Measuring our level of karate against Oyama Sosai

In setting the context of what I want to emphasize in this article, I will quote Oyama Masutatsu Sosai’s responses to two questions from a publication*.

Question: You mentioned once that ignorance is something you can’t stand.

Answer: There is nothing wrong with not knowing, but if you don’t even seek the knowledge, if you don’t even bend to find out what the truth is…I can’t understand it. I feel very strong about what I do. I feel I am very devoted, and I feel I really understand what I am doing. I don’t put anyone down. There are different levels in karate. There is the physical level, a mental level and a spiritual level.

Some people say there is only a physical level, simply because they only work the body. But then you pick up magazines and they talk of the spiritual aspects of karate…and it seems they are floundering around trying to find out who really knows this. They can’t really come out and say,” Well, the spiritual aspects of karate are this and this, or such and such”. It’s a pity. If he is up to the mental level, he will really understand the physical and the mental. But if he is not up to the spiritual level, or the mind, then he can never understand…he can’t go past that, so he can’t speak about it. The spiritual aspect of karate is something from the spirit and it has nothing to do with breaking someone’s teeth. That is merely the physical level – a step up the ladder, but that’s not the end. And this is what I feel most people are missing, an attitude in mind and body in the true spirit of the martial arts.

Question: What is your opinion of how instructors behave with students?

Answer: Within the martial arts, Sensei who influence thousands of students often don’t know what they are talking about, although they can show many trophies they have won. Their crime is not their ignorance, in many ways we are all ignorant of more things than we could ever grasp in one lifetime. The crime is that their egos will not permit them to admit their ignorance to themselves so that they seek truth. We can go one worse when we meet the Sensei who is completely unaware of his ego-ignorance problem. The ego problem appears to be one in which a man’s self-esteem has grown so big that he sees himself like a little God. He may clean sewers during the day, but at night he can shove a man against a wall, thereby establishing that he is the better of the two. He has power over other men. Any teacher is aware of the fact that he can be a strong influence on his students. If he is a good influence, all the better. At this point, we could say that we should leave the matter alone; if he is a good instructor, that’s all that counts. Well sadly that’s not true. When a teacher is teaching kumite and kata without teaching some of its philosophy and history, he is teaching in ignorance. I realise this is a harsh thing to say, but it must be said. Ignorance and poor management in karate can be dealt with through reading and talking and listening to those who know. We must all help to throw some light into the Karate World so everybody can understand properly and act accordingly.

In this modern era of little Gods in Kyokushin karate, I feel it is necessary to make some observations. Firstly these little Gods made me realise that Oyama Kyokushin karate is becoming extinct, initially I was saddened, but I realise that change is the way of the cosmos, nature’s way. In these modern times we have Midori karate (ShinKyokushin), Matsui karate (IKO1), Steve Arneill Karate (IFK), Nakamura karate (IKO Nakamura)…and many others. This is a natural progression when no one could succeed the strength of the founder, there was no undisputed successor who eclipsed the achievements of Oyama Sosai. Certainly Oyama Sosai had his favourites like Tadashi Nakamura and Matsui Akiyoshi as confirmed by Shihan Shigeru Oyama, however before his passing, Sosai did not have a hand over ceremony, nor did his will state a clear successor. Before founding the Kyokushinkaikan in 1964? Oyama Masutatsu taught his brand of karate and called it Oyama Karate. Shihan Cameron Quinn told me that Sosai said to him in reality there is no Kyokushin, there is Oyama Karate, Cameron Karate, your karate, my karate and so on. In other words at higher levels, in my understanding we create our own customized style that suits our own abilities, body structure, temperament. Bruce Lee said the highest level of style is to have no style, in other words you are able to completely adapt to whatever your opponent presents. Bruce is of course referring here to the wisdom of nature described in the Tao te Ching.

However, there should be a way to measure or evaluate karateka and not by rank. So many have jumped across organisations to add gold bars to their belts that ranks have become meaningless. Therefore, I propose that we use Oyama Sosai and what he accomplished in karate as our measuring stick to evaluate our own level or rank.

Some of the criteria of Mas Oyama

1. Being a foreigner and having to adopt a new culture and language,

2. Street fighting experience,

3. Mountain training in isolation and meditation practice,

4. High level experience and ranks in other styles, Judo, wrestling, Go-Ju and Shotokan karate, Kung fu

5. Bull fighting challenge,

6. Bottle top slice, bending coins by hand, breaking rocks and several other tameshiware displays,

7. Promoting karate across the world, fighting all challenger’s matches and never defeated,

8. In depth study of history and traditions of martial arts,

9. Writing many books that describe Karate, the three of What is Karate, This is Karate & Advanced Karate have no competitors. The Kyokushin Way is also a good book on Oyama’s philosophy and wisdom,

10. Planning and hosting All Japan and first five World tournaments, this never happened before,

11. Setting up and running a Uchi deshi dormitory,

12. A successful family man with a deep love for humans and spiritual development, brotherhood and world peace.

Note in the above list I did not include tournament fighting champion, I have emphasized street fighting and all challenger matches as these were without referees and a high level of personal danger including death. Oyama was the 1948 All Japan Karate Champion. Therefore, in order to be a 10th dan in karate one has to meet the list above. To be an 11th dan and call yourself “King of Kyokushin”, you must exceed and surpass Oyama Sosai’s achievements. It is immediately obvious that currently in the world no one can be a 10th dan! Let’s examine some of the highest ranking karate men and see what they should be ranked as. In the Kyokushin world some of the highest ranks are: Nakamura Makoto, 11th Dan, Steve Arneill, 10th Dan, Matsui Shokei, 8th Dan, Shihan Matsushima 10th Dan , Midori Kenji, President of ShinKyokushin, 6th Dan. Besides these legitimate karate men there are many other “little Gods” with ranks from 6th Dan to 10th Dan. Can these men even be Sandan compared with Oyama Sosai?

Evaluating myself against these criteria, I find that I am most likely a green to brown belt. I may reach the rank of shodan by improving my physical and technical abilities in other arts like jiu-jitsu, judo and boxing, improving my mental abilities by reading and researching more the history and applications of karate, writing articles to engage with others and finally improving my spiritual development through tameshiware practice, yoga and inner contemplation time and conversations with senior karate Masters and service to the community.

Due to the current state of chaos and confusion due to lack of leadership in the karate world, I would like all high ranking Shihans to take a serious look at how they compare to Oyama Sosai’s achievements, and re-rank themselves accordingly. Osu!