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 Oyama
found someone Korean like himself by the name of Nei-Chu So. Not
only was So Korean but he was also from the same province. Nei-Chi
so was a practitioner of the Gojo-Ryu style of karate. Gogen
Yamaguchi, nicknamed "The Cat", was carrying on Goju Ryu,
founded by Chojun Miyagi in 1930 in Japan. Yamaguchi commonly
acknowledged that Nei-Chu So was one of his best students. Oyama
quickly resumed his martial arts training under so and a strong
bond was formed between the two. So, a great philosopher and
strong in character, possessed even stronger spiritual
convictions. Oyama would not only learn Goju-Ryu from so, but
would also be sanctified by him into the Buddhist faith of the
Nichiren sect. It was so who inspired Oyama to make karate his
life long dedication, propelling him to face his own challenges
and develop his own achievements and victories. At the same time
he began his training with So, Oyama earnestly took-up the
practice of Judo as well. After four years of training, he
received his Yondan (fourth level black) ranking in Judo. |
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Oyama
liked to attend the local dance competitions in the area in
order to socialize and relax after his martial arts training. It
was at one such dance event that Oyama came to the aid of a
female who was being accosted by a local troublemaker. When
Oyama intervened, the troublemaker, a tall Japanese suspected of
several homicides, became enraged and produced a knife. Taunting
Oyama, the troublemaker made continuous slashing movements
through the air in front of Oyama’s face with the knife then
lunged towards Oyama. Oyama blocked the attack and delivered a
forceful punch to the head of the assailant, killing him
instantly. Because of eyewitness accounts of the incident, Oyama
was ruled, by the courts as justified in using self-defense.
However, the impact of the tragedy devastated Oyama. To kill a
man with a single blow was so overwhelming to Oyama that he
decided to give up his martial arts training. Learning that the
man he killed had a wife and children on a farm in the Kanto
area near Tokyo, Oyama went to the farm and worked there for
several months. He did not leave until the widow assured him
that she was financially capable of maintaining the farm and
that she did not hold Oyama responsible for the death of her
husband. |
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This
became the turning point in Oyama’s life. His Goju-Ryu
instructor, Nei-Chu So advised him to go away, to train his body
and soul and to give karate a chance to control his life. Oyama,
lacking direction and a goal wondered if karate was a realistic
goal. Would karate training give him the much-needed control of
his physical strength as well as mental discipline? If karate
would provide these traits, then he would have to give himself
completely to the training. He realized it would be a long, hard
journey. He was determined to succeed on this quest. |
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In
1948 Mas Oyama, taking with him only his books and the basic
necessities for cooking, began an arduous training regimen atop
Mt. Minobu in Chiba Prefecture. Mt. Minobu is the same place
where the famous seventeenth century samurai, Miyamoto Musashi,
received inspiration for Nito Ryu, his celebrated double sword
system. To Oyama, this was the ideal place to train and be
inspired in the same tradition as his idol, Musashi. Of the
books Oyama took with him on this journey, none were more
important than the collection on Musashi, by Yoshikawa. For
eighteen months, isolated in the mountains, Oyama tested himself
against nature’s elements with such scenarios as training and
meditating under icy waterfalls, performing countless jumps over
bushes and boulders and using trees and rocks as Makiwara
(striking aide) to condition his hands, feet and legs. |
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