Oyama: The Legend, the Legacy

Rating:
Summary: Interesting, but poorly written
Review: As a new student of the Kyokushin style of karate, I looked around for biographical information on Mas Oyama, it's founder. This book, while it covers basic facts and offers a few interesting stories, was not written well. Chapter by chapter, the author repeats himself, sometimes almost word-for-word paragraphs at a time. It's disjointed, almost as though the chapters were written as individuals essays, then the whole lot thrown together for publication. He keeps jumping forward and back in time, making any chronology difficult to follow. It's a decent introductory read, but I'm going to look elsewhere for a real biography.

Rating:
Summary: A fascinating story about a very interesting and special man
Review: First of all, I must say that I enjoyed "Oyama: The Legend, The Legacy" by Lorden. It tells a fascinating story about a very interesting and special man, that lived his life in an exceptional way, and if you as a reader just are interested in a good story, I can recommend this book. On the other side, I must say that author describe and discuss Oyama without any form of criticism - and its seems like Lorden tries to analyze the life of Oyama in a way that wont hurt the memory of the Sosai Mas Oyama. Its like if he is giving a speech at a funeral, he tells a story in a way that wont hurt the memory of the dead. Even so, I liked the book and Lorden presents the life of Sosai Oyama in an easy way and therefore I will give the book three stars out of five.

Rating:
Summary: Simplifying a complex master
Review: I ordered this book with much excitement and was a little disappionted when I finished it. The book does have some strengths. I finished it in a little over an hour (174 pages) because it reads very easily. The sentences are constructed for quick reading. The book, although a nice read, is better suited for teenagers than adults. The author repeats the same information in chapter after cahpter. He mentions the same extraordinary feats accomplished by Oyama over and over again. After awhile it grows a little tiresome. There are good points , however, that make this a must book for the library of any serious karateka.

Reading about the perseverance of Oyama in his karate training, establishing his dojo headquarters called Honbu, and philospohy on thruth brings a better understanding about this legend. The chapter on the martial arts saying "osu" is also very good and it is in this chapter that the author Michael Lorden does his best work. This chapter alone makes the book a must purchase.

Rating:
Summary: A story about the importance of dedication
Review: I really enjoyed this book and I went to Startbuck to have a coffee and read a couple of pages, but it all ended with that I read the whole book, from the first page to the last page without a break. This book tells the fantastic story about Mas Oyama, and even if you are not a student of Kyokushinekai, I would recommend you to read this book - it is the story about the importance of dedication and the ambition of always doing your best. In order to succeed, you often has to sacrifice something, and this book tells a enormous story about sacrifices but also what good that comes out of doing so.

Rating:
Summary: Basic facts on the greatest fighter of all time
Review: I would guess that Mas Oyama was the toughest fighter in history. I strongly doubt that Bruce Lee could have stood up to him. Oyama was just so much bigger and stronger, and had even more fighting experience than Bruce Lee had. Further, Bruce Lee didn't have the judo background that Oyama had, being a high level black belt in the art. Oyama won a major tournament in karate, then toured America taking on and defeating all comers including top legitimate wrestlers. The only people I think would have had a chance against him might have been members of the legendary Gracie family of Brazil. Oyama fought bulls in hand to hand combat, and apparently had a record of 46-1 against them, judging by this book. Since we revere our sports heroes, it is definitely worthwhile to have a thorough biography of the greatest fighter who ever lived. This isn't it. Right subject, wrong author. What we have here is a lightweight biography and a pretty good overview of Oyama on a superficial level. I learned that the rumor that Oyama mashed his two big knuckles together to form one super knuckle is probably incorrect, since he seems to have regular knuckles and this rumor isn't mentioned in the book. I learned that the main thing that distinguishes his kyokushinkai from other karate styles is the toughness of it, notably the practice of allowing (demanding) full contact sparring with no protective equipment, though apparently no punches were allowed to the face, judging from printed tournament rules. I learned of the 100-fight challenge, having a karate master take on 100 consecutive opponents. Obviously the goal isn't to decisively beat them all, but rather to survive the ordeal, though in Oyama's case he did it on three consecutive days and most certainly went 300-0. This book gives you some basic facts about the greatest fighter who ever lived, but it isn't a great biography or anything close. It just fills you in a bit, and was written by someone who knows.

Rating:
Summary: Interesting, but not without some flaws
Review: Interesting story about Mas Oyama. I enjoyed reading about my sosai, but first of all the book is quite short. I read it in one evening. It will take at most two if you have other things to attend to. Second, add to the brevity of the book, it is very repetitious. And as most of the repetition is about the "legendary exploits of the godlike Oyama", you'll soon start feeling like you're going to throw up your lunch. When you just think you've seen the last of it, another chapter starts by reciting how many challenge fights and how many bulls Oyama has beaten and how many months he trained inhumanly in the mountains and so on. Just too much of repetition for such a short book overall. I've also heard rumours that there are some factual errors in the book, but don't have any further info about them. Some obvious typoes are repeated throughout the book (like goju-ryu is spelled gojo-ryu). Also, quite an amount of the book focuses on other aspects than Oyama, things like the different kinds of sparring practice and the different master instructors and tournament champions of kyokushinkai. Perhaps the book should've been named "Oyama and His Karatekai". It definitely should've been longer and less repetitious.

Rating:
Summary: Forget it!
Review: The world of martial arts deparately needs a definitive biography on Mas Oyama, arguably the greatest practitioner of all time. Unfortunately, this book is not it. It reads more like a 200-page press release than a balanced biography with many points of interest simply glossed over or never fully researched or explained. While Lorden is a skilled practiitioner himself, his skills on the tatami do not carry over to his writing. His elevation of the great Oyama approaches near diety status, which actually becomes humorous about half way through. Unless you get a review copy, save your money and hope that a much better-written tome on Oyama comes along in the near future.

Rating:
Summary: The Story of Godhand
Review: What we have here is the story of Sosai Masutatsu Oyama, founder of Kyokushinkai Karate. I bet just about every Martial Artist has heard about him, his feats, and also the hypes. Not only for the Kyokushinkai fan (myself included), this is a pleasant book to read, not falling into the too-much-details trap, even for those not familiar with Martial Arts terminology. With almost 180 pages, it covers the 100-man fighting, the beginning, the spirit of "Osu", Bushido, the challenges, the champions, and everything you NEED to know about this man, who was called "Godhand". Definitely the stuff legends are made of...