Sengoku's judge criteria :How that decision coming

Sengoku is most notable for their strong matchmaking reputation, but one thing that always gets questioned is their judges' decisions.

I have Sengoku's pamphlet with their judging criteria. I'll explain them for those who want to know how they come to their decisions, since they don't use the unified rules.

Sengoku's Judging Criteria

If a fight doesn't finish inside the distance, three judges decide.

The fundamentals are:

1. Damage (Knockdowns, or strikes that give the judges confidence the same damage as a knockdown has taken place. Applied submissions, or "catches", create damage to the body.)

2. Dominance.

3. Aggression.

All three fundamentals are considered, and each round is scored on the ten-point must system. If at the end of the fight, a judge's scorecard is a draw, there is a must system in which a judge awards the fight to the fighter who they feel made the greater impression throughout the fight.

Since it is the ten-point must system, 10-10 round are acceptable (and actually quite common). There is no prioritization of the three fundamentals. There is no explanation about assessing striking volume, so damage is seemingly more important. There is also no explanation of the importance of takedowns, but there may be an emphasis as Sengoku's commission is intertwined with the Japanese wrestling community.

I watched these following three fights ten times each, and based my impressions on the Sengoku judging criteria:

Omigawa-Sandro

Omigawa was the more aggressive fighter. Damagewise, Omigawa stunned Sandro several times, with Sandro losing balance each time. Omigawa was also the only fighter to
score takedown.

Kanehara-Jung

Kanehara succeeded repeatedly on his takedown attempts. Damagewise, I think Jung offered more, but at the same time, Kanehara wasn't really hurt because he was being hit from the bottom.

Golyaev-Gomi

Golyaev did more damage, but Gomi succeeded with his takedowns, and was more aggressive.

I felt Sandro, Jung and Gomi all won their fights, but I didn't think any of the bout were the "Robbery of the Year." Of course, the decisions are questionable, but after finding Sengoku's judging criteria, it makes more sense. Hopefully you can consider them, and not just assume it's hometown favoritism with the judging.

I also want to point out how Japanese people felt about these fights, as these judges decisions were questioned in Japan, too. Kanehara-Jung was the most criticized. Omigawa's aggressive, forward attitude made an impression on live spectactors, compared to Sandro's passive attitude. However, in Kanehara-Jung, most spectators felt Jung won due to his damage from strikes.

There is a contradiction in these decisions. If Kanehara won against Jung, Fabricio Monteiro should have won the decision against Nick Thompson. Of course, people judge fights themselves, so there will always be discrepencies, but if Sengoku can at least create a central tendency for their judges and criteria, there can be transparency.

Big thanks to Jordan Breen for English support.

Which is best local kick boxing org in Japan?

All Japan Kick Boxing Federation (AJKF) is definitely best local kick boxing organization in Japan.They produce fighter such as Masato (Kobayashi) , Takayuki Kohirumaki and Yuya Yamamoto.Some AJKF kick boxers train with MMA fighters.For example,Haruaki Otsuki train with Shinya Aoki.At first watch the news site link below.

ADCC News "Scandals in the Japanese Kick Boxing World" reported by Shu Hirata

With this news,CATV channel "GAORA" cut their fight program for AJKF.

If you have interest to watch local kick boxing at Japan, please support AJKF's continue.

Other side of Sengoku 9 : prospect party

Sengoku 9 will going to define Sengoku gold cup winner.

Ikuo Usuda (Kiguchi Dojo) vs Koji Ando (Wajyutsu Keisyukai Tokyo Honbu)
Shigeki Osawa (Yoshida Dojo) vs Toru Harai (Mouri Dojo)
Takeshi Numajiri (Kiguchi Dojo) vs Ryosuke Komori (Yoshida Dojo)

What is important?Because gold cup finalist include fighter who have elite wrestle back ground.

Ikuo Usuda (Kiguchi Dojo) 3rd World University Championships (Greco 66kgs)
Shigeki Osawa (Yoshida Dojo) 1st World University Championships (Freestyle 60kgs)
Takeshi Numajiri (Kiguchi Dojo) 3rd National Collegiate Championships (Freestyle 60kgs)


Shigeki Osawa

Those fighter have gorgeous grapple background.Maybe you will able to find your new favorite prospect at here.There is another strong wrestle back ground fighter fight at Sengoku prelims.

Maximo Blanco (Yoshida Dojo) Pan-American games bronze medalist (Freestyle 60kgs)

Let's watch how those prospect improve.

2nd Sengoku Gold Cup hold at Seoul,Korea July 23.Result is not coming yet.

Best Japanese Boxer

Who is best boxer in Japan?Not famous in the world,but Hozumi Hasegawa,he is.He is current WBC bantam weight champion and already defense ninth time.He like other martial arts like MMA or Kick Boxing.He participate Shooto's commentary.He want bring himself to Las Vegas for show his skill to the world.

East Japan Boxing Committee decide to appear stop license of Kawajiri's trainer

On July 13, the East Japan Boxing Committee decided to appeal to the Japanese Boxing Commission to suspend Takeshi Yamada's boxing license. Yamada is the striking trainer of MMA fighters Tatsuya Kawajiri, Mitsuhiro Ishida, Hiroyuki Takaya and Kenji Osawa, and has also trained Yoshihiro Akiyama in the past.

Under the Japanese Boxing Commission's rules, trainers who have boxing licenses can't work in other sports.

East Japan Boxing Committee also plan to appeal to penalize Jyoji Morikawa, the owner of JB Sports Gym, which Yamada belongs to. Morikawa is the author of the famous boxing manga Hajime No Ippo.

Personally, I think the East Japan Boxing Committee don't like Takeshi Yamada's appearances on TV. He is known as the trainer of Yoshihiro Akiyama, and after the Sakuraba fight, Yamada claimed Akiyama was innocent, which turned out to be false. That incident impacted the boxing community, who didn't want to be attacked by fans and the media for an event outside of boxing.

The head of the East Japan Boxing Committee is former WBA and WBC minimumweight champion Hideyuki Ohashi. He taught PRIDE veteran Hiromitsu Kanehara to box at the Ohashi Sports Gym, so I don't think he has a bad impression of MMA. But, Yamada is using a boxing gym to teach MMA fighters and appearing in the MMA media, at the expense of the boxers in his gym.

Hajime No Ippo aka Fighting Spirit

Hideyuki Ohashi

Japanese fighters strike back ground

Special Thanks to Jordan Breen for English support.

Future Olympic for Martial Arts?

Maybe you never heard of,but there is new movement for martial arts.Many countries Olympic committee try to hold new event for martial arts.It called World martial arts games and Asian martial arts games.Asia Games will hold on Bangkok in 2009 August.World Games will hold in Beijing in 2010 Summer.

Asia Games include,

Muay Thai
Kick Boxing
Kurash
Jujitsu
Judo
Taekwondo
Karate
Wushu & Kungfu
Pencak Silat

those martial arts.World games include FILA version's submission wrestling.

1st Asian Martial Arts Games

Tsunetane Oda and an Interesting Look at the Origin of BJJ

Tsunetane Oda shows his skill, including knee-on-belly and an omoplata.

Recently, videos of old judo practitioners have been uploaded to youtube. Why is that so interesting? Because they include some of the skills that are widely believed to have been invented by BJJ guys. The guy showing his skills in the video is Tsunetane Oda. Oda was born in 1892 in Yamanashi, and was known as "Newaza no Oda," or "Grappling Oda." He reached ninth dan in judo at the Kodokan. This video includes French words, so there is a possibility it was made by a Frenchman.

Many newaza skills are omitted from sport judo, where the referee can call "mate," meaning the judokas are separated and reset standing. This video teaches us many things about where these skills originally came from.

Special Thanks to Jordan Breen for English support.