2013 JMMA schedule

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


Isao Kobayashi

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


Yokohama Cultural Gymnasium

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


Yusaku Nakamura

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

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

Breakdown of Michael Chandler vs Rick Hawn at Bellator 85

When you looked at the Michael Chandler vs Rick Hawn matchup on paper, did you expect that much domination from one fighter?

Looking at the fighters' styles, Chandler is the quicker athlete while Hawn has more power in his hands. In the fight, Chandler pressured with strikes and takedowns before Hawn could get settled. Chandler's striking pressure and takedowns did not blend together quite as well when he fought Patricky Pitbull or Eddie Alvarez, but when he fought Hawn he completely avoided Hawn's jab by controlling the distance at all times.

There are critics who state that Chandler's hands are too low when he fights, but guarding is not the only way to avoid punches. When you control the distance, you can avoid strikes. Also, Chandler having his hands lower had the additional benefit that he could better watch out for Hawn's punches. Because Chandler controlled the distance, it meant that he did not have to be worried about Hawn's striking when he went for takedowns. Chandler had the best motions for takedowns because he did not get hindered by Hawn's striking.

 I've pointed out Chandler's changes, but I also want to point out that Alvarez changed his style against Shinya Aoki for a more distance-based fight in their rematch.

Of course, I am interested to see whether Alvarez can go to the UFC and have fights there, but the changes that both fighters have made will make up an interesting aspect of a Chandler-Alvarez rematch if it happens. Also, Aoki himself recently scored a victory with strikes that were mixed in with a takedown attempt.

The lightweight division is rapidly improving and has the most depth of any weight class in MMA.

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

Japanese MMA scene Fighter to watch out 2013

I write annual up and coming Japanese MMA fighters to stay on the look out for. Specifically I focus on those outside of the major MMA organizations.



Kyoji Horiguchi

Horiguchi went 3-1 in 2012, including his biggest win to date against Ian Loveland. His game is not without holes, however. When he's taken down, he normally tries to defend against submissions and works at his opponent's pace.He's a bantamweight with a flyweight frame, so it's harder for him to defend takedowns with a sprawl. He either has to control the distance completely or bank on his opponent having poor takedowns.



Michinori Tanaka Vs Russell Doane

Michinori Tanaka

From a grappling perspective, Tanaka is ahead of all other Japanese MMA rookies. His 2012 campaign saw him fight just two times, as many Shooto Class B opponents and even some Class A fighters did not want to fight him.Because of that, Tanaka and his management chose to sign with Pacific Xtreme Combat. Tanaka defeated Russell Doane with chain grappling in his PXC debut in November. He has power, but he needs to work on making fewer mistakes while he builds up cage experience. He'll next face Joe Taimanglo at PXC 35.



Shintaro Ishiwatari

One of the most enjoyable local fights of the year took place in September when Ishiwatari faced veteran Caol Uno. Ishiwatari knew how to control the fight. His distance, takedowns and striking were all well-coordinated.Ishiwatari's style most closely resembles the current American fighting style. His gym, Cave, is worth checking out and is also home to standouts Mizuto Hirota and Ryuichi Miki.



Ayaka Hamasaki vs Lacey Schuckman

Ayaka Hamasaki

Hamasaki was active in 2012 and picked up a big win against legendary opponent Yuka Tsuji. While it is unfortunate that the fight happened so late in Tsuji's career, Hamasaki still dominated with better wrestling skills.Hamasaki was also successful in her cage debut at Invicta FC 2 in July. She tested herself in the cage environment and that was a smart decision. Previously, her career had been developed in Jewels, where a ring was used for all fights until very recently.
Hamasaki closed out the year with a win against Emi Fujino, who had more power than her, but Hamasaki showed a nice variety of wrestling and positional skills. She was able to counter Fujino's strikes with takedowns and controlled the grappling exchanges.After a strong 2012 campaign that included the two fights in a cage, it is likely that Hamasaki will continue to have a bright future in international competition.



Mizuki Inoue

Known for her sensational striking skills as a rookie, Mizuki Inoue had two MMA fights in 2012 and also won the 53.5 kg division of the Shoot Boxing Girls S-Cup. She is still best-known for her striking, but has also worked hard to improve her ground game.All of Inoue's MMA victories, including 2012 wins over Hyo Kyung Song and Alex Chambers, have come by way of armbar submission. Whether she stays in Japan to face the upper tier of Japanese female fighters - such as Mei Yamaguchi and Kyoko Takabayashi - or travels abroad, we will see interesting challenges ahead for her.



Isao Kobayashi

"Isao" debuted in 2008 and belongs to the Sakaguchi Dojo, which is led by Yukio Sakaguchi. Because Sakaguchi's father, Seiji, is a pro wrestler, fans were skeptical about how serious Yukio and his gym really were. After Yukio's hard-fought bout against Kotetsu Boku, however, the Sakaguchi Dojo attracted more attention.At the time, Pancrase had interesting lightweight prospects and they staged a grand prix for a lightweight title shot. Kobayashi won the tournament and went on to defeat champion Koji Oishi in a rematch, avenging his only loss in the process. He also holds a TKO win over Kazuki Tokudome, who will join the UFC this year.
The UFC offer to Tokudome first went to Isao, but Sakaguchi Dojo has a conservative plan for building Isao. Ideally, he will get more experience training and fighting in a cage if he chooses to maintain a conservative plan before joining a major promotion like the UFC.



DEEP Flyweights (photo is Tatsumitsu Wada)

Last year, flyweight Yuki Motoya was crowned as the youngest DEEP champion at 22 years of age, but he has tough oppositon ahead of him in the near future. DEEP bantamweight contender Tatsumitsu Wada has indicated that he plans to drop to flyweight and he has his sights set on the championship.As well, another bantamweight contender, Yusaku Nakamura, is also considering making the move down to flyweight. This means that there is a strong division developing. We must see where these flyweights become ranked on the regional scene, but it is shaping up to be quite interesting.


SKILL MMA : Japanese MMA scene Fighter to watch out 2012

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.  

Japanese BJJ Dojo & Gym list

BJJ is common skill for MMA at now.But at now MMA's grapple is definetely have more content than that.Fusion with wrestling and Judo give progress at grappling depart for sports.

At Japan we lose many detail of traditional Jiujitsu because of Judo's strict policy.But that make certain part of BJJ and Judo fusion which not happen at otehr coutries.

I have made a list of Japanese BJJ Dojo & Gym with their official websites. There are loads of gyms, so I can’t introduce them all. Also many MMA gyms have BJJ classes which I don't introduces here. I’ll try to give the links to their website, what prefecture they are in, and what railway station is nearest (in that order). Sometimes when that information is not available, I’ll make a guess - I could be wrong.

MAX Jiu-Jitsu Academy & Yoga Studio (Tokyo,Kinshicho)
(Link to English Page) 




Tri-Force Gotanda (Tokyo,Gotanda)
(Link to English Page)  




Tri-Force Ikebukuro (Tokyo, Ikebukuro)




Tri-Forcce Shinjuku (Tokyo,Shinjuku)




Carpe Diem Aoyama (Tokyo,Omotesando)
(Link to English Page)  




Carpe Diem Mita (Tokyo,Mita)
(Link to English Page)  




AXIS Jiujitsu Academy Chiba (Chiba,Higashifunabashi)
AXIS Chiba youtube channel




AXIS Jiujitsu Academy Yokohama (Kanagawa,Yoshinocyo)
(Web include English)   




AXIS Jiujitsu Academy Tokyo Headquarter (Tokyo,Meidaimae)
(English Web)

Team Sora (Kanagawa,Kawasaki)




X-treme Jiujitsu Academy Yokohama (Kanagawa, Higashikanagawa)
(Link to English Page)  



Carpe Diem Kamakura (Kanagawa,Kamakura)

X-treme Jiujitsu Academy Ebina (Kanagawa, Atsugi)
(Link to English Page)  




De La Riva Japan (Tokyo,Shin-Itabashi and Tokyo,Koenji and Chiba,Chibaminato and Tochigi,Utsunomiya)




Clud De Jiujitsu (Tokyo, Hakusan)




Itadaki Jiujitsu (Tokyo,Higashinippori)

Trydent Gym (Tokyo, Minamiosawa)



Ohga Dojo (Tokyo, Shibuya and Tokyo, Chofu and Tokyo, Kanda)

Pato Studio (Tokyo, Sugamo)

Nova Uniao Japan (Tokyo, Sugamo and Tokyo, Koiwa and Kanagawa,Kashiwadai and Hiroshima, Mihara and Gunma,Isezaki)



Physical Space (Tokyo, Ogikubo)

Isshin Jiujitsu Academy (Tokyo,Kamata)
(Link to English Page) 




Pogona Club Gym (Saitama,Higashiyamato and Saitama, Higashikawaguchi)
 



Free & Free (Saitama, Wakoshi)

PGN Higashiyamato (Tokyo, Higashiyamatoshi)




Brazilian Jiujitsu Academy Paixao (Saitama,Miyahara)




RJJ (Saitama,Ageo)

Checkmat Japan (Saitama, Konosu and Ibaraki, Mitsukaido and Ibaraki, Kandatsu)




Shrapnel Jiujitsu Academy (Saitama,Naka-Urawa)




Dragon's Den (Saitama,Kawagoe)

Hiro BJJ (Kanagawa,Kannai)
(Web include English) 




Alavanca Jiu-jitsu Academy (Kanagawa,Odakyusagamihara)




Strapple Ohana (Kanagawa,Tsujido)




Shonan Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Hiratsuka (Kanagawa,Hiratsuka)




Vanguard BJJ (Kanagawa,Shibusawa)
(Link to English Page)   




Ambitious Jiu-Jitsu Academy (Kanagawa,Hon-atsugi)

Gracie Barra Yamanashi (Yamanashi,Kokubo)

Bonsai Jiujitsu (Shizuoka,Iwata)

JAWS Jiujitsu Academy (Shizuoka, Tenryugawa)

JAWS WEST (Shizuoka,Takatsuka)

Trial & Error (Shizuoka,Shimotogari)

Ishida Dojo (Aichi,Hirabari)

Carpe Diem Hope (Gifu,Hozumi)
(Link to English Page)  

Dream Fantasy 7 Niigata (Niigata,NiigataDaigaku)

Ichiken Jiujitsu Academy Toyohashi (Aichi,Toyokawa)

Fubuki Jiujitsu (Aichi,Kachigawa)

Fukuzumi Jiujitsu (Aichi,Nonami)
(Link to English Page)   

Shima Brazilian Jiujitsu Academy (Mie,Ugata)

AXEL Fight Club (Kyoto,Nagitsuji)

Suita Jiujitsu (Osaka,Higashiyodogawa)

Naniwa Jiujitsu (Osaka,Kami)

NR Jiujitsu (Nara,Shin-Omiya)

Gracie Barra Japan (Hyogo,Sannomiya)

TK Training Center (Hiroshima, Higashi-Takasu)

Iwamoto Jiujitsu Academy (Saga, Nishi-Karatsu)

Trust Jiujitsu Academy (Kagoshima,Kagoshima-Chuo)



SKILL MMA's Japanese MMA scene gym list

A fan's reaction to a fight depends on their education from the media

The recent UFC flyweight title fight between Demetrious Johnson and Joseph Benavidez was booed because the content of the fight itself was not understood by fans and critics of the organization who aren't real fans of MMA.,

In reality, people don't have an opportunity to learn how fighters make moves or change strategies in order to take advantage of an opponent's actions because this is rarely described in fight commentary or articles.

The fact that both fighters must come together to make a fight goes unnoticed as a result. This causes people to not understand that MMA is a game with strategy and diplomacy, and thus they cannot enjoy it for the game itself. That lack of understanding is the source of this problem.

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.