opponent nuiiaih;i 6with the power. Reallv we are a unique style - all

the others have copied oJr emphasis on round techniques'

Remember I was the first man to demonstrate stone breaking' I was the first to

fight and beat a nult anO later a Ueai t wanted to fight a lion but I got too old'

How do you maintain a balance between Karate-Do and Karate'Jutsu'

First understand ',Do,, meaning way but under that comes'Ryu'then'Jutsu'

followed by'Ha'uii'Kr'.Generally there is too much use of the word'Do'

you not only havJ';ku'iti-Oo and Aiiiao but also 'lkebana-Do' ,'Baseball'Do'

really ,Do, isa very narrow part.gf life, so most.of .us are tied up with Jutsu'

lt takes great ettoit io rino ,,Do" ail this rubbish about Funakoshi changing,Jutsu' ta'Do' irlrri tf',.i I rubbish. lt was Kano of the Kodokan who used

Ju-Do instead ol JU-Jutsu. My opinion is that 'Do'is now debased ' we should

;;;[t;i;urfri"f..i Karate- Jutsu not Karate-Do,but it keeps people happy to

say Karate-Do so I don't argue'

How can you say Jutsu when really that means-actually hurting maybe killing

ift. oppotient, t<ano oi.tuUo made his sport safe by introducing safety facturs

and recently in America they are using safety equipment to prevent iniury

Budo and sport are different. lf its budo then we disregard our own life but

for sport, then we take safety measures - you must differentiate between the

two!

How do you apply "Ki" in Kyokushinkai

To build spirit we train in the coldest place in the winter - for example under

a waterfall or in the river and during the summer, on the beach, where's its very

hot. This builds spirit you must strengthen your "Hara".

Whats the difference between "Hara" and "Ki"

They are the same. Just words to describe the same thing.

Do you aPPIY "K1':',in Tameshiwari

Its not 'Ki' butbreathing techniques - if you are afraid of the task you will fail'

On that point we took our leave of Mas. Oyama after spending a pleasant

iftrrnoon in the company of a truly'Dynamic' man and let his last reply

typify his case . . .

"lf you are afraid of the task you will fail"'

,.#-

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