{"product_id":"mightier-than-the-sword-a-kyokushin-karate-coming-of-age-story-paperback","title":"Mightier Than the Sword: A Kyokushin Karate Coming of Age Story - Paperback","description":"\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cp style=\"text-align: right;\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/reportcopyrightinfringement.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eReport copyright infringement\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eNathan Ligo\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cb\u003eA Kyokushin Karate Coming of Age Story\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eJust another unassuming undergrad? Yes, but this one carries a terrible secret . . . one that's driven him through seven years of hellish karate training and study so that he might learn to bear its weight. Seven years have already taken Nathan Ligo to Japan, where he spent 600 days in the most rigorous, monastic karate program in the world, training under the watchful daily supervision of Masutatsu Oyama, Japan's most famous living\u003cem\u003e karateka.\u003c\/em\u003e But it's not until he suffers a crushing defeat in Japan, and returns home empty-handed, that he comes to understand that the combination of three treasured sources of his ongoing education just might hold the key to unlocking an awesome truth. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThe samurai-like do-or-die education he acquired from his karate teachers, the progressive liberal arts education he acquires at North Carolina's Davidson College, and the enlightened, open-eyed, and all-loving character education he received in the first decade of his life from his father: three sometimes violently warring components combine to show Nathan that he just might use the dark secret that he carries to enact a great good for the children of the future . . . that is, IF he's willing to make the necessary sacrifice. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much because they live in the gray twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat.\" -Theodore Roosevelt \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe Only American Student of the Legend Mas Oyama\u0026gt;\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e At the time of Masutatsu Oyama's death in 1994, he was regarded by many as the world's greatest living \u003cem\u003ekarateka.\u003c\/em\u003e His Kyokushin Karate had spread to 133 countries around the world and was reputed to have touched as many as twelve million students. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eForty years earlier, the Korean-born \"Mas\" Oyama had, himself, become a virtual revolution in the world of Japanese karate, in that it was he who introduced stone- and therefore bone-breaking power to the highly stylized traditional forms of karate that had come to exist in Japan. Kyokushin Karate became known for its no-nonsense practicality, its fearsome physical power, and a theretofore unseen degree of spiritual strength conjured through a revival of Japan's do-or-die samurai personality. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eOnce Kyokushin exploded to such incredible proportions, Mas Oyama took on only a very few students that were his own, that he himself guided, day by day, in an attempt to ensure that his teaching would endure. \u003cem\u003eUchi deshi\u003c\/em\u003e literally means \"live-in disciple;\" it is the opposite of the \u003cem\u003ekayoi deshi\u003c\/em\u003e or \"commuting student,\" who merely visits the dojo regularly for training. Mas Oyama's \u003cem\u003euchi deshi\u003c\/em\u003e program was a one-thousand-day monastic karate program for his small group of personal students who lived in the Young Lions' Dormitory, a small building attached to his world headquarters dojo in Tokyo. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn 1993, Nathan Ligo become the only American to hold a graduation certificate from this program, given to him by Mas Oyama in recognition of the 600 days he lived in the Young Lions' dormitory.\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 584\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 1.18 x 8.5 x 5.5 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e January 31, 2011\u003c\/div\u003e\n            ","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45393806065766,"sku":"9780578077291","price":50.36,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0599\/7255\/0758\/files\/MEZKQ1JtR3h0b2RaNDV4Qjlnam5BQT09.webp?v=1775256401","url":"https:\/\/infinitylightwa.com\/products\/mightier-than-the-sword-a-kyokushin-karate-coming-of-age-story-paperback","provider":"Infinity Light","version":"1.0","type":"link"}