Lowe, Bobby
Shihan Bobby Lowe
8th Dan,
USA
International Committee Chairman
Shihan Bobby Lowe is the oldest
direct student of Sosai Masutatsu Oyama. The two met in 1952 when Mas Oyama
performed a karate demonstration in Hawaii. The young Bobby Lowe, already a
Yondan in Judo, a Nidan in Kempo, a Shodan in Aikido, and a highly regarded
welterweight boxer, was so awed by master Oyama's power and skill that he
requested the honor of training with him. Sosai happily obliged and an enduring
friendship of over 40 years commenced.
Mas Oyama soon invited Bobby Lowe
to train with him in Tokyo. Bobby Lowe accepted and ended up staying for over a
year and a half in effect becoming Mas Oyama's first «Uchi Deshi» apprentice.
Training was rigorous; consisting of 2 — 3 hour sessions, 2 — 3 times daily, and
in 1953 Sosai awarded Bobby Lowe the rank of Shodan at the «Oyama Dojo», the
first international Yudansha in Kyokushin.
Subsequently in 1958, Oyama
officially opened the first international branch of «Kyokushin» karate in Hawaii
under Shihan Bobby Lowe's direction and from that point on, Kyokushin has spread
to nearly 125 countries and 12 million members around the world.
Soon
after the untimely passing of Mas Oyama in April of 1994, the IKO International
Committee (IKO IC) was established to supervise the diverse regions of the
Kyokushin world to which Oyama's successor, Kancho Shokei Matsui, named Shihan
Bobby Lowe, Chairman.
Shihan Lowe has traveled around the world giving
seminars, clinics and overseeing national, regional and international
Championship tournaments and has published, arguably one the most extensive and
well-read martial arts books in the English language, «Mas Oyama's Karate ~As
Practiced in Japan». Additionally holding the prominent positions of IKO North
American Chairman, IKO South Pacific Chairman and IKO Branch Chief for the
United States, Shihan Lowe returns to Tokyo each year to promote and support the
IKO Kyokushinkaikan and carry on the legacy of his lifelong friend and mentor,
Mas Oyama.
In his words, «The splendor of Kyokushin Karate lies entirely
in the word «OSU». This word has many literal translations, but for those
practicing Kyokushin, it means the world. From this word, I learned to be
patient, to endure and to continue until the end. My goal is to spread the
spirit of Osu around the world."
12.11.2008 Volkov Alexey