Nilo R.

Karate, Kickboxing, Self-Defense Instructor

New York City

• Uchideshi of Soshu Oyama (1,000 day apprenticeship)
• ABA Therapist (6 years)
• BOE/DOE Certified TA

My journey into Karatedō began in the summer of 1982 at the 極真会館 空手 Kyokushinkai Kan Karate Honbu Dōjō (Headquarters’ School) 極真会館 空手 本部道場 in Manhattan on 6th Avenue, which opened in that year/summer. The aforesaid style means “Ultimate Truth” and “Society” in a “building” and is a compilation of Gōjū-ryū 剛柔流, Shōtōkan 松濤館流, and Kenpō 拳法, which was created by 総裁 倍達 大山 Sosai Masutatsu Oyama, who also engaged in intense Shugyō 修行 (Deep Mind and Body Training) or spiritual discipline as well when developing this said style. At the Honbu Dōjō, I trained directly under Mas Oyama’s protégé, then Saiko Shihan Shigeru Oyama, but now known as 開帳 茂 大山 Soshu Shigeru Oyama, an 8th dan and highest-ranked master then and World Chief Instructor of Kyokushinkai Kan Karate directly under Sosai Mas Oyama. This was my introduction to Karatedō, in which I am very fortunate about and of course humbly grateful for as well.