Oyama chose the strongest students in his dojo, who were to fight him one at a time until they had all had a turn, and then they would start from the beginning again, until the three hundred rounds were up. He defeated them all, never wavering in his resolve, despite the fact that he himself suffered severe physical injury in the process.
Each student had to face him about four times over the three days, though some never made it past the first day due to Oyamas powerful blows. Legend even has it that Oyama as willing to go for a fourth day, but no one else was willing or able to do the same! This, is it said, took place not long after he had completed his mountain training.
The One Hundred Man Kumite
Mas Oyama started to institute the 100-man kumite as a grading requirement. He soon found, however, that not everyone had the spirit to do it, though the physical skill could "easily" be taught. The indomitable will, courage and determination just wasnt to be found in everyone. Thus it became voluntary.
At first, the fights could be completed over two days if so desired by the person doing it, but after 1967, Mas Oyama decided that they should all be fought on the same day. In addition to the basic requirement of 100 fights, other requirements are that the competitor much clearly win at least 50% of the fights, and if knocked down, should not stay down for longer that 5 seconds.
One Hundred Fights
The list below gives the names of these incredible men, and it is notable that most of them are still very active in karate, having achieved a high rank. Some are even heads of their own styles which, of course, are heavily derivative of Kyokushin. Initially, people had the choice to do it over two days, with 50 fights per day, but later it became compulsory to do it all in one day. The 1st successful candidate in 1965, completed in one day & incredibly, was not Japanese.
Steve Arneil (21st May 1965)
Tadashi Nakamura (1965)
Shigeru Oyama (1966)
Loek Hollander (1967)
John Jarvis (1967)
Howard Collins (1972)
Miyuki Miura (Friday 13th April 1972)
Akiyoshi Matsui (1986)
Ademir de Costa (1987)
Keiji Sanpei (1990)
Akira Masuda (1991)
Kenji Yamaki (1995)
Francisco Filho (Feb: Brazil and March: Japan, 1995). Only person to date to complete 100-man kumite twice.
Hajime Kazumi (1999)
Klaus Rex (2002)
Naomi Ali née Woods (2004) The first woman to ever perform both 50-man and 100-man kumite
Arthur Hovannisyan (March 2009)
Judd Reid (Oct 2011)
Below is a trailer of a video documenting Judd Reids 100 Man Fight Test.
At Elite Fighting Arts, blackbelt adult students may attempt our version of the test in the KagemushaChallenge. (ShadowWarrior) Successful students will be awarded a black Dogi & only these students are permitted to wear the black Gi during training. This recognition is already a well established tradition at DKK (Daigaku Karate Kai) Okinawan Goju-Ryu dojo, under Shihan Gavin Mulholland, who has kindly permitted Elite Fighting Arts & Kyokushin Academy to adopt this tradition, after our dojo assisted with the preparation of a DKK member in the successful completion of the 30 Man Kumite Test. For further information see the Kagemusha Challenge section.
Mas Oyamas Three Hundred Man Kumite 
Kyokushin Academy
Knockdown full contact karate & muay Thai
Felen Rhyd Fawr
Maentwrog
Blaenau-Ffestiniog.
LL41 4HY
07830 262709
info@kyokuacademy.co.uk