The History of Taika Oyata
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
competition 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 length. 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 because
he had studied from Uhugusiku No Tan Mei.
From Master Nakamura, Taika learned the twelve 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.
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