blog:The beginning of Kyokushin
The current World Headquarters were officially opened in June 1964, where the name
Kyokushin, meaning “Ultimate truth” was adopted. In the same year the International Karate
Organization (IKO) was established. From then, Kyokushin continued to spread to more than
120 countries, and registered members exceed 10 million making it one of the largest martial
arts organisations in the world. Among the the better known Kyokushin yudansha (black belts)
are Sean Connery (Honorary shodan), Dolph Lundgren (sandan, former Australian heavyweight
champion), and President Nelson Mandela of South Africa (Honorary hachidan), and most
recently (June 1988), the Australian Prime Minister, John Howard (Honorary godan) who was
awarded the grade at the official opening of the Sydney Kyokushin dojo. The End?
Sadly, Sosai Mas Oyama died, of Akiyoshi Matsui in charge of the organisation. This has had
many political and economic ramifications throughout the Kyokushin world, which are still
being resolved. In the end, the result may well be a splintering of Kyokushin, much like
Shotokan now appears to have done, with each group claiming to be the one-and-only true heir
of Mas Oyama’s Kyokushin, either spiritually or even financially.
