Shigeru Ōyama

was a karate practitioner and instructor who operated a dojo in New York for half a century. He taught Kyokushin karate for many years before forming his own organization World Oyama Karate in 1985. He was hand-picked by Mas Oyama, karate master and founder of Kyokushin karate, to spread his contact style of karate in the United States and was sent to New York City to teach in 1966. S. Oyama is acknowledged as one of the first Kyokushin stylists to successfully complete the 100-man kumite. Oyama has taught many students, including Willie Williams and Frank Clark. Of the many Japanese Kyokushin karateka who sought training under S. Oyama, Joko Ninomiya chose to stay in America to also teach, and he became branch chief for Kyokushin in Denver, CO in 1976.

Early life

Shigeru Oyama was born in Tokyo, Japan, in 1936. He first saw Mas Oyama after World War II when he was nine or ten years old. He described the young karateka as being very muscular with 'very scary and strong' eyes. A friend of his father, the young Mas Oyama would come to his father's house to do his karate workout, and he frequently watched him train in the yard. Although they shared the same surname, the Oyamas were not related, but in fact young Mas Oyama changed his Korean birth name, Choi Young-Eui, because the Oyama family let him stay with them from time to time. By this time, he was widely acknowledged as Saiko Shihan (supreme master) or Sekai Saiko Shihan (world's supreme master) out of Kyokushin's many qualified instructors. He consolidated the U.S. Kyokushin Karate Organization in the late 1970s and became its chairman. After dedicating five decades to teach and popularize a more modernized, practical system of karate to students around the world, Shigeru Oyama died on February 14, 2016. His organization World Oyama Karate is currently headed by his younger brother, Yasuhiko Oyama, who operates out of Birmingham, Alabama.

Books Perfect Karate. 121 Thoughts in My Life in Karatedo. ISBN 978-1-36-653940-3

Films

Documentary The Strongest Karate (aka Fighting Black Kings)(地上最強のカラテ), Sankyo Motion Picture Company (三協映画), 1976 The Strongest Karate Part II (地上最強のカラテ・パート2), Sankyo Motion Picture Company (三協映画), 1976