It Takes a Muscle

Do you take note of what kind of shape a fighter has? I don’t mean whether they are ripped or soft, but rather how big their individual muscles are. Let me explain. Satoru Kitaoka and Rin Nakai have common features for me. Both have small frames. They have a disadvantage in striking reach due to being smaller than the division's average size, but they develop huge muscles in their shorter arms in order to grapple and submit opponents. Kitaoka is best known for his guillotine and Nakai often attempts kimuras. Both do so because of their strong arms.


Satoru Kitaoka

Of course, having a longer reach and bigger frame generally benefits a fighter, but when you watch fighters and guess how they build up their muscles, it makes MMA more interesting. Check out each fighter’s muscles because there is purpose and benefit to building up specific muscles in order to fit a fighter’s particular skill set. Also, while Joe Stevenson is very similar to Satoru Kitaoka in facial resemblance, I would also point out that their muscular builds are very similar as well since each one’s top move is the guillotine.

Big thanks to Robert Sargent  (MMA Rising) for English editing.

DEEP 66 get international iPPV

DEEP 66 iMPACT iPPV official purchase web

DEEP decide do iPPV event for there landmark event, DEEP 66 Impact .It include 5 title fight.BW, FW,LW,WW.MW. That's almost every championship they can offer.Price is around 9 US dollars.Also there is chance to watch free if you follow DEEP's this twitter account and retweet designate tweet.

All title fights they do at this event are

LW Satoru Kitaoka vs Naoto Miyazaki
FW Kazunori Yokota vs Katsunori Tsuda
BW Kenji Osawa vs Takafumi Otsuka
MW Yoshiyuki Nakanishi vs Shunsuke Inoue
WW Taisuke Okuno vs Yuta Watanabe

If prospect beat major name.There is a possibility fighter can make himself into majors.So it's not only for JMMA lovers.It can be prospect check.DEEP 66 Impact will be hold at April 29.


Kenji Osawa

2013 JMMA schedule

Every year in Japan, the MMA event schedule is held in a pattern. At the beginning in January, things don't look very active, and promotions try to build their way up to bigger events during the later part of year.

Here, I will break down this year's JMMA schedule.

First, Dream will stay with Glory at the Saitama Super Arena. Not many details have been released yet, but the kickboxing portion of the event will be separated. Other than that, not much is known.

For Shooto, they have started up VTJ again. I don't know how often they can hold these events in larger venues. They would like to have two or three events per year. If they hold two, April-May would work for the first VTJ and October-November can be used for the second VTJ if old patterns remain.

Shooto holds its annual rookie tournament every year. I recommend that foreigners watch the rookies at Shinjuku Face, where the Shooto Gig Tokyo events take place. Other regional events like Border, Shooto Gig Central and Shooto Gig North also have some of the tournament fights.
Shooto's Shinjuku Face events also include the Infinity tournament, which is designed for Class B shootors to step up to Class A, where fighters compete for three rounds instead of two.

The rookie tournament's early stages are also held in Osaka (Border or Shooto Gig West) or Nagoya (Shooto Gig Central), and the tournament final event at Shinjuku Face showcases the top Shooto rookies from the year.
Shooto rookies like Horiguchi and Tanaka fought at Shinjuku Face, won the tournament excitingly and then stepped up to bigger events at Korakuen Hall. Shooto's Korakuen Hall events still serve as most JMMA fighters' last step before signing with a major promotion.

Shooto can't offer enough money to make a living as a pro fighter only, so most fighters defend their belts a few times and then return them. Still, many young fighters nationally and internationally who love the sport will chase this tradition to become a major fighter.
Shooto's Vale Tudo Japan shows are caged events with unified rules. Last year, they brought in the Tachi Palace Fights champion to face Shooto talent as a test to see how close the Shootors were to being ready to fight for a major promotion.VTJ 2nd will hold on June 22nd, Tokyo dome city hall.

Pancrase normally holds its events at Differ Ariake. I recommend attending events if LW champ Isao Kobayashi and BW champ Shintaro Ishiwatari are fighting on the card.


Isao Kobayashi

This year's Pancrase schedule also includes a bigger event on September 29th that will commemorate the 20th anniversary of Pancrase. The event's venue, Yokohama Cultural Gymnasium, can seat 5000 people and we should see some great matchmaking for that event.
Pancrase is focused on bringing in foreign fighters in order to keep its events relevant, which is an interesting approach. They cooperate with AKA, Wand Fight Team and Cesar Gracie Fight Team. You can now see talented fighters from those teams in Pancrase.


Yokohama Cultural Gymnasium

DEEP constantly holds shows at Korakuen Hall with Dream dropout fighters. They will also hold a bigger event on April 26th when Satoru Kitaoka challenges for the LW title against Daisuke Nakamura, and Sengoku and Bellator veteran Dan Hornbuckle challenges Yuya Shirai for WW title. Also, Tatsumitsu Wada and Yusaku Nakamura fight in a flyweight title eliminator at this event.


Yusaku Nakamura

Generally, the bigger MMA events in Japan always take place in December. Dream's NYE show, of course, and also local organizations' landmark events. However, if you plan a trip to Japan during the rest of the year, check out the Sherdog Fight Finder for event listings and pick a good time to visit.

Big thanks to Robert Sargent (from MMA Rising) for English editing.

Revolutionary "Exchanges"

At Shooto's "Revolutionary Exchanges 2" event on sept. 22, the event pamphlet included some interesting lines. Shooto will be holding two events at JCB Hall this year, one in October and one in November. The Oct. 20 card is "Vale Tudo Japan 2009," and the Nov. 23 card is "Revolutionary Exchanges 3". The pamphlet also hinted that with two events this close together, there must be a "secret plan".

Unlike the usual Shooto venue of Korakuen Hall, which has a capacity of just over 1800 people, JCB Hall has a capacity of around 3100 people.

The Vale Tudo Japan card has fights like Takanori Gomi and Rumina Sato who can bring a crowd. However, "Revolution Exchanges 3" doesn't have enough star power for the venue. The Rambaa "M-16" Somdet and Noboru "Shinpei" Tahara fight is important to start Shooto's 115-pound division, but that's not enough to fill JCB Hall.


In the past, Shooto and Pancrase have not had a great relationship, which you can read about their history is here:. However, in recent years, that relationship has improved. Recently, Kazuhiro Sakamoto, a former Shooto world champion who now leads the largest Shooto promoter Sustain, told Japanese MMA magazine Kakutougi Tsushin that he wanted former Sengoku champion and Pancrase fighter Satoru Kitaoka for the Vale Tudo Japan card. Maybe Pancrase fighters in Shooto is the "secret plan"?

I know Pancrase is holding their own event in October, so maybe fighters who don't take any damage can fight on the Nov. 23 Shooto card. If that happened, here the Pancrase-Shooto fights I'd like to see, including fighter that would be physically able to fight on that date.

My wish-list of (macth ups)

Yuki Shoujou vs. Mitsuhisa Sunabe
Hiroshi "Iron" Nakamura vs. Tashiro "Akai" Nishiuchi
So Tazawa vs. Seiya Kawahara
Ganjo Tentsuku vs. Katsuya Inoue
Siyar Bahadurzada vs. Ryo Kawamura (at middleweight)

I ask Jordan Breen about your wish-list and his answer is.

Shiroobi : Hey could you make me five match ups?

Breen : On the five match-ups... I don't know if I can. It's like the UFC thing at this point. When there's so much possibility, I don't care. I just want good MMA.Literally take Sunabe, and put him against any of Shooto's Class A flyweights, and I would be totally content.
Not even just content. Ecstatic. Ecstatic for the fight in and of itself, the excitement therein, but also ecstatic for the crossover and what it means for moving forward in MMA.
And giving clarity to a developing weight class.
I find it virtually impossible to use quality talent from either promotion, and make unappealing fights. I would literally have to try to do such a thing.

Shirrobi : So you can just fight each other flyweights.

Breen : It's not even necessarily just flyweights though. I feel the same way at 135.If you took Manabu Inoue, should he beat Oishi, and put him against any decent 132'ers in Shooto, I'd love it.For both the fight itself, and for what it represents.

I know that's sort of a lame answer, but that's really my outlook on any potential crossover there.

I also ask Tony Loiseleur about your wish-list too.

Shiroobi : Do you have any hope about Shooto Pancrase match ups?

Tony : Ah, you have Seiya Kawahara already in there. I was going to say (Yuta) Nezu vs Kawahara.

Shiroobi : Fmm That's interesting.

Tony : One hit kill versus blitzing type striking.
Tony : Hey, do you know how heavy Kyoko Takabayashi is?Maybe around 115 lbs?I was thinking maybe Kyoko Takabayashi vs Windy Tomomi.For at least one G-Shooto fight.Oh snap, they fought already.

Shiroobi : Yup.

Tony : And she RNCed Windy.okay, rematch.

Special Thanks to Jordan Breen for English support and actual answer for list.Also Special Thanks to Tony Loiseleur for answer for list.

Shiroobi on Submission Fighters

People who know me naturally realize that I'm more interested in striking than submissions. I admit that my grappling knowledge is limited, but I understand the different views. It's easy to recognize and make MMA's submission game fun to watch.

What's the difference between Caol Uno and Satoru Kitaoka?


Satoru Kitaoka

It's how they adapt their submission game to MMA.

The first aims for submissions continuously. Tries a sub attempt, probably can't finish, retains the position, tries for another submission or strikes on the ground.

The latter aims for one lethal finish, like a guillotine or leg lock.

This is not to say that those fighters only have the styles I mentioned, but you can understand what I'm saying about these fighters' tendencies.

Demian Maia and Shinya Aoki's styles are high-level fusions of the two strategies. That's what makes both special.

Of course, continuous submission attempts isn't the only method. Sub to striking, striking to takedown, sub to standing -- there are many methods. You can easily recognize them and enjoy those skills.

Michihiro Omigawa recently made a storm in Sengoku's featherweight grand prix. How did he improve so much? The main reason is that his ability to chain moves together has matured.

Watch every move and isolate that one move. Then, imagining how the fighter chooses their next move is the viewer's privilege. It's unlimited fun, because each move can be subdivided so many ways.

For reference, watch Michihiro Omigawa vs. L.C. Davis at Sengoku 7. At 3:40 of round two, Omigawa tries a takedown. Omigawa destabilizes Davis' posture with a trip on the left leg, then grabs at Davis' right leg.

This was the most fun move of the fight for me.

Big thanks to Jordan Breen (from Sherdog) for advice.

Big thanks to Chris Nelson (from Bloody Elbow) for English and editing.

Are traditional martial arts useful in MMA?

Lyoto Machida competing in a UFC title fight proves that karate is useful in MMA. So now there is another question: can other traditional martial arts be useful in MMA?

My answer is: "Sure, why not?"

What are the differences between traditional martial arts and MMA? Traditional martial arts have been about secrecy, empiricism and positivism. There are certain types of skills that they logically explain, but they're not open to the outside public. Why? In the ancient samurai era, people were fighting to kill one another; there's no way to teach those skills to people as "sport."

Of course, not every skill is a secret. Michihiro Omigawa and Hiromitsu Miura have told interviewers how throwing skills depend on experience, training a lot and learning how to feel where an opponent's balance is. So, sometimes, western training partners may think they're keeping secrets, but they're not. Some skills can't be taught in words.

Sengoku champion Satoru Kitaoka is known for his fast submissions, but he's had lessons from Japanese taekwondo pracititioner Kazuo Tachi. Tachi's gym is the home of Yoriko Okamoto, an Olympic bronze medalist at the 2000 Sydney Games.

Taekwondo separated from karate, and entered the Olympics as an official sport in 2000. It's had its own evolution as a sport. Sport taekwondo is like fencing, because when a fighter strikes with a legal attack, he gets a point. Therefore, taekwondo fighters prefer direct methods to reach opponents.

Yu Ueda is a fighter on the rise. He will face Kotetsu Boku, who is known as an elite fighter. I don't think he will win against Boku, but Ueda is definitely an interesting fighter, as he uses taikiken in MMA.

Taikiken was developed by Kenichi Sawai, who was taught by Chinese martial artist Wang Xiangzhai. Ueda hasn't said a lot about his style, but how he beat Jin Kazeta with his stance is easily recognizable and interesting.

"The complete fusion of attack and defense is the beauty of traditional martial arts," said Ueda.

This quote is enough to explain the beauty of traditional martial arts.

Big thanks to Jordan Breen (from Sherdog) for English advice for this post.

Big thanks to Chris Nelson (from Bloody Elbow) for English editing.