Sunday, May 24, 2009

The karate era has begun

Boxing is widely believed to be the best striking discipline to adapt to MMA, but that may be over if fighters don't fix their faults.

Boxing gloves are big enough that one can avoid early KO's, and throw more combinations without worrying as much about clean counters. Nothing is wrong with that, but in MMA, fighters use smaller gloves. Karate fighters are used to using bare hands, so they know the importance of a single shot. In boxing, a single shot may not be as important, so boxers can trade punches, and take risks with an opponent's strikes.

Karate's idea is not just to take away an opponent's attack, but at the same time, to land strikes without risk. I don't think the majority of karate practitioners can adapt this skill to MMA, but there is definitely other karate challengers that will be coming.

I never really thought karate's ideas could have that much effect until recently, but there are many merits to using karate in MMA.

Better visual recognition: a good karate fighter knows how an opponent will move by how he starts a movement, or finishes a movement. For example, at 1:00 of the first round, Lyoto attacked Rashad when he ended his feint.

Distance coordination: Kicks can make for other striking distances than boxing. This works well with visual recognition.

Fist usage: Karatekas use bare fists, so they have more knowledge of what parts of the first are most effective for striking.

There are conditions for a karate fighter to be successful at MMA. The most important one is not losing in the clinch, also, good balance and grappling.

If fighters don't realize what these real merits of karate are, Lyoto's era will be long.

Big thanks to Jordan Breen for English support.

Friday, May 22, 2009

Sengoku's gym fight TV program fighter set

It's basically TUF without reality show.Just TV gym match.Some serious prospect like Usuda include it.Final will set at future Sengoku's opening match.

Bantam

Daisuke Endo (Wajyutsu Keisyukai Suruga)
http://www.sherdog.com/fighter/Daisuke-Endo-26518

Ryosuke Komori (Yoshida Dojo)
http://www.sherdog.com/fighter/Ryosuke-Komori-41766

Hiroyuki Hara (P's Lab Tokyo)
http://www.sherdog.com/fighter/Hiroyuki-Hara-42370

Ken Numajiri (Kiguchi Dojo)
http://www.sherdog.com/fighter/Ken-Numajiri-39568

Feather

Shigeki Osawa (Sengoku Training Players)
http://www.sherdog.com/fighter/Shigeki-Osawa-44501

Takayuki Kishi (X-One Gym Shonan)
http://www.sherdog.com/fighter/Takayuki-Kishi-22669

Makoto Sannai (Gutsman Shooto Dojo)
http://www.sherdog.com/fighter/Makoto-Sannai-34370

Toru Harai (Mori Dojo)
http://www.sherdog.com/fighter/Toru-Harai-20559

Light

Koji Ando (Wajyutsu Keisyukai Tokyo)
http://www.sherdog.com/fighter/Koji-Ando-34270

Ikuo Usuda (Kiguchi Dojo)
http://www.sherdog.com/fighter/Ikuo-Usuda-35398

Kota Okazawa (AXIS Ichinomiya / Team ZST)
http://www.sherdog.com/fighter/Kota-Okazawa-24882

Kohei Maruyama (SK Absolute)
No Data Yet

Thursday, May 21, 2009

Katsunori Kikuno will face Andre Dida at Dream 10 7/20

from

Tatame

I want Dream need to be more slowly to built Kikuno.

Next Karate MMA star?

Here is what I write about Kikuno.

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Shroobi presents Japanese MMA History, Pt.1: Conflict Between Organizations

Here, I'll write about the history of conflict and blame between Japanese MMA orgs. I've added recent remarks from Yuki Nakai to help show how the managers of affiliated gyms view these situations.

Pancrase vs. Rings vs. UWF International

1994
Rings founder Akira Maeda proposes the mutual trade of his pro wrestlers to other promotions, but the organizations deny him.
At this time, only Pancrase is recognized as a legit MMA org.
UWF co-founder Yoji Anjoh's response: "I can beat ya (Maeda), 200%."
This angers Maeda, who retaliates by punching Anjoh at a Samurai TV party.

1995
Rings acquires Maurice Smith, who previously fought in Pancrase.

1997
Rings booker Koichi Kawasaki tries to get Guy Mezger from Pancrase. Pancrase blames Rings, but Rings claims Kawasaki had already resigned. Mezger says Kawasaki tried to make contract with him on Rings' behalf. This causes Pancrase and Rings to hate each other.

Rings also approached Ken Shamrock's Lion's Den gym (of which Mezger was a member) after their deal with Pancrase ended, but failed to reach an agreement.

Meanwhile, Akira Maeda continues to attack Pancrase in the press: "I'm gonna end Pancrase."
One Pancrase fighter from this era, Kazuo "Yoshiki" Takahashi, says he'll fight Maeda one-on-one.
This was during Takahashi's career peak; the same year, he beat Wallid Ismail at UFC 12.
But Maeda rejects Takahashi's challenge, instead wanting to fight Minoru Suzuki.

1999
Yoji Anjoh sucker-punches Maeda from behind at UFC's "Ultimate Japan 2."
Maeda was knocked out. Anjoh claimed it was payback for the earlier altercation.
When Takahashi found out about the incident, he shook hands with Anjoh.

Fans of the various Japanese orgs begin attacking each other. It was more insane than the English-based UFC vs. Pride fan battle. This continued until Maeda's Rings promotion closed down in 2002.

2007
Maeda reveals that he's made peace with Takahashi, facilitated by Tsuyoshi "TK" Kohsaka. Takahashi enters the Maeda-run Hero's ring in 2007.

Shooto vs. Pancrase

2002.05.11
Cobra Kai's Daisuke "13" Hanazawa is unable to participate in a Pancrase event due to injury.
Teammate Dokonjonosuke Mishima wants to participate in his place.
After this, the Shooto commission decides to strip the license of any Shooto fighter who participates in Pancrase.

2002.06.01
Shooto points out that there were worked fights in the early days of Pancrase, and therefore can't stand to exchange fighters.
Shooto and Pancrase also try to poach one another's fighters. The orgs blame each other, and Shooto's solution is to shut off fighters' chances for mutual participation.

2002.09.07
Deep promoter Shigeru Saeki succeeds in making Dokonjonosuke Mishima (Shooto) vs. Takafumi Ito (Pancrase) at Deep's "6th Impact."
The Shooto Commission doesn't avoid this match-up.
Result? Mishima by armbar in 53 seconds.

Two months later, Ito fights Shooto ranker Takuya Wada in Pancrase and wins a decision.

Recent changes (2007)
One of Shooto's most important people, official Taro Wakabayashi, says he will try to solve the old feud with Pancrase. He revealed the reason, because no one knew about the problem. The result is that a Pancrase guy in a Shooto gym can use his name where he really belongs.

PPT (Paraestra Pancrase Team) - Paraestra Tokyo
TEAM JUNKiey - Paraestra Matsudo

Paraestra is one of Shooto's official gym groups. Paraestra's leader, Yuki Nakai, spoke about the org vs. org issue recently.

PPT is over. Yanagisawa into Pancrase with Paraestra Tokyo name.

It's bad that (because) we are from Shooto, our boy has to give up a chance to participate in Pancrase. We can't forget income, enjoy life and fight. It's made a bad image for dojo managers, when fighters have less options to make income. I've always said I accept any fighter and (they) can participate in any org.
Paraestra has Shooto for its fighters. So I don't have plans to make a Paraestra event. If a fighter has skill making his own space in the fight scene to earn money, I think he better do that himself. I think management is important for a fighter's living. I don't think managing fighters is our main job.

original forum post 07/07/2007

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

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.

Thursday, May 7, 2009

Which fighters are popular in Japan?

Who is popular fighter at Japan?People saying about tv ratings etc.But I think that isn't enough to explain how really popular they are.Today I introduce Japanese biggest SNS's MMA fighter fan group's count.I don't pick up every fighter.Just do it for reference.There is possibility I overlook fighter's biggest fan group.

Which fighters are popular in Japan? People talk about TV ratings and such, but I don't think that's enough to gouge how popular certain fighters are. Below are the member counts for fighter "fan groups" on Japan's biggest social networking sites. I didn't catch every fighter and this is just for reference. I may have overlooked some big fighters' fan groups.

MMA - 21,703

Pride Fighting Championships- 22,190
Enson Inoue - 1,170
Rickson Gracie - 598
Ricardo Arona - 540
Igor Vovchanchyn - 416
Royce Gracie - 35
Renzo Gracie - 31

Hero's - 1,081
Genki Sudo - 10,849

Dream - 7,090
Kazushi Sakuraba - 4,179
Mirko Cro Cop - 3,800
Ikuhisa Minowa - 3,221
Shinya Aoki - 2,568
Kid Yamamoto - 2,385
Tatsuya Kawajiri - 1,022
Hayato "Mach" Sakurai - 931
Hideo Tokoro - 868
Masakazu Imanari - 762


Masakazu Imanari

Joachim Hansen - 699
Melvin Manhoef - 606
Katsuyori Shibata - 585
Masakatsu Funaki - 453
Hiroyuki Takaya - 358
Alistair Overeem - 199
Kazuyuki Miyata - 178
Mitsuhiro Ishida - 176
"Wicky" Akiyo - 176
Atsushi Yamamoto - 158
"JZ" Cavalcante - 115
Yoshiro Maeda - 88
Murilo "Ninja" Rua - 67
DJ Taiki - 65
Gegard Mousasi - 60
Dong Sik Yoon - 45
Riki Fukuda - 36

Sengoku - 3,365
Hidehiko Yoshida - 582
Kazuo Misaki - 461
Satoru Kitaoka - 358
Kazuyuki Fujita - 273
Hatsu Hioki - 138


Hatsu Hioki

Kevin Randleman - 130
Kazuhiro Nakamura - 119
Ryo Kawamura - 109
Shintaro Ishiwatari - 87
Kazunori Yokota - 81
"Kiss" Nakao - 61
Yuki Sasaki - 58
Kei Yamamiya - 54
Makoto Takimoto - 48
Michihiro Omigawa - 39
Hideki Kadowaki - 15
Jorge Santiago - 5

UFC - 5,132
The Ultimate Fighter - 590
Caol Uno - 2,107
Wanderlei Silva - 1,888
Big Nog - 982
Yoshihiro Akiyama - 660
Mauricio "Shogun" Rua - 558
Georges St-Pierre - 421
Akihiro Gono - 358
Heath Herring - 299
B.J. Penn - 282
Dan Henderson - 255
Ryo Chonan - 228


Ryo Chonan

Brock Lesnar - 171
Quinton "Rampage" Jackson - 162
Yushin Okami - 136
Randy Couture - 94
Mark Coleman - 76
Denis Kang - 74
Chuck Liddell - 69
Matt Hughes - 68
Lyoto Machida - 51
Anderson Silva - 31
Frank Mir - 22
Forrest Griffin - 1

Affliction - 214
Fedor - 7,995
Josh Barnett - 1,816
Sokoudjou - 144
Andrei Arlovski - 113
Vitor Belfort - 70
Lil Nog - 36

WEC - 163
Takeya Mizugaki - 81
Akitoshi Tamura - 17
Urijah Faber - 8
Miguel Torres - 3

Shooto - 3,019
Amateur Shooto - 752
Takanori Gomi - 3,921


Takanori Gomi

Rumina Sato - 1,360
Yuki Nakai - 192
"Lion" Takeshi Inoue - 137
Mamoru Yamaguchi - 98
Kotetsu Boku - 71
"BJ" Kojima - 70
Hiromasa Ogikubo - 56
Yusuke Endo - 36
Masakatsu Ueda - 33
Yuki Shoujou - 29

DEEP - 1,100
Dokonjonosuke Mishima - 259
Miku Matsumoto - 191
Katsunori Kikuno - 168
Sakoto Shinashi - 139
Jutaro Nakao - 54
Koichiro Matsumoto - 21
Nobuhiro Obiya - 8

Pancrase - 685
Yuki Kondo - 275
Takafumi Ito - 44
Katsuya Inoue - 22


Katsuya Inoue

ZST - 426
SWAT - 45
Naoyuki Kotani - 25

Cage Force - 293
Yasuhiro Urushitani - 132
Kuniyoshi Hironaka - 104


Kuniyoshi Hironaka

Smackgirl - 219
Hisae Watanabe - 296

Valkyrie - 162
Yuka Tsuji - 131
"Windy" Tomomi Sunaba - 51
Takayo Hashi - 21

Jewels - 72
Megumi Fujii - 172

Bellator - 0
Eddie Alvarez - 139

Strikeforce - 13
Frank Shamrock - 20
Phil Baroni - 11
Nick Diaz - 9

The Outsider - 3,506
Rings - 961

Powergate - 339
Goodman Tanaka - 32

Tribelate - 145
Shusshu - 60
Heat - 42

Kimbo Slice - 254

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