05/12/2026
BIOGRAPHY
"Soshu Shigeru Oyama, the lifelong teacher of Sensei Kenny Buffaloe"
Among the legendary fighters produced by Mas Oyama, few earned as much respect and fear as Shigeru Oyama. During the harsh early years of Kyokushin, training was not designed for trophies or point fighting — it was built to test spirit, endurance, and the ability to survive real combat pressure. Inside those brutal dojos, Shigeru Oyama developed a reputation as one of the toughest and most relentless students in the organization. His conditioning, powerful striking, and willingness to endure punishment reflected the hard philosophy Mas Oyama demanded from his fighters.
At a time when many karate schools focused on controlled techniques and demonstration, Kyokushin fighters were becoming known for barefisted full-contact knockdown fighting. Shigeru Oyama stood out in this environment because he represented the raw intensity of early Kyokushin. Stories from that era describe training sessions filled with body conditioning, endless sparring, and severe physical tests meant to break weak spirit. A large dropout rate among students. Surviving that system already commanded respect — excelling in it made Oyama feared.
What also made him important historically was his role in spreading Kyokushin outside Japan. As karate expanded internationally during the 1960s and 1970s, Shigeru Oyama became one of the figures carrying Mas Oyama’s fighting philosophy abroad, especially in the United States. His teaching preserved the old-school belief that karate was more than technique; it was discipline forged through hardship. Later, he founded World Oyama Karate, continuing the traditions of hard training, strong basics, and realistic fighting that defined the early Kyokushin era.
To many karate practitioners, Shigeru Oyama represents a generation of fighters shaped before modern sport karate softened training methods. His legacy remains tied to the image of the old Kyokushin warrior — disciplined, conditioned, fearless, and tested through real contact.
Sensei Kenny Buffaloe started his Kyokushin Karate training under Soshu Shigeru Oyama in the early 1970's. In 1980, Soshu Shigeru Oyama appointed Sensei Buffaloe to the position of official Kyokushin Karate Shibucho(Representative) in North Carolina. Buffaloe received the prestigious "Governor's Award" 2 years later in 1982 for professional excellence and bringing Kyokushin Karate to the state of North Carolina.
He currently teaches Kyokushin Karate training classes in several towns in northeastern North Carolina.
For more information on Kyokushin Karate and area training classes, call or text : (252) 589-4281
