Kyokushin-kan exists to preserve the budo karate of Sosai Mas Oyama exactly as he intended it — strong in spirit, complete in technique, and uncompromising in training.
Masutatsu (Mas) Oyama begins teaching a ferociously demanding style of karate in Ikebukuro, Tokyo. Training sessions run hours long, full-contact, and forge a generation of legendary fighters.
Oyama formally founds Kyokushin Karate and the International Karate Organization (IKO). "Kyokushin" — the ultimate truth — grows into the largest karate organization in the world, with millions of practitioners.
Hatsuo Royama enters the Oyama Dojo as a teenager and trains under Sosai Oyama from Kyokushin's earliest days. He becomes All-Japan Open Champion in 1973 and takes silver at the 1st World Open Championship in 1975, famed for his devastating low kicks.
After Mas Oyama's death, his worldwide organization fragments. Royama serves for years as supreme advisor and head instructor within the largest successor group, working to keep Sosai's vision intact.
Convinced that Kyokushin was drifting from its founder's budo spirit, Kancho Hatsuo Royama and senior instructors establish Kyokushin-kan International Honbu — dedicated to returning Kyokushin to the standard it held during Sosai Oyama's lifetime. The organization grows to branches in more than 50 countries.
Shihan Hiroto Okazaki becomes Kancho (Director) of Kyokushin-kan International, with Royama continuing as Kaicho (Honorary Director). The mission is unchanged: defend, revitalize, and advance the teaching of Kyokushin's founder.
Kyokushin Kan Karate brings this lineage to the Commonwealth — connected to Kyokushin-kan USA branch dojos across the country and to the International Honbu in Japan.
Kyokushin-kan's stated mission is to defend Sosai Oyama's teaching against deterioration, revitalize training elements that made Kyokushin what it was — including kata, bunkai, and traditional weapons work — and advance the art for future generations.
Central to everything is the budo spirit: proper behavior, courtesy, perseverance, and the spirit of Osu. Tournament fighting matters — but it serves the development of character, not the other way around.
"We will follow our religious principles and never forget the true virtue of humility." From the Dojo Kun
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