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“Protect the value and dignity of Kyokushin Karate”
After the passing of Mas Oyama, the founder of Kyokushin Karate, Kyokushin Karate split into several factions. And even now, it is still repeating the process of separation and dissolution.
As a result of these splits, dojos of Kyokushin Karate have sprung up all over the country. Before the split, Kyokushin Karate dojos were expensive, and there were few branch dojos in each area, so students could not choose their teachers.
However, it is a fact that there are some dojos nowadays that do not have the basics of Kyokushin Karate or Kata, even though they call themselves Kyokushin Karate and run their own dojo. There are dojos that cling to its “career” or the name of “Kyokushin”, and there are dojos where “black belts who cannot move now” call themselves shihan or sensei without practicing at all. In addition, there are dojos where there is a succession of high dan holders that would have been unthinkable in the days when the president was alive, who call themselves shihan and cannot even master kata or basic practice.
In view of the current situation, “Oishi Daigo”, who has been directly trained as a genuine uchi-deshi of Mas Oyama Sensei and has achieved results in the All Japan and World Karatedo Championships, will properly organize and teach correct techniques and certify Dan and Shihan after confirming “mind, technique and body skills” in order to protect the existence value and dignity of the original Kyokushin Karate. The International Karatedo Federation Kyokushin Kaikan” and ‘World Kyokushin’ were established to ensure the succession, transmission, and spread of Kyokushin Karate as created by President Oyama in the correct form.
“Basics, reasonable kata, and splendid kumite”
The Kyokushin Karate philosophy created by President Mas Oyama is “basics in line with the earth, kata that fulfill reason, and splendid kumite. The essence of Kyokushin Karate is a training system that pursues spirituality through basics, movement, kata, and kumite with a firm awareness of the tanden, axis, and breathing techniques so as not to deteriorate this philosophy. The head of Kyokushin Karate, Mr. Daigo Oishi, describes the philosophy of So-kyokushin as follows: “I learned from the Oyama Sensei. I believe it is my role to embody the Kyokushin Karate that I learned from President Oyama using my own body as a pathway. Therefore, I must not allow any dust or dirt to accumulate in that pathway. And the training group that comprehensively pursues the totality of pure Kyokushin Karate without any deterioration of the training system is Soukyokushin.
“Infinite possibilities of repetition”
Since the death of President Oyama, there have been many tournaments that combine kumite and kata competitions, but training only for kata competitions, in pursuit of visual skill and expressiveness, is not Kyokushin Karate, which is a real competition karate. If those who participate in kumite matches practice only kumite, they are far from dignified karate and high quality karate.
Recently, there seems to be some “disassembly” of Kyokushin kata, but President Oyama always said that “a kata is 3,000 times” and “even a kata made by others becomes one’s own kata after 3,000 times. The fact that President Oyama himself did not deconstruct kata at all also shows that if each practitioner always keeps in mind that he or she must master the “usage of kata” with his or her own skin, mind, and body during the training process, the kata will be naturally acquired when he or she becomes a kodan. I still believe that infinite possibilities are born from repetition.
The basics of karate and kata are the lifeblood of a style. It is easy to avoid kata for various reasons, but it takes a lot of perseverance and effort to carry on the kata. That perseverance and effort is the foundation of the dojo. Without that foundation (basics and kata), a dojo is like a floating weed, always being carried away by the wind and air around it.
The kata of Kyokushin Karate that I have learned from President Oyama are not competition kata, but deep and strong kyokushin kata with spirit, strength, dynamism, and axial strength. The kata of Kyokushin Karate are born out of the usual practice system of basics, movement, kata, and kumite. Practicing only kata is not effective, and it is only when practicing kumite that kata become powerful kata and live on in karate. A strong kata is not a forceful thrust or kick, but a strong axis. If the axis is weak, the body will be pulled by the thrusts and kicks. To strengthen the axis, basic training is the best way, and in the end, it comes back to basic training.
We hope that everyone who visits this website will have the opportunity to experience Kyokushin Karate once again, directly from the Oyama-Sosai lineage and from the main school.