Taika Oyata's family
lineage dates back to the Zana family, which was a Bushi family in
Shuri, Okinawa. His ancestor Zana Oyakata (Oyakata is title) was the
King's scholar. When Japan invaded
 Okinawa
around 1609, the Shuri King was captured and the Zana family head
resisted and was killed. The Japanese also required the family to
change their name to Sinda which means Death. Years later the family
name was changed to Ikemiyagusiku and eventually became Oyata.
Taika's father was the middleweight
Sumo champion of all Okinawa. When he was young, he and the rest of
the Sumo team challenged all comers in Okinawa. Kana Oyata was the
strongest man on the team and won the competion for his native
island. Taika was the fourth son of Kana Oyata and the youngest. His
three brothers Taro, Kiseii and Akio were killed in the second World
War, He, also fought during the war and was commissioned a
lieutenant in the Japanese Navy. If the war continued a few months
longer, Taika Oyata would have joined his brothers in death because
he had been selected for a suicide (torpedo) mission, his death
certificate had already been sent to his remaining family. As a part
of training in the Navy, Taika was required to train in Iado (art of
the sword), this is where Taika got his introduction to Martial
Arts. When the war ended Taika returned to Okinawa and continued his
studies of the martial arts. About this time he started a job
working for the US government delivering food to the smaller
islands. Food was not readily available and there was much
starvation on the islands. Taika Oyata was stationed in the village
of Termu where at age 17, He met Uhugusiku No Tan Mei who was from a
Bushi Family that resided in Shuri. Uhugusiku No Tan Mei was about
93 years old at the time of their meeting. Because Taika Oyata had
royal blood in his ancestry he was allowed to study under Master
Uhugusiku. Taika Oyata took extensive weapons training from Master
Uhugusiku, learning many aspects of the indigenous weapons of
Okinawa.
Taika was also introduced to Master
Wakinaguri who as a Chinese Martial Artist and was also a Bushi
warrior. Master Wakinaguri was asked to teach Taika the art of vital
point striking and pressure point striking, techniques for which
Master Wakinaguri was renowned. When Taika Oyata met him he noticed
that all the fingers on Master Wakinaguri's hands were the same
lenght. This was due to many years of training by thrusting his
hands into pumice.
Taika Oyata was Master Uhugusiku's
only student, at the time, He considered Taika a family member
calling him "Mago" which is Okinawan for grandson and teaching him
more than he would have a regular student. After the deaths of his
previous instructors, Taika joined an analytical research group
along with Master Nakamura and trained with Master Uehara. He was
accepted as an instructor/student in Master Nakamura's Dojo becuase
he had studied from Uhugusiku No Tan Mei. From Master Nakamura,
Taika learned the tweleve empty hand kata he now teaches to his
present students. Taika worked with Master Uehara (Motobu Ryu) on
weapons and was a training partner.
Through the years, Taika has
constantly analyzed the kata and the human body. He developed his
own style of tuite that wasn't dependent on strength but on
execution of technique. |
