Mitsuyo Maeda's biography tell us old world and old fight world relate to early MMA

If Mitsuyo Maeda had not visited Brazil, MMA may not exist. If it did, it would be very different.

"A Lion's Dream (Conde Koma)" is the biography of Maeda. Written by Norio Kouyama, this book was honored with the Shogakukan Non-Fiction Award. Kouyama is not a martial arts specialist, so in this review of the book I evaluate how much merit it has as a biography.

Jigoro Kano was ambitious about education. He had dedicated himself to developing judo in Japan, but at the same time he was known as an educator. During this time, Japan was not valued as an equal by the western world, and martial arts were regarded lightly because of western culture and its guns. Martial arts were treated as strange samurai tactics that were not useful (against guns) during the Meiji period in Japan.

Kano believed that education could change the perspective about martial arts and of Japan itself. Therefore, he believed that he needed to expand traditional martial arts by introducing them to the western world. He dispatched many of his students around the world. Tsunejiro Tomita was set to be dispatched, but he was already more than 40 years old and Kano felt that he needed to recruit more of the younger active martial artists for this task. Luckily for Maeda, his other mentors were sent to Butokukai and he was able to travel abroad.

Butokukai Head Quarter

Before two judokas began the trip, one was recognized in America. That man was Yoshitsugu Yamashita, who impressed Theodore Roosevelt with his judo. Roosevelt wanted to bring a judo class to Annapolis, but Annapolis did not like that idea. After further discussion, Yamashita was permitted to compete at Annapolis. He fought a wrestler, Lieutenant Joseph Grant, who was roughly 10 years younger than Yamashita. Grant stood 2.0 meters tall and weighed 160kgs. Yamashita was 1.6 meters tall and weighed only 68kgs.

Yamashita had already spent one year in the United States and he knew how wrestlers fought. He countered Grant's forward movement with a throw and immediately went for a rear-naked choke. Grant stood up to try to flip Yamashita, but Yamashita secured an armbar when Grant used his left arm to stand. Grant gave up the fight and that made Yamashita the new judo coach at Annapolis.

Tomita and Maeda arrived in New York and were invited to West Point due to Yamashita's success at Annapolis. Maeda fought a school wrestling champion who took top position early in the match. The audience believed that that was the definition of victory, but Maeda rose to his feet and threw the wrestler before submitting him with an armbar. The audience still believed that the wrestler had won by pinfall.

Even at his advanced age, the audience believed that Tomita was better than Maeda since he was Maeda's mentor. As an athlete, Tomita was past his prime, but West Point arranged for him to compete against an even better fighter than Maeda had faced.

Tomita lost that fight and that made his and Maeda's evaluations lower. This is why Maeda went on to challenge many other martial arts fighters for money and recognition. He made trips to many countries to challenge other martial artists, and he understood judo's merits and faults against various disciplines.

During his breakdown of wrestling, Maeda noted that he would only accept fights against clothed opponents. He felt that he would still defeat unclothed wrestlers who were the same size as him, but he could lose to heavier opponents simply due to a power disadvantage. He recommended the Tsurikomigoshi technique against wrestlers because catching an arm would benefit the judoka and also defend against an opponent's attacks if a throw failed.

Maeda broke down tactics for competing against a boxer as well. He tried to challenge Jack Johnson, but Johnson refused to take part in a cross martial arts battle. The author of "Conde Koma" points out that this was similar to how proud Helio Gracie was when Joe Louis refused his challenge.

Maeda's foes were not billed as the strongest martial artists. Each one would simply be presented to him as a boxing champion or a wrestling champion. Maeda was confident that he could beat all of them, but there was a level of respect from both sides and his opponents did not proclaim to be "masters" at boxing or wrestling.

Maeda gained fame among Japanese immigrants in the United States due to the martial arts contests that he won. At the time, a movement had begun in America against Japanese immigrants. Maeda was conscious of the respect from immigrants and also of the social circumstances. He used the ring name "Yamato Maeda" to encourage people and himself.

During his trips all over world, Maeda spent time in some countries where Japanese people had comfortable lives. Brazil was undeveloped compared to America, but Maeda felt that there were still opportunities for Japanese immigrants to thrive.

I have omitted Maeda's time in Japan and in Brazil from this review because that should be read if and when it is presented in book form. "Conde Koma" is more about the social situations that Maeda faced and it includes almost nothing about his relationship with the Gracies or his education. Still, it is interesting because it explains how he encountered cross martial arts fights and how his journey resembled that of the early Gracies. It also educates newer MMA fans who are not familiar with the lineage of martial arts.

Yoshizo Machida, who manages Maeda's grave, shows a copy of "Conde Koma."

My other artcile about Judo's　advance to the world

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

Reflection

Fighters' trash talk before fights and ambitious comments afterwards are often easy subjects for media when creating articles. I don't think that's wrong, and I don't want MMA to become a sport where the loser gets more attention.

Most fighters have losses on their records and there is nothing wrong with fighters having no words when they lose. They don't plan to lose, but I want to bring some attention to fighters who talk about and analyze their losses.

Losing gives a sense of reflection to fighters and I feel that some fighters reflect with dignity rather than with ambition.

I have heard losers talk about how they will erase their faults and/or evolve their strongpoints. These fighters' trial-and-error approach is a lot like MMA itself and its evolution, but this does not get the attention that it deserves.


MMA is about violence, but I think that people underrate intelligence and the importance of reflection in MMA. I must point out that there are fighters who have a sense of reflection when winning, and not just after defeats.

In Japan, fans and media refer to some fighters as philosophers. That does not mean that the fighter is similar to a true philosopher, but it does mean that opponents must watch out for his or her ability to reflect and adapt.

Some fighters like Fedor Emelianenko and Lyoto Machida have fanatic supporters, but that does not mean that fans like them because they are mysterious. Fans see a sense of intelligence and reflection with dignity.


When I form interview questions, there is always one common theme despite the fact that the questions are different. I ask fighters whether their training and game plans for fights actually work out in the fights themselves.

With that question, I think that fighters generally show personality when answering, and that provides an interesting insight into their intelligence and reflection.

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

Sex and Death in a Man's World

When I watch interviews on TV, fighters often talk about their parents' deaths and about having a rough life. This is set up by TV producers to try to target the audience's emotions.

Of course, we have an interest in what a fighter's life is like. A fighter being human is why we take an interest in MMA. Fighters aren't robots, and covering their training, philosophies and sacrifices is an essential part of what MMA media does.

Lately, it has become more common for MMA media to cover emotional fighter stories on a regular basis. If there is an opportunity to use a personal story to make money and further one's career, whether about the death of a relative or about who dated whom, many fighters will take it.

People are interested in sex and death, which is natural because everyone is born because of sex and everyone will die in the future. I'm not surprised that many female MMA fighters do sexy photo shoots, but they are mostly just catering to the demands of male fans.

Martial arts create violence and injuries. Because of that, sadistic and masochistic emotions are quite common. When fighters and the audience face emotions like that, sex and death become more frequent talking points in the media.

I don't think that fighters must act like "normal" men and women. Human beings can develop any image for themselves that they like. MMA already provides enough interesting personalities that we don't normally see.

We encounter female MMA fighters with a variety of personalities in MMA, but those fighters are surrounded by a male audience in a man's world.

I want competition and performance to have a greater value because that is the core of sports, but demand for sex and death results in fewer discussions about competition. In that regard, I don't think that fighting sports are the same as other other sports and I know that there can be a lack of humanity in this community.

I feel that media should be prudent about how much we talk about sex and death. Websites, TV and MMA organizations can affect how fans perceive fighters and that can have a significant impact on the fighters' careers.

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

Striking pressure defines where a fight goes

When Japanese MMA is evaluated, it is often pointed out that many fighters do not know how to do a proper weight cut. What I would also like to note is that most fighters do not fight in the weight class that is defined by their body frame.

For example, in boxing, Shinji Takehara is the world champion of the heaviest division. His division is middleweight (160 pounds), and he stands 6 feet 1 inch tall. Boxers have a more strict view about fighting at their proper weight. There are fighters in MMA with smaller frames who try to gain muscle for more grappling strength. Therefore, I can't say that everyone fits my theory, but still many Japanese fighters choose the wrong fighting weight.

Motonobu Tezuka fought against the clearly bigger Alex Caceres. After the fight, Tezuka said that he can drop down to flyweight. That makes me think that, when a Japanese fighter enters a major organization where foreign fighters have bigger frames, the Japanese fighter should drop down a division.

That's not to say that every fighter must do so. Certain fighters are not meant to drop the weight, such as the grapplers that I mentioned who bulk up in order to allow themselves to improve their grip on submissions or to maintain position on the ground. Those fighters excel by using their physical strength to their advantage and they would struggle if they cut weight and lost muscle. It becomes risky when they can no longer use their familiar fighting style once their strength is diminished.

There are also many fighters who choose to compete in higher weight categories because there often isn't as much money to be made in MMA's lower weight classes like flyweight, bantamweight and featherweight. Fighting in the higher weight classes leads to bigger paydays. Frankie Edgar, for example, captured the UFC lightweight title even though he only has a bantamweight frame. I am worried that there is too little investment in the lighter weight categories, which limits the sport's potential for growth.

In MMA right now, grapplers need to develop striking pressure to succeed at setting up takedowns at the highest level. Fighter need use strikes to keep opponents off-balance to set up takedowns.

Striking pressure can be made up of a fighter's reach, speed and power, but technique can be used to create space or to close the distance. Striking pressure can be overcome if you take note of distance, angles, combinations and so on. Shinya Aoki did try to do this in his fight against Eddie Alvarez after he had previously lost the pressure battle in his bout with Gilbert Melendez, but due to his lack of power and chin, Alvarez overwhelmed Aoki anyway.

When an opponent has a longer reach, and can adapt to any situation, the fight becomes tougher for a grappler with a shorter reach. This means that divisional flexibility has become much tougher than before.

In the past, you saw fighters trying to submit opponents from the bottom. Once elite fighters learned how to defend submissions from the top, wrestling became much more important in grappling. And now that fighters have become better strikers and have learned how to sprawl to defend against takedown attempts, it is difficult for grapplers to turn fights into grappling matches without first using striking pressure.

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

Aesthetics of Trash Talking and a Fighter's Position

Chael Sonnen's quotes attract attention and produce what people demand. As martial artists or fighters sell self-skill, people demand "strong" and "tough" images. It is natural in the history of the fight scene.

Fighters often adopt different kinds of characters when they are in different countries. They react to market demand and change their character in individual countries because the market differs from place to place.

The idea of "Sports for sports" and "Martial arts for martial arts" only exists when fighters or trainers don't demand money or seek investors who don't want security. When speaking of pure sport without money, vision and a system of blame, it is problematic and such discussions often ignore awareness of that point.

"Sports for sports" is a totally new idea among the middle class. When people are very poor, sports can't exist. Organizations like Shooto, which pursued this concept, existed for Japan because of the country's economy. In other countries, the focus has been more on producing fighters for big events that lead to fame and financial gain.

Of course, sometimes people misunderstand things with the contradictions between sports and money, but whether trash talking is worth paying attention to or not is a totally different subject.

Chael Sonnen talked trash about Brazil and Anderson Silva, but often we found that he didn't believe what he was saying. Sonnen said his remarks were clearly inspired by pro wrestling and designed to try to sell PPVs. Do you believe Sonnen's excessive expressions destroyed Brazil and Silva's public images?

Regardless, certain people enjoyed it. Moreover, people miss the importance of position and stature in this sport.

For example, there is a huge difference between the income of a UFC champion and that of other fighters. Therefore, fighters like Sonnen and Frankie Edgar jumped at their recent chances to compete for titles, while Jon Jones was more defensive about defending his championship. Their positions are different.

When I interview fighters, I do so whether they've just had a dominant win, a tough decision win, a loss, become a champion or lost a belt. All positions affect how fighters comment through their quotes, so it can be difficult to find out a fighter's real personality when their position at the time affects how they respond.

That point is no different anywhere in the world, but that does not mean that the fighters have personality problems. Rather, it means that fans and journalists should try to find common beliefs from.

Big thanks to Robert Sargent (from MMA Rising) for English editing and Chris Nelson (from Sherdog) for English editing advise.

Japanese Kick Boxing History and MMA Relations

Kickboxing was born in Japan, but when and how?

Over the years, kickboxers have taught MMA fighters how to strike, but fans often don't know much about kickboxing's history. This is the history of kickboxing as it relates to MMA.

For kickboxing, there is neither a universal fight database nor a comprehensive historical record, so I decided to create this article. I may not be the most knowledgeable person about kickboxing, but I have noticed that most kickboxing websites are seriously lacking in their knowledge of the history of the sport. This is partly due to the language barrier between English and Japanese, which is understandable, but people must realize that most media members are unaware of kickboxing's origins.

With this article, I hope to change the standard of knowledge for kickboxing history. I have done a lot of research, but due to the lack of record keeping and history books, some facts may be omitted. However, I believe that this article will be much more detailed than those found on any English website.

The sport began in Japan and I am Japanese, so therefore I must admit that this is heavily written from a Japanese viewpoint.


Kickboxing was born when Nihon kenpo karate practitioner Tatsuo Yamada became interested in Muay Thai. He wanted karate to become a sport. In 1962, he held his first karate sports event. Also that year, boxing promoter Osamu Noguchi became impressed when he watched a Muay Thai event. He wanted to hold a karate vs. Muay Thai event and discussed it with Yamada and Masutatsu Oyama.

In 1963, the Oyama Dojo sent three fighters to Bangkok, Thailand: Kenji Kurosaki, Tadashi Nakamura and Akio Fujihira. Only one karate fighter, Kurosaki, lost there, but he later became a great contributor as a coach for kickboxing.

Kurosaki is a father of Dutch kickboxing. In 1966, he went to Holland by invitation of Jon Bluming, who was a student of Kurosaki and also taught many students in Holland. Under Kurosaki and Bluming's teaching and influence, coaches in Holland learned kickboxing skills.

Coach Jan Plas (Mejiro Gym) later taught Remy Bonjasky and Andy Souwer. Thom Harinck (Chakuriki Gym) taught Peter Aerts, Hesdy Gerges and Badr Hari. Johan Vos (Vos Gym) taught Ernesto Hoost.

Kurosaki left Kyokushin and built Mejiro Gym. Jan Plas's Mejiro Gym in Holland is a branch of Mejiro Gym. The Japanese Mejiro Gym produced the most important talent in kickboxing history.

In 1966, the first kickboxing organization began in Japan, the Japan Kickboxing Federation. It started with Tatsuo Yamada's students and Tadashi Sawamura. Sawamura was the first star of Japanese kickboxing, but he was built up by promotional hype and was never able to beat the top-ranked Thai stadium fighters during his career.

In 1971, All Japan Kickboxing Association (AJKA) began. AJKA had stars with the greatest skill. Toshio Fujiwara began kickboxing at Mejiro Gym in Japan. Kurosaki's hard training regimen, coupled with Fujiwara's original footwork and clinchwork, made Fujiwara the AJKA champion and also the first foreign Rajadamnern champion. AJKA dissolved in 1981.

AJKA's successor, All Japan Kickboxing Federation (AJKF), began operations in 1987. AJKF brought in fighters from Europe including Maurice Smith, Rob Kaman, Vitali Klitschko (current world boxing champion) and many more. They also collaborated with pro wrestling companies like UWF International, Rings and Pancrase. Because the pro wrestling audience was large, AJKF became very popular.

However, it wasn't long before internal troubles and a new wave of independent organizations hurt the local Japanese kickboxing scene.

In 1985, Martial Arts Japan Kickboxing Federation (MA Kick) began to develop with fighters and gyms leftover from AJKF. By 1996, many gyms formerly belonging to AJKF were independent. They built a new organization named New Japan Kickboxing Federation (NJKF). In 1997, the kickboxing gym Active J became independent from AJKF and started the organization known as J-Network.

At the same time, local talent began to grow and started to have success. Atsushi Tateshima and Kensaku Maeda's rivalry started to boost kickboxing's popularity. Celebrities began talking about both fighters. AJKF's 70kg and under division developed interest among hardcore fans.

In 1984, organized MMA began with Shooto. This inspired one man, Tomofumi "Caesar Takeshi" Murata, who wanted to make a new sport that combined elements of MMA and kickboxing. Murata is a former kickboxer at the Japan Kickboxing Federation who taught at UWF. He had grappling experience with pro wrestlers. Murata built "Shoot Boxing" in 1985.

Shoot boxing uses kickboxing rules, but also gives points for throws and permits standing submissions. This allows many MMA fighters to compete and have success. Mark Hominick, Toby Imada, "Lion" Takeshi Inoue and Antonio Carvalho have all competed for Shoot Boxing.

Shoot boxing is best known for leading to Andy Souwer's run in K-1, but before he fought for K-1, Souwer made his name in the "S-Cup," which is the biggest tournament in Shoot Boxing. The S-Cup has included current MMA striking coach Hiromu Yoshitaka - who is responsible for Akitoshi Hokazono, Takashi Nakakura and many Osaka MMA fighters' striking - and Mohamed Ouali, who has assisted greatly with American Top Team's striking improvements.

While small, local kickboxing organizations continued to develop, major kickboxing organizations began. K-1 started in 1993 and its tournament format and frequent heavyweight knockouts charmed the audience. Some of the K-1 fighters were later invited to compete in MMA. Branko Cikatic, Mirko "Crocop" Filipovic, Ray Sefo, Peter Aerts, Mark Hunt and many others fought in MMA.

Nowadays, people know that Crocop changed the standard for MMA striking technique. Mark Hunt is currently on a winning streak in the UFC and Ray Sefo is a trainer at Xtreme Couture. By contrast, some fighters transitioned over to kickboxing after starting in MMA. Examples of such fighters include Semmy Schilt and, of course, Alistair Overeem.

K-1 also initially held lighter weight tournaments, K2 and K3, but they did not succeed.

While K-1 did not succeed right away with promoting the lower weight classes, the local Japanese kickboxing scene produced young prospects for the future. By 2000, K-1 began to have more success at promoting the lighter weights. The start of K-1's 70kg division largely came about because of "Masato's" appearance on the local scene. Masato Kobayashi was ambitious about turning kickboxing into a major sport. He became freelance after winning the AJKF championship and also started his own promotion, "Wolf Revolution."

Masato helped to develop the market for under-70kg fights by becoming the first Japanese K-1 champion. That market depended heavily upon his popularity, however, and it made for a severe conflict with the officiating in kickboxing. In the 2004 K-1 Max final, Masato faced Buakaw Por Pramuk. The fight was ruled a draw by the judges, but Masato had clearly lost. Masato did show drastic improvement in his boxing skill, though, and he was further helped when K-1 adjusted its rules to remove clinching.

At the same time, K-1 brought in talent from its parent MMA company, Hero's. Masato faced MMA fighters such as Norifumi "Kid" Yamamoto, Gesias "JZ" Cavalcante, Genki Sudo and Tatsuya Kawajiri, which gave Masato a celebrity status as the defender of K-1.

Local shows continued to feature lighter fighters who had not received an opportunity to compete for K-1 but wanted to elevate their divisons to a higher status. AJKF held 60kg tournaments. Toshio Fujiwara built his own gym after retiring and produced fighters like Masahiro Yamamoto and Hisanori Maeda, as well as Haruaki Otsuki, Satoshi Kobayashi (later in his career), Naoki Ishikawa, Genki Yamamoto, Shinobu Shiratori and more.

Meanwhile, NJKF had succeeded in building up its 60kg division with captivating fighters such as Tetsuya Yamato, Ryoichi "Rasyata" Sakiyama and Yohei Sakurai.

When K-1 Max charmed people and attracted a local hardcore audience with 60kg fights, K-1 heavyweights began to struggle to keep fans interested until the emergence of Bob Sapp. After fighting well against Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira under MMA rules, Sapp was picked up by K-1 and matched up against Ernesto Hoost. His enormous physical force allowed him to stop Hoost even though his fighting style was not technical.

K-1 was clearly pleased with the powerful but not technical Sapp and he became very popular, though this was really more because he was a newcomer entering K-1. Sapp went on to face famous Yokozuka champion sumo wrestler Taro Akebono. He brutally knocked out Akebono, who had no clue about the striking game. Sapp did make an impact with that freak fight, but his record got worse as his career progressed. He lost to Mirko "Crocop" and Ray Sefo, but defeated Seth Petruzelli and Yoshihiro Nakao.

During this era, Remy Bonjasky and Akio "Musashi" Mori led the K-1 heavyweights. Neither was a strong finisher and the success of the events depended heavily upon knockouts. Therefore, K-1 relied more upon fighters with big frames and power than on ones with technical skill. The organization brought in former Ssireum (Korean Sumo wrestling) fighter Hong Man Choi. Besides winning some freak fights, he could not make an impact in the sport.

Fighters began to convert from MMA back to K-1. Semmy Schilt, who had a background in Daidojuku Karate, fought in MMA and then converted to kickboxing. Schilt used his big frame for clinch attacks but he also had skills outside of the clinch. His jab and front kick were important parts of his fighting style and they allowed him to stop the advance of opponents with a smaller reach. While he did not display great athleticism, Schilt's presence brought a new theme to the scene.

"Who can beat Schilt?" fans wondered.

Badr Hari and Alistair Overeem became known as answers to that question. Hari brought speed to the K-1 heavyweight division, while Overeem brought power. Overeem was also known for his career in MMA, but his striking skill is what really got him noticed. Especially when he KOed K-1's next star candidate, Hari.

Overeem's huge muscular body and striking pressure forced opponents to move backward, which is not as easy to do as in the lighter weight classes because it is harder to control one's balance at a heavier weight. Hari showed amazing speed for a heavyweight and a long reach; both of which he used against Semmy Schilt. Hari's speed allowed him to overcome his reach disadvantage and his defensive skill allowed him to avoid Schilt's jab en route to knocking Schilt out.

At 70kg, Masato decided to retire following his second win of the K-1 tournament. The organization needed to find new stars. They tried to make Yoshihiro Sato into a star, but they did not succeed even though his match with Masato was exciting. That forced K-1 to launch a 63kg division.

Giorgio Petrosyan lead the MAX after Masato retire

K-1 tried to build up the number of quality talent. When they had started the 70kg division with Masato, it was difficult for K-1 to find other fighters with comparable skill. Therefore, they used their brand and Masato to collect young talent from across the nation.

This led to the formation of K-1 Koshien. It was named after the Japanese high school baseball tournament, which is the most popular amateur sports event in Japan. K-1 Koshien produced Masaaki Noiri, Hiroya Kawabe, Kizaemon Saiga and others who helped to develop a deeper 63kg division.

Tetsuya Yamato won first K-1 Max 63kg Japan tournament

At the same time, under-63kg fighters never had a chance to compete for a major organization. Therefore, these fighters in Japan looked for a new challenge in Muay Thai. Muay Thai's most talented fighters have always belonged to the lighter weight classes because of Thai fighters' smaller average height.

One fighter known for challenging many Thai opponents was Arashi Fujiwara. He had no opposition in Japan at his natural weight (53kg), so he fought above his weight division like Hisanori Maeda. However, Fujiwara still could not beat the top-ranked Thai stadium fighters. No foreigner could beat the ranked Thai fighters until Genji Umeno knocked out Wutidej Lookprabaht with an elbow to become the first Japanese Lumpinee ranked competitor.

At last, Fight Entertainment Group (FEG) - which ran K-1 - can no longer promote any more events. They owe a considerable amount of money to fighters and are unable to pay. Many kickboxers now train MMA fighters instead. In Europe, Glory bought its main rival, It's Showtime, and now just one organization will run kickboxing.

We have already seen Mark Hunt knock out opponents in the UFC. If Alistair Overeem passes his drug tests, we may get to see a K-1 grand prix winner challenge a UFC champion. Of course, Overeem has had a much longer career in MMA, so such a fight would not be "MMA vs. Kickboxing," but fans and media will surely talk about his K-1 background if that day comes.

SKILL MMA's Japanese Martial Arts Gym (include many kick boxing gym) or Venue photo series

SKILL MMA's Japanese Kick Boxing / Muay Thai Scene Gym List

SKILL MMA's Japanese Kick Boxing / Muay Thai event list


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

Bruce Lee fan bring Shooto to America

The early UFC era's unsporting, duel-type fights bred animosity between MMA and many country's political structure. Many states banned MMA, beginning the early struggles and the Dark Ages of MMA in North America.

In the same era, Japanese MMA organization Shooto started MMA with idealized goals. They defined international and regional commissions, and an amateur system which is still very ahead of its time. American promoters such as Jeff Osborne started promoting Shooto stateside, largely because they felt they needed to change the American public view of MMA.

Yorinaga Nakamura was charmed by the trailer for Bruce Lee's Game of Death, when he went to see Close Encounters of the Third Kind in the theatre. Bruce Lee's Jeet Kune Do said that any and all offense which is effective is encouraged in combat. Therefore, he very much liked the idea of Shooto founder Satoru Sayama, which offered this same structure.


Yorinaga Nakamura

Nakamura joined Sayama's Super Tiger Gym in the pre-Shooting era, and won a championship at 145 pounds. But, Nakamura badly wanted to be Bruce Lee, so like his idol, he went to America. He bulked up to around 200 pounds, so he could deal with larger American foes, and then moved to the United States.

Lee had a heritage in America by this time, through his student Dan Inosanto. Inosanto continued to teach Lee's Jeet Kune Do at his academy in Los Angeles, so Nakamura joined and studied under Inosanto. However, the teacher was also interested in his student's experience with Shooto, as Jeet Kune Do stresses a philosophy of accepting any and all effective martial arts.

One of Nakamura's student was Erik Paulson, who learned many martial arts, including Shooto, where he would go on to become a world champion. His gym, CSW, continues to teach Shooto techniques that many are unaware of.

Erik Paulson talks about his mixture of training experiences.

Paulson is the head trainer of Brock Lesnar and Josh Barnett. So his Shooto, Japanese and English submmision wrestling knowledge remain relevant in elite fighter's skillsets in current MMA.

Trainer Greg Nelson talks about Dan Inosanto, Yorinaga Nakamura and Erik Paulson.

Erik Paulson had student named Greg Nelson, who experienced many martial arts too. Nelson would go on to found The Academy in Minnesota, a gym including Sean Sherk, Nik Lentz, Jacob Volkmann, Cole Konrad and others.

Satoru Sayama's Shooto and Japanese submmision wrestling exported United States by Yorinaga Nakamura has conciously and unconciously impacted many fighters, right through to the contemporary era of MMA.

So, a Japanese child, charmed by Hong Kong martial arts movies was the bridge for Shooto to move to the United States, all reinforced by the Jeet Kune Do (and MMA) mentality to accept any martial arts.

Yorinaga Nakamura is still teaching Jeet Kune Do in the United States, while Dan Inosanto is still interested in adding new skills to his own, which has led to him learning jiu-jitsu under the Machado brothers.

We can find Jeet Kune Do fighters, sometimes even in major MMA organizations. UFC veteran and Bellator welterweight Ben Saunders, for instance, still proclaims himself to be a Jeet Kune Do fighter.

If we judge from Lee's movies, it's a little too far from MMA, so people might be quick to laugh or mock the idea. However, it is Lee's philosophy that helped pave the way for so many new skills and techniques to make their way to America.

Yorinaga "Yori" Nakamura show his Shooto skill.

Big thanks to Jordan Breen (Sherdog) for English editing.

Fetish in MMA

There are people out there who are obsessed with the martial arts. For those who practice MMA, they of course train in several different martial arts disciplines. Therefore, it is the tendency of onlookers to find the "backbone" discipline of MMA fighters, which leads them to favor particular techniques and fighters, based upon that discipline.

This practice disrupts proper discussion in analyzing MMA, as people often develop unbalanced opinions when discussing a fighter's backbone. MMA has absorbed many different martial arts, but you can discern which techniques are more appropriate for MMA.

For example, in the beginning, Muay Thai and judo's effectiveness was not fully understood and evaluated for MMA, but now many people have come to realize the effectiveness of neck clinches and trips from those disciplines.

MMA isn't only a mix of martial arts, it's also a mixed culture. To fully understand it, one must study up on how it became "mixed" and what that mixing it implies. A prime example is Fedor Emelianenko, who has recently lost three straight fights. Like many other countries, Russia has a strong sporting culture which is supported by the Russian state, but other than Fedor, there aren't many top talents from Russia in major-level MMA. Critics have often pointed to the fact that Russian fighters have difficulty catching up in the grappling department because grappling training isn't stressed outside of Russian sambo. Fedor's recent losses and the fact that there weren't freakishly big fighters at heavyweight who are as skilled as they are today ten years ago speak to this notion. Today's heavyweights now understand how to counter Fedor's wild hook game and have the footwork and cage savvy to defend against it.

Information is the key to obtaining such results. I won't say that all MMA can be boiled down to just strategy, but given how much knowledge is needed to properly perform in MMA, acquiring that knowledge is critical, whether it's through reading, watching videos, or traveling to different places to train.

In 2005, the UFC had Andrei Arlovski, Chuck Liddell, Rich Franklin, and Matt Hughes as champs. While I do believe they all rightfully earned their titles, they do point to one thing in particular about the UFC at that time; its roster was not as culturally diverse as it is today, let alone as diverse as Pride's roster, at the time.

Thus, I believed that a more diverse selection of fighters would deliver for the UFC when Zuffa bought DreamStage Entertainment in 2007. As we've seen since however, the UFC's ability to thrive wasn't only delivered on the part of former Pride fighters, but also on the part of ethnically diverse American and Brazilian fighters.

In the past, I've sometimes said that former Pride fighters from America and Brazil have had better results than former Pride fighters from other countries. I am not saying that information is the only factor, but in actuality, fighters from countries where knowledge and technique relevant to cage survival is more readily accessible have clearly benefitted from it.

As a point of reference, look at the growth of talent from the United Kingdom. There were regular MMA events in the UK in the past, but not many talents rose to the upper levels of the sport until recently. Given the fact that UK-based fighters speak English, they have benefitted from the many sources of information out there in the MMA world, most of which is in English. Whether it's gathering information through written texts or exchanging information with fighters and trainers across the Atlantic in the US for example, the benefit of language that UK fighters have is a huge advantage to their overall MMA game.

I've already talked about the fusion of skills in the sport, and how hybridized knowledge is born day by day, year by year. Without that evolution of skills and knowledge, catching up to and staying current in today's MMA game is impossible. In the current state of MMA, learning how to chain skills is critical, but I want to see a twist for the future. I don't just want MMA to mature, I want it to become a cultural amoeba, consuming and absorbing all martial arts and adding their unique skills and repertoires to its own vast pool of knowledge. I want to see new challengers from martial arts that MMA fans have never heard of before. I want to encourage traditional martial artists to continue to try their hands at MMA.

For that matter, MMA already has incorporated traditional martial arts skills, whether fans realize it or not. Who wasn't excited to see Lyoto Machida's karate crane kick on Randy Couture, for example? How many fighters now use the spinning back fist, as innovated by the little-known Japanese martial art, Koppo? Skills like these show that MMA has room for the more radical techniques found in the traditional martial arts, right alongside better athletes and better informed fighters. While I don't deny the effectiveness of athleticism and the fundamental knowledge that MMA lays claim to now, I can also buy into the fetishization of traditional martial arts. Many watch and become fans of exotic techniques as displayed on sites like YouTube, and they too are a huge part of how our sport will gain its audience. 

Big thanks to Tony Loiseleur (Sherdog) for English editing.

Human behavior at MMA

Regardless of body type, human beings have many common physiological features.
 

 For example, all people can run faster forward than they can backwards. All people have eyes designed to see a horizontal panorama instead of a large vertical one, making the uppercut the most difficult punch to see.

When a fighter throws a punch, there is a moment when they must bring their hands back to throw another punch. It is at that moment an opponent can take occasion to counter and attack. In this way, basic human behavior defines how to move to attack your opponent, and how you should decide to counter them.

 This is why fighters watch one another and feint, without committing to strikes, to simply gauge their opponent's movements and reactions.

 If you understand that intention, you can watch fights differently. It allows you to understand how fighters use footwork to make an angle to attack, for instance. Certain angles of attack make certain punches easier to throw and land, and you begin to develop a sense of how to track and locate punches.

 Also, in MMA, situations change rapidly. If a circumstance changes -- a fighter gets rocked, or time is running out -- fighters know they need to change their gameplan. That is one of the true joys of MMA. You can see fighters who are competitive, adjusting their gameplans to take the foe out, or, a fighter whose gameplan completely crushed and overwhelms his opponent's.

 MMA gives more freedom than other martial arts, but its governed not just by rules, but how humans move and react to the techniques. Knowing these human behaviors and fighting behaviors shed a new light on combat.

Big thanks to Jordan Breen (Sherdog) for English editing.

   

Let's get physical

Top Japanese talent continues to struggle fighting in the United States, except one.

Yushin Okami: why has he succeeded where others have not?

I think there are several reasons that Okami has had this kind of success, but I want to focus on one thing: quite simply, too many Japanese fighters overlook the physical aspect of the game.

I think there's a cultural difference between Japanese and western athletes, but there's also genetic differences. Take for example, Jon Entine's "Taboo: Why Black Athletes Dominate Sports and Why We're Afraid to Talk About It" as just one work that explains the difference across race when it comes to sports and potential success.



Okami is known for his power. When you watch his fights, you can hear his opponents tell their corners between rounds that he's too strong to handle. It's not surprising that Okami has focused on his physical strength, employing strength coach Yuya Igarashi since he was 26. It's rare for a young Japanese fighter to start emphasizing physical training so early on.

Okami doesn't believe Japanese are genetically weak, saying that the Japanese can compete in sports like powerlifting at the world level. However, there are many fighters who feel that way. I don't want to say that Okami is winning only because of strength and conditioning -- that's not it -- but I want to get rid of Japanese fighters making excuses about not being able to physically excel.

"Japanese fighters should try to evolve their skills; we don't have the genetics to get better physically." These thoughts are rampant in Japanese MMA. Many fighters try to compensate by overtraining. For example, former Deep champion and Pride veteran Nobuhiro Obiya took a year off after losing to Kazunori Yokota. He'd essentially overtraining and hurt his back. He needed the time off to heal his cervical vertebrae.

There are physical trainers for MMA purposes in Japan, but compared to the U.S., they're still far behind in terms of knowledge. MMA fighters need to physically experiment with their bodies and learn what works best, but they lack the knowledge. For example, many fighters still feel it's a risk to try to cut weight, fearing adverse effects or injury. As a result, there are still tons of Japanese fighters fighting in the wrong weight class even at the highest level.

This is the severe truth. If Japanese MMA doesn't correct it, fighters will face the savage results. However, there is hope. If somehow, Yushin Okami could earn a major title, it would be a huge statement about what's possible for Japanese fighters and how to achieve it.


Big thanks to Jordan Breen (write for Sherdog) for English and editing.

Female MMA History

MMA has history. It’s not a very long history, and it’s constantly changing, so sometimes people don’t think it’s important, but I think examining the sport’s history is essential to understanding its present and future.


There hasn’t been much written on the history of female MMA. Here, I’ve attempted to construct a history, pieced together with all the information I could research. Most of the information comes from Japanese sources, so the history must be slightly Japanized. But, this was a piece that needed writing, so I’ve written it to the best of my abilities. If you have the will and knowledge to write something similar, please write it.

Japanese women’s MMA has its roots in female pro wrestling. In 2010, you can still find many current and ex-pro wrestlers competing in Japanese women’s promotions like Jewels and Valkyrie. The thin female scene has also acquired much of its talent from kickboxing. I don’t judge those fighters by their backgrounds, but I do think elite martial artists are a special breed. Martial artists who convert from other disciplines only truly shine against stiff competition, and the Japanese female MMA scene isn’t at that level yet, aside from a handful of top-tier fighters.

Female MMA in Japan began when the promotion Ladies Legend Pro Wrestling (LLPW) started its “shoot fighting” Ultimate L-1 Challenge tournament in 1995. The first L-1 tourney was ruled by Svetlana Goundarenko, a Russian Olympic judoka who tipped the scales at 150kg (330 lbs.).

After a few shows, LLPW discontinued its experiment, but in that era, female pro wrestling orgs couldn’t ignore MMA. Therefore, Neo Women’s Pro Wrestling started an event named ReMix in 2000.

The first ReMix World Cup offered a huge bonus of $100,000 to the tournament winner. That type of money had never before been offered in female MMA, so many foreign fighters came to participate in the events, including current stars like Marloes Coenen and Erin Toughill.

L-1 ruler Goundarenko also took part in the tournament since, like men’s MMA, there were no weight classes in the early stages. One would think that the heavier fighter would have an advantage, but Goundarenko lost in the tournament semifinals to 60kg (132 lbs.) fighter Megumi Yabushita. How? ReMix rules prohibited ground-and-pound, and featured a 20 second time limitation for ground fighting. Yabushita was able to avoid Goundarenko’s submission game with the turtle position, and Goundarenko’s stamina proved to be less than impressive, having competed in Olympic judo at 72kg (158 lbs.). So, Yabushita outstruck the Russian with low kicks, and then tried to take down the gassed Goundarenko. After this bout, female MMA began to favor small-but-athletic fighters over heavyweight fighters. Of course, there aren’t many heavyweight female competitors anyway, compared to the number in men’s MMA.

Neo recognized that it couldn’t continue to hand out the huge cash bonus which drew many competitors to the ReMix tournament, and therefore made a new brand for female MMA.

From 2001 to 2008, Japanese women’s MMA was ruled by one promotion: Smackgirl. Founded by Neo Women’s Pro Wrestling head Daiki Shinosaki, Smackgirl operated with a limited rule set, prohibiting ground-and-pound and setting a 30-second time limit for ground work. The ground limitation was eventually lifted in 2007, but it stunted the level of skill improvement in the early stages of women’s MMA. Still, Smackgirl was the only all-female MMA organization in the world to continuously hold events; therefore, almost all of the day’s well-known female fighters passed through the Smackgirl ring.

Koichiro Kimura is the man who developed the ground rules for women’s MMA in Japan. He started an event separate from Smackgirl, named AX. It would run for less than one year, but AX did host some crucial matches. Early on, Smackgirl’s Ikuma Hoshino was considered the Japanese female fighting ace. However, Hoshino lost to Yuka Tsuji via armbar at AX’s second event. It was Tsuji’s first fight, and Hoshino’s first loss.

Tsuji would prove to be Japan’s first elite female fighter, notching 22 wins between 2001 and 2009. Her only loss in that period came at the hands of Ana Michelle Tavares in July 2003, and that memory was erased when Tsuji won a rematch via first-round TKO in September 2009.


Yuka Tsuji

Tsuji’s loss to Tavares took place in Deep, and set a new standard for local Japanese MMA promotions, who began mixing female fights into previously male-only cards. Also during that period, a new rookie beat Tavares and assumed Tsuji’s position at Japan’s female ace. Her name was Megumi Fujii.

After dissolving AX, Koichiro Kimura continued trying to promote female MMA events. He worked with Shooto to start G-Shooto, which opened doors for female fighters to participate in the world’s longest-running and most sporting MMA promotion. Despite Shooto’s reputation for churning out top fighters, G-Shooto never reached its potential, running for just two years before folding.

It was in G-Shooto that Megumi Fujii became the first fighter to defeat Tavares. Fujii was known for her participation in sambo and BJJ competitions, and did not debut in MMA until the age of 30.


Megumi Fujii

If you’ve watched local female MMA in Japan, you’ve probably realized that the lower tier of female fighters is simply not well-trained. It’s no great secret. Male MMA fighters often point to this fact when asked why they refuse to treat female competitors as equals.

Fujii was the opposite of that stereotype. She told her students, “we need to be well-trained in order to not be looked down at by males.”

In December 2004, lightweight fighter Takumi Yano refused to participate in a Pancrase event. His reasoning? Yano had a philosophy about female fights, and therefore would not take part in a card which involved female fighters.

Pancrase, itself an offshoot of professional wrestling, began holding female fights in 2004 under the specially devised “Pancrase Athena” division. The rules consisted of three-minute rounds (as opposed to the standard mens’ five), but did allow for ground-and-pound.

Pancrase began cooperating with the All-Japan Kickboxing Federation (AJKF), bringing in kickboxing converts such as “Windy” Tomomi Sunaba. However, the Athena division had only one true prospect, and that was Hisae Watanabe.

Watanabe made her debut with Smackgirl in 2002. She lost to rival Satoko Shinashi in the 2002 Smackgirl tournament, but audiences were interested in Watanabe because of her “gal” style.

Watanabe’s weak area was on the ground, so she began working out at Gutsman Shooto Dojo and cross-training with male fighters to develop her submission game.

In 2006, at Deep’s 25 Impact, a rematch between Watanabe and Shinashi drew huge attention in the Japanese MMA scene. Four years after their initial meeting, Watanabe outgrappled Shinashi and scored a huge first-round knockout win. Until that point, elite Japanese female fighters had been mostly dependent on submission styles. This type of striking and grappling fusion at a high level was really a first for Japanese female fighters.

However, Watanabe would lose her next match to Seo Hee Ham, a South Korean kickboxing convert with a background in Sanshou. Watanabe showed confidence in her striking, but Ham still outstruck her. Watanabe tried to work her newly-developed ground game, but that wasn’t enough to finish Ham either, and the Korean debutante eventually took a two-round unanimous decision.


Seo Hee Ham

Ham made her name in the Watanabe fight, but her grappling game was not strong enough to hang with Japan’s elite female fighters. She would lose bouts to both Fujii and Tsuji after being outgrappled. Immediately after her win over Watanabe, Ham also lost to a young up-and-comer named Miku Matsumoto.

Hailing from Toyama, Matsumoto was not well-known in Tokyo, since half of her early fights were held in her hometown. She also didn’t participate in Smackgirl, which drew the most attention from women’s MMA fans at the time, being female-only.

Matsumoto became known following a controversial loss to Carina Damm wherein the Brazilian scored an armbar submission, secured in part by grabbing Matsumoto’s glove. Deep promoter Shigeru Saeki -- who sent Matsumoto to the fight in the now-defunct promotion MARS -- got angry and demanded a rematch from the organization’s head, Yuki Amano. One month later, Miku beat Damm by unanimous decision.

Matsumoto’s next fight would be a submission loss to Lisa Ward in Smackgirl. Afterward, Miku said Ward was on a “different level” from herself. This loss drove Matsumoto to become a more complete fighter.

Matsumoto went on to claim the Deep title by outstriking the striker Watanabe to a majority decision in August 2007. Matsumoto showed a technical prowess and brutal knockout power which is rarely seen in female MMA. In August 2008, having armbarred Misaki Takimoto in three previous meetings, Matsumoto knocked Takimoto out with vicious kicks to the body. Six months later, she destroyed Nicdali Calanoc in 21 seconds with similarly nasty knees from the Thai clinch. Matsumoto was not only showing a new level of striking in female MMA, but simultaneously building a viral video fanbase.

Putting her Deep belt on the line, Miku rematched Lisa Ward in front of a supportive hometown crowd in June 2009. This time, Matsumoto totally outgrappled Ward, eventually submitting her via armbar in the third round.

After this, many fans called for Matsumoto to fight Fujii, since they were now considered the top two pound-for-pound female fighters in Japan. Miku intended to fight Fujii, but Fujii changed weight classes and Matsumoto made a sudden decision to retire. Matsumoto didn’t explain to fans why she chose to retire, stating only that there was nothing left for her. However, she said, if there was enough money for top-tier female mixed martial artists, she might return someday.

On April 17, 2010, Fujii and Matsumoto took part in a special exhibition match at Deep’s 47 Impact, after which Miku relinquished her title and retired. Near the same time, Fujii took her act stateside and began participating in Bellator Fighting Championships’ 115-pound women’s tournament.

When Smackgirl folded in 2008 due to financial issues, it gave way to two separate all-female organizations: Jewels and Valkyrie. The result has been a diluted talent pool too shallow to support either organization.

The separate promotions created a horrible situation. A few years before, every female MMA fan thought of a dream match between Meguji Fujii and Yuka Tsuji; now, it was prevented from happening by organizational politics. (Fujii worked with Deep-affiliated Jewels early on, while Tsuji sided with the Greatest Common Multiple-ran Valkyrie.) It’s unacceptable for fights like this not to materialize because of political reasons. Female MMA doesn’t have an endless supply of fighters to help boost popularity. With such a small amount of quality fighters, organizations simply can’t afford to avoid these matchups.

Still, today’s local female MMA scene is the best ever. There are more prospects than ever before, with fighters like Rin Nakai, Hiroko Yamanaka, Ayaka Hamasaki and Sakura Nomura all steadily rising in the ranks. I can say that more real talent with all-around MMA knowledge will continue to rise up, both locally and in the world.



Ayaka Hamasaki


Hiroko Yamanaka


Rin Nakai

With the American MMA market expanding in the post-TUF era, the women’s MMA market in the U.S. has also grown. With Strikeforce creating major women’s titles, female fighters are receiving more attention than ever before.

At first, the stateside scene didn’t get much attention at all, since there was no stable organization holding all-female MMA events. Some investors tried to develop a female MMA scene after watching the success of “The Ultimate Fighter.”

Internet casino owner Calvin Ayre started bringing elite female competitors onto his BodogFight events, including Tara LaRosa, Amanda Buckner, Hitomi Akano and Shayna Baszler. While it made many dream matchups possible, the events were mostly held outside of the U.S. market and didn’t generate much attention.

After BodogFight, fans saw two fighters as sitting atop the women’s 60kg (132-pound) division: Tara LaRosa and Amanda Bucker. (No, I didn’t forget Laura D’Auguste, but she chose not to continue her career.) In April 2008, one Japanese fighter beat Buckner and shook up that situation. Her name was Takayo Hashi.

Hashi had won the Smackgirl title against Hitomi Akano, and although that was a sound accomplishment, Hashi was not considered among the super elite. Hashi went in underweight against Buckner, but outstruck the American with superior kickboxing technique.

I’m not sure if I need to explain Gina Carano to visitors of this website, so I’ll just talk about the basics. Carano was known for her charm and beauty, and gained great popularity on MMA forums. She fought for EliteXC and became something of an idol, maintaining an unbeaten record while beating mostly undersized opponents.

Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos was first known for being the wife of Pride veteran Evangelisa “Cyborg” Santos, but she became known as the first female fighter to combine a stunning physique with actual striking skills. Her impressive early performances against the likes of Baszler and Yoko Takahashi gave people the idea of “Cyborg” vs. Carano.

In 2009, Strikeforce purchased EliteXC’s assets and held a 145-pound female championship bout between Santos and Carano. It was the first female title fight to be held within a major MMA organization.

“Cyborg” used her physical strength to put Carano down and pound her out. Watching Santos’ power, people couldn’t help but think that a new generation of athlete had entered female MMA.

After the event’s success, Strikeforce started a second women’s title division at 135 pounds, where Sarah Kaufman became champion. “Cyborg” and Kaufman were seen as the new evolution of female fighters.

Because of the money and attention available there in the early days of MMA, most elite female fighters have fights in Japan on their records. Roxanne Modafferi, on the other hand, always had ambitions to live and fight in Japan.

Roxanne is known as an optimistic character, so she’s gained a lot of support from fans and those around her. She started in Japan teaching English at a private school, or eikawa.

Modafferi continued to evolve as a fighter with support from her Wajyutsu Keishukai teammate, Ryan Bow, and his Kaminari Dojo people. Despite always having a popular online presence, her first real fan attention came after the 2007 K-Grace tournament.

The eight-woman K-Grace tournament was held by Japanese sports newspaper (or tabloid) Naitai Sports on May 27, 2007, and carried a $10,000 bonus for the winner. It was there that Modafferi beat Megumi Yabushita in the semifinals, then went on to defeat Marloes Coenen by a close decision in the final round. Coenen knocked Modafferi down in the first round, but Modafferi took the Dutchwoman down in the second and worked her ground-and-pound, avoiding Coenen’s armbar attempts.

Coenen had a tough time at 66kg (145 lbs.), losing a unanimous decision to the debuting Cindy Dandois in January 2009. However, Coenen signed with Strikeforce and, in November of that year, took her revenge on Modafferi with a first-round armbar submission. She next stepped up to face the champion “Cyborg,” but couldn’t handle Santos’ striking and physical pressure and, like many others, was TKO’d.

In October 2010, 10 years after winning the first ReMix tourney, Coenen dropped to 135 pounds and armbarred Sarah Kaufman to take the Strikeforce title.

It was this nice coincidence and timing which made me think it was a good time to look back at female MMA history. In 10 years, we’ve confirmed that actual divisions can develop when elite fighters face one another often enough, such as in Strikeforce and Bellator. Having finally jumped that hurdle, female MMA can look forward to having even greater success.

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

Clouds Of Childishness

In the past, I wrote about the supremacy of Lyoto Machida's karate. He then lost immediately.

Does that mean what I thought was wrong? I say yes and no.

Karate fighters know better how to create length with their kicks. But Shogun is not heavily reliant on his boxing skill; he has tremendous kicks, and was able to outkick Lyoto. Lyoto couldn't use his counters and hand work because he got stopped by Shogun's kicks.

Also, Lyoto has great clinchwork and he has the ability to determine the distance of a fight. However, Shogun has the strongest clinchwork in the light heavyweight division and was able to take that part of Lyoto's game away.

I still believe diversity is the major charm of the sport, but single martial arts can't win in MMA, and I underrated that aspect. But, karate will remain an important skill for effective MMA because of what Lyoto was able to do with his particular skillset. How to adapt a fighter's background skills to MMA is important, but it will remain an interesting theme to watch how these fighters show off their backgrounds.

I do think that there's a huge value to people who understand MMA and can try to predict the sport by evaluating fighters' skills and fundamentals. However, MMA can't be broken down by theory.

For instance, takedowns and judo throws are completely different skills, but their goal is the same: to take the opponent to the ground. There are different ways to take fighters down, knock them out, to submit them. Considering what kinds of skills comes from what martial arts and what foundations can make this sport's discourse much richer. The more exotic skills of fighters can't be judged by the most common analysis, yet, those skills will determine the new generation of fighters and contenders.

People in MMA claim that MMA itself is the almighty fighting skill. However, MMA can't run from other martial arts and their impact. Their effect will change MMA and for the better. MMA charms people with the whole package -- the idea that a fighter has all the skills necessary to win a fight -- so people want to draw the insane conclusion that MMA itself has all the answers about fighting. In order to not sound ridiculous, you need to be conscious where different elements of MMA come from and how they impact the sport.

MMA is notorious for this kind of behavior, though. It's childish, but then again, MMA has always had a immature essence going back to the style versus style days. That kind of argumentative childishness is in all of us, whether we're conscious of it or not.

If you want to watch my childishness, look at my Twitter.

Big thanks to Jordan Breen (from Sherdog) for English and editing.

Fight

Slowly but surely, MMA has become a fightsport -- emphasis on "sport". However, people might be forgetting another aspect of the game: it's a fight. It's one of MMA's roots, and the reason themes like "vale tudo", "samurai" and "gladiators" are popular.

In 1999, Shooto founder and pro-wrestling legend Satoru Sayama started his own martial art, Seikendo. In Seikendo, it defined throws as finishes for a fight. Why? Because a throw is effective in a real fight if you're standing up. Seikendo didn't succeed as a sport, largely because it focused on budo and real fighting purpose, and lacked business sense.

It's one of the things that makes "freakshow" fights appealing. In the early days, there was no mind paid to an opponent's weight, just like in a real fight, there are no weight classes. It's impossible to explain or excuse all "freakshow" fights in this way, but that thought definitely effects the minds of fans.

I heard Jordan Breen's radio show, and he was talking about Mauricio "Shogun" Rua. He said that he couldn't explain why he had such a large and dedicated fanbase compared to some other more known fighters. I say that charm comes from the versatility and imaginative fight style he brings. He, like Sakuraba, gained global support because of that point. Their viral video popularity proves it.

One of MMA's charms is that wild things you could never imagine happen in fights. But this mystique has been lessened recently. People know MMA better, fighters are more well-rounded, better prepared and have well-developed backgrounds.

This isn't necessarily negative; I'm not against MMA becoming more of a sport. I'll always support that. But I am worried MMA is becoming less imaginative. Of course fighters need to improve, so they take the more well-known blueprint to success. But, that's what made me excited when Lyoto became champ. I wanted to see MMA be imaginative. I still want MMA to have wild, stylistic twists. Lyoto's success was dependent upon his efforts to make karate fit MMA. MMA's imagination allows these turns to happen.

In the UFC, Shogun is definitely showing his versatile skills. But, his fighting charm was greatest in the Pride era. With soccer kicks and stomps, he could really show his imagination as a fighter. Because of fighters like him, you don't heard many fans complain about soccer kicks and stomps; the concerns are always about the sport's reputation from those outside the MMA world.

Moreover, when you think about going for a takedown, and you put your head down as an opponent's legs, you risk getting kicked in the head. In a real fight, it would be foolish to go for a weak takedown like that.

We need knees to the head on the ground first, but after people realize they're safe, I would like to introduce soccer kicks and stomps. I think it should work, since there is proof called "Pride" that it's not as dangerous as it seems.

Giving people freedom creates fighting imagination. That's fightsport: it makes profit like a true sports competition, but also satisfies our ideas about what a "fight" really is.

Big thanks to Jordan Breen (from Sherdog) for English and editing.

Judo Fly to the wolrd (How BJJ born)

Today, judo -- and by extension, Brazilian jiu-jitsu -- are international sports. But, at first, judo only existed in Japan. Today, I introduce three individuals who brought judo abroad. These are the first steps of oriental grappling going worldwide, clearly effecting MMA's establishment.


Mitsuyo Maeda (Conde Koma)

Mitsuyo Maeda (Conde Koma) is known as the father of jiu-jitsu. He as born in the prefecture of Aomori at 1878, and joined the Kodokan at nine years old. To pay the costs of staying in America, he took prizefights against boxers, kenpo practitioners and pro wrestlers. If any opponent beat him, they won 1000 U.S. dollars.

His prizefighting tour eventually landed him in Brazil, where he met businessman and politician Gastao Gracie, the son of a Scottish immigrant. Gracie wanted Maeda to use jiu-jitsu to teach his son Carlos discipline. Carlos would show these grappling skills to his younger brother, Helio, who would modify and improve parts of jiu-jitsu, renaming the art "Gracie jiu-jitsu."

Some 30 years ago, the heavy rain of Belem destroyed Maeda's grave. Maeda's friend Sakaeoti, and Yoshizo Machida -- the father of Lyoto -- collected the bones of "Conda Koma", cleaned them, and with the support of Kokushikan University, rebuilt a new tomb for him.


Masahiko Kimura

Masahiko Kimura as born in prefecture of Kumamoto at 1917.He start Judo at 10years old. Originally, Kimura wanted to be a part of the pro judo circuit and won the tournament, but pro judo was a financial failure. As a result, Kimura started to compete in pro wrestling. While working and teaching judo in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Kimura's colleague Yukio Kato was choked out by Helio Gracie, who had honed his grappling under his brother Carlos. Kimura worried about judo's popularity decreasing due to the event, leading to him fighting Helio at Maracana Stadium.

When Kimura arrived at the stadium, he found a coffin, which Helio had said was for him. However, Kimura defeated Gracie after 13 minutes, throwing him with an osoto gari, before attacking him with an ude garami, forcing Carlos Gracie to stop the bout, knowing his brother would not submit. Because of this bout, the ude garami was called the "Kimura lock".

Almost 50 years later, Kazushi Sakuraba would become the first man in modern MMA to defeat the second generation of Gracie family. Sakuraba beat both Royler and Renzo Gracie with the famous Kimura lock.

Kimura is also known as a teacher of Yoshinori Nishi and the late Ryusuke Moriyama, who were instrumental in forming Japan's biggest network of MMA gyms, Wajutsu Keishukai .


Yukio Tani

Yukio Tani as born in prefecture of Kumamoto at 1880.At the age of 19, Japanese jiu-jitsu practitioner Yukio Tani flew to London to serve as an instructor in Bartitsu, a hybrid martial art devised by British entrepreneur and self-defense pioneer E.W. Barton Wright. The martial art inspired famous author Arthur Conan Doyle to write his celebrated Sherlock Holmes character as a student of Bartitsu.

Unfortunately, Bartitsu was a financial failure. However, Tani stayed in London, and joined up with show business promoter William Bankier. Tani started to compete in jacket (gi) challenge matches at London's music halls. A challenger would be paid a British pound for every minute he lasted with Tani, up to 15 minutes, and 100 pounds if he could defeat Tani.

Judo school taught by Tani still exist in London.It named Budokwai.

Big thanks to Jordan Breen for English support and Editing.

Empty hand

Karate is written "empty hand" in kanji. At first, Okinawan people imported Chinese martial arts. It was first called "Tang Dynasty hand," but Okinawans evolved these skills. In the militaristic era of Japan, Shotokan founder Gichin Funakoshi's group change this martial art's name to today's "empty hand."

Some critics said that Japanese nationalism effected this name change, but the phrase "empty hand" has a philosophy behind it.

Lyoto Machida is nikkei nisei -- a second-generation Japanese immigrant. His father Yoshizo moved to Brazil in 1968, and took it is a challenge. He said he wanted to do something not everyone did. When he left Japan, he got only 100 dollars from his father.

He started his dojo in Belem, but there wasn't enough people for him to teach, so he moved to Salvador. His karate survived against other martial arts like capoeira and jiu-jitsu, and earned him students. At his height, he had 1200 students in Salvador.

Enjoying his success, he met a pretty girl, Ana Claudia, at a party. He asked her for a date the first time he met, a very rare approach for the Japanese. When people asked him about it, he said, "I wanted to try it first. People here don't know how Japanese are, so they just think all Japanese people are like this."

He married her, and together they had four sons and adopted another. While enjoying the success of his dojo in Salvador, an old student asked him to return to Belem. Yoshizo told him, "If you give me a farm, I'll come back," never expecting that it could happen.

His student made enough money to buy him a farm, making Machida come back to Belem. Machida started a cacao farm, but it failed economically, and he as forced to sell it. When he was asked about the farm, Machida said, "Since karate means 'empty hand,' that's not a big deal. Everything is about trying, losing is nothing."

In Lyoto's post-fight interview after the Evans fight, you heard him say, "Go hard, it's possible." I don't think he's talking just about effort.

When Yoshizo was asked about how to teach karate, he answered, "I don't use books often, because there aren't many things being taught except concepts and philosophy. I find out new things every day because I need to teach students, and they're bored if I always teach the same things." Yoshizo still learns from others. He said he still goes to Japan annually to get lessons from the Japanese karate community.

Yoshizo also compared his sons' aptitude for MMA.

"Lyoto is passive compared to Shinzo. Since it's a streetfight-type of sport, it is good to be passive. He also has a soft body compared to Shinzo, which is good for fighting."

Being passive doesn't mean he's weak, it just means he respects his opponent's skill. Karate's elite practitioners have the hardest training. It isn't always logical, but karatekas push themselves to the limit to develop a calm mind. A Japanese Shotokan master evaluated Lyoto and said that he's at the same level of pure karate competition as a Japanese qualifier for the Shotokan international tournament.

If you re watch Machida-Evans after reading this, it's hard not to feel uplifted. I'm not against rationalism, but somewhere in your heart, the world is not just that. Lyoto and his family create a wonderful sense of spiritualism in us for these reasons.



Reference
Internet Radio: 100 Years of Japanese Immigrants from Brazil, with guest Yoshizo Machida

Big thanks to Jordan Breen for English support.

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.

Cult martial arts in MMA

How do you feel about Koppo.



It probably reminds you of Takumi Yano.

What is Koppo?

Koppo is a martial art developed in China.
But one man says Koppo was created in Japan.

His name is Masashi Horibe. (Yano's mustache is a parody of Horibe's.)

Around 1995, many traditional martial arts tested from one man: Rickson Gracie.

Many traditional martial artists challenged Vale Tudo to make a name for themselves.They also felt pressure from students who wondered, "is this martial art really effective?"

Many old martial arts failed to survive in MMA.

But a few martial artists survived in MMA and created a new wave in Japanese martial arts.

Yoshinori Nishi from Karate challenged Rickson Gracie in Vale Tudo Japan '94 and lost. After that, he developed a group named Wajyutsu Keisyukai.

Nishi said, "I recognized that refusing to fight for fear of defeat is shame.I want to aim my dream 'to be strong man' no matter what happens in my life."

Koppo is one martial art hoping to survive in MMA. Horibe says Koppo skills are effective in MMA.

They send two fighters to MMA event.

It was named "Universal Vale Tudo Fighting 2."

But the Koppo fighters were defeated badly. After that, Horibe decided they wouldn't try MMA again. Many students left Koppo in disappointment.

Takumi Yano is one of those Koppo students.

In 2005, featherweight rankings were crushed by one pupil. His name was Hideo Tokoro.Tokoro knocked out Alexandre Franca Nogueira (known as "Pequeno") by backfist.

After the fight, one interviewer asked him:

"Where did you learn the backfist?"

Tokoro answered:

"I learned it from Oyaizu-san."

Hiroshi Oyaizu was one of the Koppo guys defeated in Universal Vale Tudo Fighting 2. He quit Koppo in 1999 and moved to Paraestra. Oyaizu taught MMA for many guys. He returned to MMA at ZST in 2006.

I don't want to defend Koppo. Horibe lied about Koppo's effectiveness in MMA.But sometimes cult Martial Arts can be effective in MMA. And you should know it.

Of course, the backfist isn't Koppo's originally.

I don't guarantee this information.
I worked hard on this. I'd like to get your response.


Koppo Headquarter

original forum post 09/12/2006

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