blog:if he got through to you, that was it
In 1952, he travelled the United States for a year, demonstrating his karate live and on
national televison. During subsequent years, he took on all challengers, resulting in fights
with 270 different people. The vast majority of these were defeated with one punch! A fight
never lasted more than three minutes, and most rarely lasted more than a few seconds. His
fighting principle was simple — if he got through to you, that was it.
If he hit you, you broke. If you blocked a rib punch, you arm was broken or dislocated. If
you didn’t block, your rib was broken. He became known as the Godhand, a living
manifestation of the Japanese warriors’ maxim Ichi geki, Hissatsu or “One strike, certain
death”. To him, this was the true aim of technique in karate. The fancy footwork and
intricate techniques were secondary (though he was also known for the power of his head
kicks). It was during one of his visits to the United States that Mas Oyama met Jacques
Sandulescu, a big (190 cm and 190 kg of muscle) Romanian who had been taken prisoner by the
Red Army at the age of 16, and sent to the coal mines as a slave labourer for two years.
They quickly became friends and remained so for the rest of Oyama’s life, and Jacques still
trains and acts as advisor to the IKO(1) to this day. You can read a short biography of his
on this site or read his autobiography .
