You're in freedom (MMA Year In Review 2009)

At year's end, many MMA journalists try to look back at the year, but it's just reading data. I want to give a Year in Review with a different style than just listing fights, knockouts or submissions of the year.

This is shiroobi's MMA Year In Review 2009.

When you think about MMA's background, you can separate distinct martial arts, but in MMA, fighters try to fuse fight skills. You can see American wrestlers trying to add jiu-jitsu; you can't deny the wrestling game has effected the positional game of jiu-jitsu. Therefore, some fighters who have combined those skills call it "American jiu-jitsu".

MMA is experimental for all martial arts. Every martial art needs cultural exchange; fighters need the ability to chose skills to fit their body type, height, reach, weight. On the other hand, being a traditional martial artist can reveal the essence of real fighting; Lyoto Machida has directly benefited from this. His goal is the fusion of traditional martial arts and modern sports skills.

My writing about Lyoto Machida "Empty hand"

We saw a lot of experimental things coming from Japanese organizations. Shooto revived Vale Tudo Japan, and made peace with Pancrase. Those things were inevitable. MMA's content is always experimental, so eventually, circumstances will always alleviate the problems in organizing fights between promotions.

MMA has a dynamic, experimental spirit. It is pointless to talk about the maturity or value of one single martial art, or one single promotion. What is important is the mutual impact of martial arts, which can fly from continent to continent.

Some people think that strict, limited rules make a better, more focused sport. I don't totally deny that, but the charm of MMA is in its dynamism. It is no coincidence that Japan's top boxers like Hozumi Hasegawa, Daisuke Naito and Koki Kameda love to watch MMA. As athletes, the imagination of MMA attracts them. Yet, it is the self-styled critics who are close-minded about MMA.

It's not surprising technology has impacted this sport's worldwide growth, since it really started just before the internet era. People can easily access MMA events with tools like youtube, while hardcore fans are willing to watch horrible quality event rips.

New technology not only helps any person on any continent keep up with contemporary MMA, but also creates new stars, and a new audience. The internet allowed street fighters like Kimbo Slice, or to a lesser extent, Jorge Masvidal, gain popularity. I don't really evaluate Kimbo Slice; while he may succeed business-wise, he does diminish the sporting quality of MMA. However, a fighter like Masvidal deserves attention, and reinforces the potential for street fighters to turn into successful MMA fighters through quality fight gyms.

I also must mention that it looks like the major Japanese organizations are going to merge. Sengoku idealized MMA, by trying to mimic North American MMA: announcing fights earlier, competitive match-ups, reality shows to promote events. While it gained support from hardcore fans, that's not enough to sell out events. They tried to sign elite Olympic athletes, but the benefit of those athletes is not immediate.

In the end, however, tons of talent was exposed through Sengoku: Satoru Kitaoka, Dan Hornbuckle, Mamed Khalidov,King Mo Lawal, Mizuto Hirota, Michihiro Omigawa, Masanori Kanehara, Chan Sung Jung, Marlon Sandro and others.

Within the Japanese local scene, DEEP continues to grow. By paying domestic fighters the best, they've struck a good balance of ideal competition and commercial success. They experimented with a cage event, and used former talent from major events. Fighter wise, they're close to Shooto's quality now. It's amazing to think about, since only a few years ago, they used lucha libre pro-wrestlers.

Shooto will also continue to play a major role in the local Japanese scene, too. They can continue to grow by exchanging fighters with Pancrase, and continue improving their rules by experimenting with the rules in the Vale Tudo Japan events.

Some people are conservative about talent exchanges, but if interesting matchmaking doesn't happen, audience approval decreases. There is no reason for local organizations to close themselves off from one another for political reasons. Even though there is competition between them, it is more important to make sure these crossover bouts happen for the sake of Japanese MMA, especially because the quality of regional MMA all over the world is growing.

Specifically regarding the Shooto-Pancrase exchange, I really want crossover between welterweights, middleweights and women. Champions at these weights in either organization never get to fight other quality MMA fighters. For women, there is a different problem: Japanese has some premiere female fighters, but elite-versus-elite fights are too rare in Japan. I'm tired of Megumi Fujii vs. Yuka Tsuji never happening.

Organizations will always try to make profit, and fans need to deal with it. I thought Jake Shields' fight with Jason "Mayhem" Miller was fun, watching a technical grappling chess match between the two. But some people don't find it fun. I support MMA as a sport, but ignoring the need to make money, or considering what an audience finds enjoyable is stupid. MMA is entertainment, and needs to compete with other forms of entertainment. Money is what creates MMA events, and brings talent to the sport.

Being a sport is not enough to help MMA rise. It is about the right balance between sport and entertainment.


Aldo vs Aritano Barbosa

Jose Aldo also started to become the new star of the lighter weights. People don't know, but he has awesome soccer kicks. The Unified Rules limitations hurt the diversity of MMA. MMA needs a more experimental stage, and its still young enough to have one. Jose Aldo is not only showing how talented he is, he is showing a casual audience how great the lighter weight fighters are. MMA is still somewhat old-fashioned about how the larger audience evaluates lower weight fighters, despite the fact that boxing fans realize the smaller weights are usually the most enjoyable.

Lower weight classes make for different body frames, speed, tactics. This is important for diversity, and giving freedom to the audience. Hopefully audiences continue to enjoy the lighter weights, spend money, and allow these fighters to truly be evaluated as professionals.

I want you to understand MMA is a journey across time, continents, ethnicity, human bodies, rules. Every fundamental fuses, or collides with another. I hope you can feel that freedom; it's the joy of MMA.

Big thanks to Jordan Breen for English editing.

World of Flyweight

Flyweight is not known for many people but there are fighters who can enjoy casual audience.I list many fighter from Japanese scene and some states side fighter.But that's only mean those two areas are more established in this division than other areas.

This division will make a lot of challenger from country people's average scale is small.For instance I suppose to think Philippine can be power this weight.Moreover,highest level Muay Thai fighters belong to this weight.If quality Muay Thai fighters adapt mma constantly (it's not easy,obviously),You can say flyweight have highest level striker.Even Today Shooto's 115 pounds champ Rambaa "M16" Somdet smash opponent and highly evaluated.

Jussier "Formiga" da Silva
He is 24 years old but currently No1 ranked flyweight in the world.He shock Shooto community with secure some takedown against Shinichi "BJ" Kojima and beat him at decision.

Shinichi "BJ" Kojima
He is known for defense against long time division king Mamoru Yamaguchi with nasty Rear Naked Choke.



Shinichi "BJ" Kojima

Mamoru Yamaguchi
Long time division king.Known by Afro hair style like former Japanese box champ Yoko Gushiken.Have a quality striking skill.Participate Shooto Boxing and beat rankers.


Mamoru Yamaguchi

Yasuhiro Urushitani
Shooto's outbox king.Have a draw decision with "BJ" Kojima many claimed his win.


Yasuhiro Urushitani

Mitsuhisa Sunabe
Once mediocre feather weight.But his two division drop and box improve at Shirai-Gushiken box gym make top 10 flyweight.New comer for flyweight mix and he against any quality flyweight make new breath to this division in Japan.


Mitsuhisa Sunabe

Kiyotaka Shimizu
2007 armature Kick-boxing Kaminarimon winner. (Kick-boxing organization RISE's armature division) Recently surprised many people with competitive bout against Mamoru Yamaguchi.Soon meet Mitsuhisa Sunabe at 2010 February.


Kiyotaka Shimizu

Pat Runez
Many people don't know him.But he beat John Dodson at UWC 7.Unfortunately,that event known by robbery of the year Beebe vs Easton.But that flyweight fight is quality and worth check.

Alexis Villa
He got Olympic Bronze at Fleestyle wrestling, Atlanta.Athletic as expected from background.

Villa vs Acosta


Rambaa "M16" Somdet

He is current Shooto flyweight (115 pounds) champ.It's smaller weight than Nevada (125 pounds) flyweight but he can fight at 125ponds too.Former elite Muay Thai fighter turn into MMA at 2001.Get BJJ skill with MMA fighter Shooto champ Masakatsu Ueda and Naoya Uematsu.

Rambaa vs Gomez

SKILL MMA World unknown mma community list

SKILL MMA aim comprehensive list about MMA data.Today I introduce unknown MMA community for many people but important for regional scene.Of course no one try to do such a thing.So I know this list lucks many important regional web.I welcome your recommendation about regional MMA web.Let MMA fans unite!!

Brazil
Portal Do Vale-Tudo

Portal Do Vale-Tudo's forum

Canada
Fight Linker

UK
Cage Warriors

Cage Warriors Forum

Aussie
Infinite MMA

Infinite MMA Forum

France
IKUSA

IKUSA Forum

Poland
MMA Rocks

Philippine
PinoyMMA.com

Ring and Cage.MMA's concept.

Bloody Elbow "Joe Silva Wants A Smaller UFC Cage"

I was reading this article at Bloody Elbow and it prompted me to salvage an old forum post.

Combat sports have always existed in the ring. MMA's cage is a recent deviation in that long history. But what have we taken from the ring? What do we love about the ring?

The ring is smaller than Zuffa's cage, and strikers have used the extra space to innovate combinations, chase strategies, etc. Why did Mirko CroCop fail in the cage? It's the effect of the cage's structure and scale. A big cage makes for more running in circles and less throwing of combinations. I'm not saying it doesn't take skill to win in the cage, but which gets more love from me? Of course, the surface which "combinations and chase strategy." There's more history, skill and maturation.

There are some things I prefer about the cage. In the ring, many fights are interrupted when the fighters reach the edge of the ring and either become entangled in the ropes or are restarted the referee. The cage generally means less need for referee intervention.

Knee strikes have a long history in fight sports. So why are knees to downed opponents banned in the unified rules? This is just my speculation, but I think it's the effect of the American commissions. The U.S. is known for its strong wrestling tradition, and knees to the head on the ground are risky for wrestlers.

There are fighters who wow us with soccer kicks and stops. I think it's hard to make casual fans understand that these techniques are safer than they look. We'll have to wait for people's understanding to catch up before these types of moves are allowed in the cage.

Elbow strikes have a long history, too. Why not adopt them in Japan? I think it's because the Japanese casual audience doesn't like to see blood.

I always wonder how much Vaseline being applied to the face really helps prevent cuts from elbow strikes. Because that's surely the purpose, but at the same time, the Vaseline may help nullify a submission fighter's game. I'm not sure if Vaseline is the best answer or not. On the other hand, Japanese organizations don't use Vaseline on the face. The reason is easy to understand: they've already banned elbows, and the lack of Vaseline ostensibly increases the chances for submissions.

What I think people need to understand is that some fights have to be stopped because of cuts. When you watch Muay Thai or kickboxing (which include elbows), you can see that fighters are proud to earn a TKO victory by cut. Evaluating elbows in MMA is difficult, though, since they're so easy to land on the ground. That's why I think the UFC allows the blood to pool, rather than opting for more early cut stoppages. It should be changed in the future, though.

original forum post 08/03/2008

I welcome your ideas about MMA rules and skill sets.

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

SKILL MMA gain ground to Picasa

I lost Flickr password.So SKILL MMA photo section move to Picasa.I add description soon.So be wait.

For people interest new set,I add Shooto Revolutionary Exchanges 3.

Watch SKILL MMA's photo gallery

Breakdown of Escudero vs Miller at UFC 103 (with some Jordan Breen)

After UFC 103, HumungusMMA asked me on twitter about Efrain Escudero vs Cole Miller.

@shiroobi what did you think of Escudero's head movement? 1 foot away from all of Miller's punches.

Of course, Escudero avoided almost every strike by Miller. Escudero was very conscious of Miller's reach, and was able to move his head just off the end of Miller's hand when he struck.

@humungusMMA It's more about length matter I think because Escudero keep length Miller can't hit left jab,When Miller comin Escudero counter.

Cole Miller seemed to think he should be putting Escudero up against the cage, and cornering him with his reach, but in reality, Escudero didn't have any problems with being there, because he had enough space and head movement to stay off the end of his punches. Escudero's head movement allowed him to come forward, making Miller move back and reset his distance, so he could use his reach. However, because he couldn't strike as well he stepped back and reset, Escudero was able to counter.

When Escudero succeeded in countering Miller, he chased him to now allow Miller to regain distance and used his reach. Miller couldn't strike while going backwards, and Escudero kept coming forward, and knocked him out.

HumungusMMA, is this a better answer for you?

I run a site called "SKILL MMA", but regrettably, I haven't done much evaluation of skills in MMA. Hopefully this satisfies you, and you can understand why I run a site with such a name.

* * *

After wrote this, I asked Jordan Breen to brush up the English writing and asked his opinion.

Shiroobi: How you think about content? Is there any chance of improve or any fault?

Jordan: I like it a lot. The one thing I'd point out though is that the punch Escudero clobbered him with coming forward, he actually shortened the punch, which very few guys in MMA can do properly. Most guys would've thrown a lunging, retarded punch, and it would've flown over Miller's shoulder or something. Escudero shortened his right hand coming forward and smashed him right on the chin.

Jordan: Same way Kongo caught Cain coming in. Most guys can't cut their punches short and drive them like that, it's actually fairly high level stuff you don't get in MMA too much.

Jordan: Most MMA guys, running forward at an opponent, would've thrown their punch far forward, and it would've either completely missed, or not had any power on it because it would been an arm lunge.

Big thanks to Jordan Breen for English and giving a thoughtful view.

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.

Watch exterior of Japanese MMA Gym at SKILL MMA

SKILL MMA Picasa have largest Japanese MMA gym's exterior photo series.It is most popular photo series at SKILL MMA Picasa.Now I add link to gym's web and who is head for gym for SKILL MMA 's flickr.

Today I add google street view for this database.Thank for technology, That make SKILL MMA's database part make stronger.For Google street view you can click to gym's name link and you can access gym's web.


Watch map directly
Kiguchi Dojo
Gym's head Noriaki Kiguchi


Watch map directly
GRABAKA
Gym's head Sanae Kikuta


Watch map directly
J-Rock Work Out Studio (Yoshida Dojo's MMA gym)
Gym's head ?


Watch map directly
Tokyo Yellow Mans
Gym's head Noboru Asahi


Watch map directly
Wajyutsu Keisyukai A-3
Gym's head Hirokazu Nishimura


Watch map directly
Wajyutsu Keisyukai Duro
Gym's head Toshihiro Suda


atch map directly
P's Lab Yokohama
Gym's head ?

Watch map directly
Akimoto Dojo Jungle Junction
Gym's head Jin Akimoto


Watch map directly
Cobra-Kai
Gym's head Yoshitomi "Dokonjonosuke" Mishima


Watch map directly
Shooting Gym Osaka
Gym's head Takashi Nakakura


Watch map directly
NEX
Gym's head Hiroshi Umemura


Watch map directly
Paraestra Sapporo
Gym's head Minoru Tawaraya

Shiroobi presents Japanese MMA database Wajyutsu Keisyukai Dojo and Fighters list

I made list of Wajyutsu Keisyukai (Biggest MMA gym in Japan) Dojo.Head of Dojo have asterisk mark.I add where built dojo.If you have interest WK fighters.It can be interesting.I'm too tired to add minimum explain.You can use google.So I guess it's not hard to getting fighters info.



Wajyutsu Keisyukai Tokyo Honbu (Monzen Nakamachi Tokyo)
Wajyutsu Keisyukai Tokyo Honbu Official

Yushin Okami
Yushin Okami Official Blog
Koji Ando
Yasuhiro Urushitani
Yasuhiro Urushitani Official Blog
Hideki Kadowaki
Hideki Kadowaki Official Blog

Naoko Omuro
Naoko Omuro Official Blog
Hayate Usui
Yoichi Fukumoto 

Wajyutsu Keisyukai GODS (Grappling Of Destructive & Striking) (Senzokuike Tokyo)
Wajyutsu Keisyukai GODS Official

*Taiyo Nakahara
Emi Fujino
Mark Striegl



Wajyutsu Keisyukai Akza (Niiza Saitama Pref)
Wajyutsu Keisyukai Akza Official

*Hirokazu Nishimura
Naho Sugiyama
Takayo Hashi
Juntaro Ami


Wajyutsu Keisyukai Yokohama Dojo (Kawasaki Kanagawa pref)
Wajyutsu Keisyukai Yokohama Dojo
Wajyutsu Keisyukai Yokohama Dojo Youtube channel

*Yuji Hisamatsu
Yusaku Tsukumo



Wajyutsu Keisyukai Hearts (Shinjuku Tokyo)
Wajyutsu Keisyukai Hearts Official

*Kenji Osawa
Kenji Osawa Official Blog
Shinya Irei



Wajyutsu Keisyukai K-Taro Dojo (Oimachi Tokyo)
Wajyutsu Keisyukai K-Taro Dojo Official

*K-taro Nakamura
K-taro Nakamura Official Blog
Motoki Miyazawa
Motoki Miyazawa Official Blog


Wajyutsu Keisyukai Takadanobaba Dojo (Takadanobaba Tokyo)
Wajyutsu Keisyukai Takadanobaba Dojo Official

*Katsuya Toida

Wajyutsu Keisyukai Toikatsu Dojo (Nakano Tokyo)
Wajyutsu Keisyukai Toikatsu Dojo official

*Katsuya Toida

Wajyutsu Keisyukai Team Vamos (Tenri Nara pref)
Wajyutsu Keisyukai Team Vamos Official

*Yushi Shiori

Wajyutsu Keisyukai Iwate Shibu (Kitakami Iwate pref)
Wajyutsu Keisyukai Iwate Official

 *Takuya Fujimura

Wajyutsu Keisyukai Duro (Chiba Chiba pref)
Wajyutsu Keisyukai Duro official

*Toshihiro Suda (ex Box Japanese Ranker)
Masaaki Sugawara

Wajyutsu Keisyukai Suruga Dojo (Numazu Shizuoka pref)
Wajyutsu Keisyukai Suruga Dojo official
Wajyutsu Keisyukai Suruga Dojo Youtube channel

*Kenichi Serizawa
Yuta "Uruka" Sasaki
Hiroki "AB" Aoki
Daisuke Endo

Wajyutsu Keisyukai Fujisan Dojo (Yunoki Shizuoka pref)
Wajyutsu Keisyukai Fujisan Dojo Official
Wajyutsu Keisyukai Fujisan Dojo Youtube Channel

*Kenichi Serizawa

Wajyutsu Keisyukai Four Rhombus (Kasugaicyo Yamanashi pref)
Wajyutsu Keisyukai Four Rhombus Official

*Kenichi Serizawa

Wajyutsu Keisyukai Hyogo Shibu (Itami Hyogo Pref)
Wajyutsu Keisyukai Hyogo Shibu Official

*Tatsunori Tanaka

Wajyutsu Keisyukai Wakasugi Dojo (Fukuoka Fukuoka Pref)
Wajyutsu Keisyukai Wakasugi Dojo official

*Naritsugu Wakasugi
Yuta Nakamura

Wajyutsu Keisyukai Tlive (Kameari Tokyo)
Wajyutsu Keisyukai Tlive Official

*Satoshi Nishino

 

Wajyutsu Keisyukai Knuckles (Hikari Yamaguchi Pref)
Wajyutsu Keisyukai Knuckles Official

*Yuta Yasunaga



--------------------------------------------


defunct

Wajyutsu Keisyukai Webpag
Wajyutsu Keisyukai Official

Cage Force Official Page
Cage Force Official

DEMOLITION Offical Page
DEMOLITION Offical

D.O.G. Offical page
D.O.G. Offical

Older event (web page not exist now)

ORG
Contenders

I write bit bout how Wajyutsu born.It is minimum info inside one article though.

SKILL MMA : Cult Martial Arts in MMA

original forum post 18/10/2007

Martial Arts exist in Japan

Which martial arts exist in Japan? I research about that question.Link is basically which martial art's most authoritative Commission or Federation or Dojo.I plan to write about different list about kick boxing and Muay Thai lately.

Judo
All Japan Judo Federation


Kodokan's Jigoro Kano's statue

Kosen Judo
It's Judo but focus on grappling.Watch wikipedia for rule.
Wikipedia Kosen Judo

Shichitei Judo (Seven imperial university's Judo)
Yuki Nakai and Shiko Yamashita have this martial arts back ground.
It's only hold at imperial university (Wikipedia (Seven imperial university)).All 7 imperial university in Japan have shichitei judo club.It's focus on grappling like Kosen Judo but difference is no "Mate (Wait)" call so just people can focus on grappling.Shichitei Judo's game hold by each school's team.So there is type of player just beat and next guy to guy,or just aim draw.When Team beat other team's 15 people,game is over.This concept make grow each competitors specialty.One fighter just aim finishes and other just aim defence for draw.


Youtube Shichitei Judo (Japanese)

At Japanese wikipedia Yuki Nakai import "stop don't move" concept to mma from Shichitei Judo.I have no source except wikipedia so I just give reference.Youtube video have "stop don't move" scene.

Karate
Japan Karatedo Federation

Shotokan


Shotokan Headquaters

Goju

Wado

Kyokushin


Kyokushin Kaikan Headquaters

SeidoKaikan


Seido Kaikan Headquarters

Daidojuku (Wajyutsu Keisyukai's roots)


Daidojuku Headquarters

Sambo
Japan Sambo Federation

BJJ
Jiu-Jitsu Federation Of Japan (head Rickson Gracie)


Axis Jiujitsu Academy Chiba (One of Rickson Gracie Jiujitsu affiliate Gym)

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation Of Japan (head Yuki Nakai)

ADCC Japan

D-Net

Wrestling
Japan Wrestling Federation

Boxing
Japan Boxing Commission

Nippon Kenpo
Isamu Sugiuchi and Yoshifumi Dogaki have this martial arts back ground.
Nippon Kenpokai official

Wikipedia Nippon Kenpo

Sumo
Nihon Sumo Kyokai (Pro)

Japan Sumo Federation (Amateur)

Aikido
Aikiai Foundation

Kendo
All Japan Kendo Federation

 
Kendo Federation Headquarters

Shorinji Kempo
Pancrase's Yuki Kondo and Miki Shida have this martial arts back ground.
Shorinji Kempo Organization



Wikipedia Shorinji Kempo

Japanese Self Defense Army Martial Arts


Combination of Nippon Kenpo and Aikido

Capoeira
Capoeira Angola Center Japao

Kurash
Japan KURASH Federation

Wikipedia Kurash

Silat
Japan Pencak Silat Association

Wikipedia Silat

Taekwondo
Taekwondo world org is separated by political reason.
I have no idea how many org exist in Japan.
International Taekwon-do Federation Japan

Japan Taekwondo Association

Koppo
Masato Fujiwara,Takumi Yano,Takefumi Hanai and Takeharu Murahama have this martial arts back ground.
Nihon Koppo Budo Association Official

My article about Koppo

SKILL MMA's Japanese Martial Arts Gym or Venue photo series

Look back Vale Tudo Japan with 5 fights

Vale Tudo Japan 09's ticket sales is very well even with high price.Why?I give some old fight's explanation and make some hype for you. Vale Tudo Japan rule at 09 event is most resemble to Sengoku rule.Allow stomp and knee on ground.Which make more finish and make duel atmosphere.

Import point is

1 : Vale Tudo is Martial arts vs Martial arts for survive.
2 : Vale Tudo is contempt about fighter's safety.More duel than fight.
3 : Brazilian Jiujitsu is biggest background at that era.
4 : Vale Tudo Japan loser try to find what they don't know and teach to student.
5 : Brazilian Jiujitsu become part of MMA.MMA fighter start find way to win with MMA skill.

Let's look back Vale Tudo Japan with 5 fight I choices.

1: Yuki Nakai over Gerard Gordeau at VTJ 1995

Shooto LW champ Yuki Nakai graduate Hokkaido University and have Shichitei Judo (I will explain this at other post) background face Karate Practitioner Gerard Gordeau who is over 100kgs.

At early Vale Tudo era,there is aspect of martial arts vs other martial arts.Martial Arts master fight for continuous of his skill.So there is lot of malice.MMA is not exist at there.They just want define which is strongest martial arts.Therefore, rule limitation getting contempt.Gordeau is the guy bite Royce's arm at UFC 1.Then he eye-gouge Nakai and make Nakai one eye blind.The result make him eternal retire from MMA.

At VTJ 94,Shooto fighter can't win against foreigner.Yuki Nakai want prove Shooto fighter can fight.He said "I can beat ***** or ***** (pro wrestler name) ".Shooto make a less attention at that days.When He talk about Vale Tudo Japan he say "I could die for Shooto at that day".His win against Gordeau, and VTJ finalist status really first time to tell Shooto's promotion's value for outside world.

Yuki Nakai's gym Paraestra produce strong grapple fighter like Shinya Aoki or Satoru Kitaoka.

2: Enson Inoue over Randy Couture at VTJ 1998

Enson Inoue is Japanese American (Nikkei 4th generation) who training kick boxing. Add BJJ skill under Relson Gracie.Which is important.Because guy like Yuki Nakai learn BJJ from him,So basically Enson is father of BJJ in Japan.He show his BJJ skill and won against that date's UFC champ.That won helps he and Shooto's existence grow.Enson got many attention from Japanese MMA magazine because of this fight.

Enson Inoue make his gym Purebred and many elite fighter like Norifumi "kid" Yamamoto,Tetsuji Kato and Ganjo Tentsuku improve his skill at there.


3 Rickson Gracie over Yoshinori Nishi at VTJ 1994

Yoshinori Nishi is Daidojuku champ.Who faced Rickson at VTJ.But he don't know about what Vale Tudo is and make him cost lose.His famous words is "I Recognize run from fight by fear of defeat is such a shame.I aim dream of a man "be a strong man"(whatever happen from fighting) "
He prove his words but not by him.He establish Wajyutsu Keisyukai which is today's biggest gym group in Japan.Nishi and one of Wajyutsu's gym master Ryusuke Moriyama learn Judo from Masahiko Kimura.But at VTJ he can't fit his Judo at Vale Tudo game.Wajyutsu Keisyukai add some Brazilian Jiujitsu aspect and mix there Judo game.Therefore Wajyutu's grappling have some differ taste at that days.

Caol Uno debut at Shooto in 1996.He participate VTJ from 1998.He draw Andre "dede" Pederneiras who is Nova Uniao founder and show Wajyutsu can compete Brazilian Jiujitsu.

Rickson Gracie get know martial arts audience his name by his UFC 1 winner Royce's famous remark "Rickson was 10 times better than he was." Unfortunately He have only 11 fight and retire to defend self reputation.But Gracie and his family's influence's value is eternal.


Yoshinori Nishi

4 ,Rumina Sato over Ricardo "Ricky" Botelho

At that day Brazilian Jiujitsu dominate at Vale Tudo.But slowly fighter realizes Brazilian Jiujitsu is not only way to win a game.Rumina Sato his father born in 1993, his father named "Rumina" took word from Latin's "Luna (moon) " and "Lupinus (wolf (if it go exact mean "Lupinus" is plant name but Lupinus words come from "Lupus"= wolf ))".Train under Noboru Asahi at Kiguchi Dojo .His win against Botelho show gain Brazilian Jiujitsu's knowledge and add some other skill make possibility to beat Brazilian Jiujitsu's black blt.Later wrestling and ground pound really come to mma.But at this moment leg lock is really important skill to beat who don't know about leg lock.


Rumina Sato

5 David Levicki over Kazuhiro Kusayanagi at VTJ 94

At early Vale Tudo's era weight difference is ignored.Because they define it as street fight show in venue.So Levicki who over 132kg face Kusayanagi who is fight for 70kgs at career.Kusayanagi lose.That make journalist headline "Japan weakest"
at martial arts magazine.Shooto people want revenge about it.That is huge motivation for Shooto guy's evolve.

Kazuhiro Kusayanagi leave Kiguchi Dojo and make his own K'z Factory gym where many elite fighter like Takanori Gomi,Akira Kikuchi,Kotetsu Boku and Masahiro Oishi improve his skill at there.

Gomi vs Hervey,Mamoru vs Taitano for Vale Tudo Japan 09

Three match and 1 participants updated for Sustain's Vale Tudo Japan 09.

Takanori Gomi (Kugayama Rascal) vs Tony Hervey (MASH Team) (Current KOTC LW champion)
Mamoru Yamaguchi (Shooting Gym Yokohama) vs Jesse Taitano (Spike 22)

Tenkei Fujimiya (Shooting Gym Yokohama) vs Tito Jones (MMA inc)

So far current VTJ 09line up is.

VTJ rule 5 round 5 minutes

Takanori Gomi (Kugayama Rascal) vs Tony Hervey (MASH Team)



Lion Takeshi (Shooting Gym Yokohama) vs Alexandre Franca Nogueira (Club de luta)

Tenkei Fujimiya (Shooting Gym Yokohama) vs Tito Jones (MMA inc)

Shooto Rule For Shooto welter weight title 3 round 5 minutes

Willamy Chiquerim (Nova Uniao) vs Kenichiro Togashi (Paraestra Hiroshima)

Shooto Rule 3 round 5 minutes

Mamoru Yamaguchi (Shooting Gym Yokohama) vs Jesse Taitano (Spike 22)

Participate

Rumina Sato (roots)

Yoichiro Sato (Gracie Barra Tokyo)


My writing about first report for VTJ 09 match ups

My writing about Shooto's "Revolutionary Exchanges 3" card's possibility fighter exchanges with pancrase

Japan Martial Arts Federation start

Japan martial arts federation start at October 20.Reception and press conference will be hold at that day.It's 8th affiliate federation under Japanese wrestling federation.Japanese wrestling federation's head Tomiaki Fukuda will be leader of new federation too.

Sengoku,Pancrase,Shooto,ZST are participate by pro organization.Muay Thai,Sambo,BJJ,Combat Wrestling,Pankration,Belt Wrestling,Kurash,Silat are paticipate as amateur organization.

Purpose for foundation is bring competitor for event controlled by Japanese Olympic committee.FILA (Federation Internationale des Luttes Associees aka International Federation of Associated Wrestling Styles) start MMA committee and it makes wrestling and other martial arts's exchange is important reason too.

At first Japan martial arts federation will bring competitors for Asian Indoor Games.

It will be the third and the last annual asian indoor games event before merging with asian martial arts games.

Next is bring competitor for world grappling event hold by FILA in Florida in 2009 December and world martial Arts games hold in Beijing in 2010 Summer.

2009 Asian Indoor Games

My article about World martial arts games and Asian martial arts games

One Shot Kill (a.k.a. Ichigeki)

Kuramoto Juku (Nariharu Kuramoto's Dojo)

You may have never heard of Nariharu Kuramoto, but he's taught his karate skills to MMA fighters like Fanjin Son and Sotaro Yamada. This video shows him punching iron to make his fist stronger.





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

Japanese MMA scene fighter blog list

I list up Japanese scene MMA fighter's blog.If you have favorite fighter at here.You can check them.Of course it writing at Japanese.Maybe you can only enjoy photo image.

UFC

Takeya Mizugaki's blog

Takanori Gomi's blog

Maanori Kanehara's blog

Tatsuya Kawajiri's blog

Katsunori Kikuno's blog

Yoshihiro Akiyama's blog

Norifumi "Kid" Yamamoto's blog

Rin Nakai's blog


WSOF

Yushin Okami's blog



One FC

Shinya Aoki's blog

Koetsu Okazaki's blog

Nobutatsu Suzuki's blog

Yusuke Kawanago's blog

Yasuhiro Urushitani's blog
 

REBEL FC


Taiyo Nakahara's blog

Takeshi "Lion" Inoue's blog


VTJ


Hiroyuki Takaya's blog

Hiromasa Ogikubo's blog

Wataru Miki's blog

Hideo Tokoro's blog


Shooto

Kuniyoshi Hironaka's blog

Akiyo "Wicky" Nishiura's blog

Caol Uno's blog

Hideki Kadowaki's blog

Tetsu "Hadairo" Suzuki's blog

Shinichi "BJ" Kojima's blog

Rambaa "M16" Somdet's blog




Pancrase

Shintaro Ishiwatari's blog

Paraestra Osaka (Takumi Nakayama write)'s blog

Isao Kobayashi's blog

Kiyotaka Shimizu's blog

Mitsuhisa Sunabe's blog

Guy DeLumeau's blog

Akitoshi Tamura's blog

Yuki Kondo's blog

Ryo Kawamura's blog

Keiichiro Yamamiya's blog

Eiji Ishikawa's blog



DEEP

Satoru Kitaoka's blog

Yuki Motoya's blog

Tatsumitsu Wada's blog

Mizuto Hirota's blog  


Yoshiro Maeda's blog

K-Tato Nakamura's blog

Daisuke Nakamura's blog 

Takafumi Otsuka's blog

Masakazu Imanari's blog

Michihiro Omigawa's blog


Yuya Shirai's blog

Ryuta Sakurai's blog

Yusaku Nakamura's blog


Luiz's blog



ZST

Keisuke Fujiwara's blog

Ryosuke Tanuma's blog



Jewels

Yuka Tsuji's blog

Takayo Hashi's blog

Naho Sugiyama's blog

Revolutionary "Exchanges"

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

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

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


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

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

My wish-list of (macth ups)

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

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

Shiroobi : Hey could you make me five match ups?

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

Shirrobi : So you can just fight each other flyweights.

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

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

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

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

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

Shiroobi : Fmm That's interesting.

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

Shiroobi : Yup.

Tony : And she RNCed Windy.okay, rematch.

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

Japanese MMA scene twitter list

I introduce Japanese MMA scene related twitter today.You need reading it by Japanese though.(Of course except Amanda & Celine)

MMA org

Rizin's twitter
Rizin

Shooto's twitter
Shooto

VTJ's twitter
VTJ

DEEP's twitter
DEEP

Pancrase's twitter
Pancrase's twitter (English version)
Pancrase

ZST's twitter
ZST

DEEP Jewels's twitter
Jewels

Grandslam's twitter
Grandslam

Tribe Tokyo Fight's promoter, Tribe Tokyo MMA's twitter
Tribe Tokyo Fight

Rising On's twitter
Rising On

Grachan's twitter
Grachan


Fighter

Yushin Okami (UFC)'s twitter
Yushin Okami (UFC)


Masanori Kanehara (UFC)'s twitter
Masanori Kanehara (UFC)

Yoshihiro Akiyama (UFC)'s twitter
Yoshihiro Akiyama (UFC)


Yuta "Uruka" Sasaki (UFC)'s twitter
Yuta "Uruka" Sasaki (UFC)

Mizuto Hirota (UFC)'s twitter
Mizuto Hirota (UFC)

Maximo Blanco(UFC)'s twitter
Maximo Blanco(UFC)

Norifumi "Kid" Yamamoto (UFC)'s twitter
Norifumi "Kid" Yamamoto (UFC)


Teruto Ishihara (UFC)'s twitter
Akihito Ishihara (UFC)

Shinsyo Anzai(UFC)'s twitter
Shinsyo Anzai (UFC)

Keita "K-Taro" Nakamura (UFC)'s twitter
Keita "K-Taro" Nakamura (UFC)

Syuri Kondo (UFC)'s twitter
Syuri Kondo (UFC)

Naoki Inoue(UFC)'s twitter
Naoki Inoue(UFC)




Hisaki Kato (Bellator)'s twitter
Hisaki Kato (Bellator)'s





Ayaka Hamasaki (Invicta FC)'s twitter
Ayaka Hamasaki (Invicta FC)

Mizuki Inoue (Invicta FC)'s twitter
Mizuki Inoue (Invicta FC)




Shinya Aoki (One FC)'s twitter
Shinya Aoki (One FC)

Yoshitaka Naito (One FC)'s twitter
Yoshitaka Naito (One FC)

Koji Ando (One FC)'s twitter
Koji Ando (One FC)

Mei "V.V." Yamaguchi (One FC)'s twitter
Mei "V.V." Yamaguchi (One FC)

Nobutatsu Suzuki (One FC)'s twitter
Nobutatsu Suzuki (One FC)




Riki Fukuda (Road FC)'s twitter
Riki Fukuda (Road FC)

Yuta Nezu (Road FC)'s twitter
Yuta Nezu (Road FC)

Taiyo Nakahara (Road FC)'s twitter
Taiyo Nakahara (Road FC)

Emi Fujino (Road FC)'s twitter
Emi Fujino (Road FC)



Takeya Mizugaki (ACB)'s twitter
Takeya Mizugaki (ACB)


Michinori Tanaka (ACB)'s twitter
Michinori Tanaka (ACB)



Kyoji Horiguchi (Rizin)'s twitter
Kyoji Horiguchi (Rizin)

Shintaro Ishiwatari (Rizin)'s twitter
Shintaro Ishiwatari (Rizin)

 Kiichi Kunimoto (Rizin)'s twitter
Kiichi Kunimoto (Rizin)

Satoru Kitaoka (Rizin)'s twitter
Satoru Kitaoka (Rizin)

Takanori Gomi (Rizin)'s twitter
Takanori Gomi (Rizin)


Tatsuya Kawajiri (Rizin)'s twitter
Tatsuya Kawajiri (Rizin)

Hiroyuki Takaya (Rizin)'s twitter
Hiroyuki Takaya (Rizin)

Hideo Tokoro(Rizin)'s twitter
Hideo Tokoro(Rizin)
 
Takafuni Otsuka (Rizin)'s twitter
Takafumi Otsuka (Rizin)

Seiichiro Ito (Rizin)'s twitter
Seiichiro Ito (Rizin)





Hiromasa Ogikubo (Shooto)'s twitter
Hiromasa Ogikubo (Shooto)


Yutaka Saito (Shooto)'s twitter
Yutaka Saito (Shooto)

Ryuto Sawada (Shooto)'s twitter
Ryuto Sawada (Shooto)

Ryohei Kurosawa (Shooto)'s twitter
Ryohei Kurosawa (Shooto)

Yosuke Saruta (Shooto)'s twitter
Yosuke Saruta (Shooto)

Jin Aoi (Shooto)'s twitter
Jin Aoi (Shooto)

Yuki Shoujou(Shooto)'s twitter
Yuki Shoujou(Shooto)

Ryo Okada (Shooto)'s twitter
Ryo Okada (Shooto)





Katsunori Kikuno (DEEP)'s twitter
Katsunori Kikuno (DEEP)

Yuki Motoya (DEEP)'s twitter
Yuki Motoya(DEEP)

Tatsumitsu Wada (DEEP)'s twitter
Tatsumitsu Wada (DEEP)

Makoto Takahashi (DEEP)'s twitter
Makoto Takahashi (DEEP)

Hiroshi "Iron" Nakamura (DEEP)'s twitter
Hiroshi "Iron" Nakamura (DEEP)

Yoshiyuki Nakanishi (DEEP)'s twitter
Yoshiyuki Nakanishi (DEEP)


Yuta Watanabe (DEEP)'s twitter
Yuta Watanabe (DEEP)

Michihiro Omigawa (DEEP)'s twitter
Michihiro Omigawa (DEEP)

Ryuta Sakurai (DEEP)'s twitter
Ryuta Sakurai (DEEP)

Shigetoshi Iwase (DEEP)'s twitter
Shigetoshi Iwase (DEEP)

Toshiaki Kitada (DEEP)'s twitter
Toshiaki Kitada (DEEP)

Naoto Miyazaki (DEEP)'s twitter
Naoto Miyazaki (DEEP)

Yasuaki Kishimoto (DEEP)'s twitter
Yasuaki Kishimoto (DEEP)





Yuya Wakamatsu (Pancrase)'s twitter
Yuya Wakamatsu (Pancrase)

Kazuki Tokudome (Pancrase)'s twitter
Kazuki Tokudome (Pancrase)

Isao Kobayashi (Pancrase)'s twitter
Isao Kobayashi (Pancrase)

Hatsu Hioki (Pancrase)'s twitter
Hatsu Hioki (Pancrase)

Masakatsu Ueda (Pancrase)'s twitter
Masakatsu Ueda  (Pancrase)

Gota Yamashita (Pancrase)'s twitter
Gota Yamashita (Pancrase)

Akihiro Murayama (Pancrase)'s twitter
Akihiro Murayama (Pancrase)

Yusuke Yachi (Pancrase)'s twitter
Yusuke Yachi (Pancrase)

Kiyotaka Shimizu (Pancrase)'s twitter
Kiyotaka Shimizu (Pancrase)

Mitsuhisa Sunabe (Pancrase)'s twitter
Mitsuhisa Sunabe (Pancrase)


Shinya Murofushi (Pancrase)'s twitter
Shinya Murofushi (Pancrase)

Taichi Nakajima (Pancrase)'s twitter
Taichi Nakajima (Pancrase)

Yusuke Kawanago (Pancrase)'s twittter
Yusuke Kawanago (Pancrase)

Juntaro Ushiku (Pancrase)'s twitter
Juntaro Ushiku (Pancrase)

"Shinpe" Tahara (Pancrase)'s twitter
"Shinpe" Tahara (Pancrase)

Yoshinori Horie (Pancrase)'s twitter
Yoshinori Horie (Pancrase)

Kento Kanbe (Pancrase)'s twitter
Yasutaka Koga (Pancrase)

Shunichi Shimizu (Pancrase)'s twitter
Shunichi Shimizu (Pancrase)



Go Kashiwazaki (ZST)'s twitter
Go Kashiwazaki (ZST)




Emi Tomimatsu (DEEP Jewels)'s twitter
Emi Tomimatsu (DEEP Jewels)

Birthplace for Japanese fighter (Chat with Breen series 1)

I did chatting with Jordan Breen about Japanese fighter and where is there birthplace.I make prefecture list with best fighter in that place.Here it is.We did this just for fun.So please don't take it seriously.

Hokkaido : Yuki Nakai

Breen : Yeah. Importance is a foxy one. I was tempted to give Hokkaido to Nakai, but there has to be a better fighter from up there than him.Is there really no one better from Hokkaido?
Shiroobi : You can give it to Nakai,cause Yuki Sasaki,Hirotaka Yokoi is Hokkaido can offer.
Breen : Yeah, gimme Nakai there.

After find (Daisuke Ishizawa)

Aomori : Masakatsu Funaki

Breen : Aomori would have to be Masakatsu Funaki, wouldn't it?

Akita : Kazushi Sakuraba

Shiroobi : Akita is Sakuraba.
Breen : Oh, obvious one.

Iwate : Tetsu "Hadairo" Suzuki

Shiroobi : Iwate for hadairo.
Breen : I was holding out, hoping there was someone better than him for Iwate. Guess not.
Breen : Hey. Masaaki Sugawara is from Iwate. Would you take him over Hadairo?
Shiroobi : Fmmmmmm no.
Breen : Haha. Hatin'.

Yamagata : Ryo Chonan

Shiroobi : Yamagata have Chonan,then then (So) Tazawa.

Miyagi : Akira Kikuchi

Breen : Miyagi is Kikuchi.

Fukushima : Yoshihiro Koyama

Shiroobi : Fukushima's best seem Koyama.

Niigata : Yuki Kondo

Shiroobi: Niigata have Kondo.
Breen : Good call.

After find (Makoto Ishikawa)

Toyama : Miku Matsumoto

Breen : Can you think of anyone more successful than Miku from Toyama?
Shiroobi :Nope next is Barbaro.

After find (Kenji Arai)

Nagano : Katsuya Toida

Breen : Anyone from Nagano? I can only think of the lame Zendokai girls.
Shiroobi : You forgettin royal Katsuya Toida from Nagano.
Breen : He may actually be the best from Nagano. Poor Nagano.

After find (Masato Shiozawa)

Gunnma : Hiroshi Nakamura

Shiroobi : Iron Nakamura from Gunnma.

Tochigi : Hisae Watanabe

Breen : Shungo (Oyama) for Tochigi?
Shiroobi : And Hisae (Watanabe).

Ibaragi : Hayato "Mach" Sakurai

Breen : Mach originally from Ibaraki.Ibaraki is the first "tough" prefecture. Sucks to leave out a guy like (Tatsuya) Kawajiri, or even (Mitsuhiro) Ishida.

After find (Michihiro Omigawa)

Ishikawa : Takehiro Murahama

Breen : Takaharu Murahama and Takehiro Murahama are both from Ishikawa? Weird.

Fukui : Junya "Kodo" Kudo

Shiroobi : Kodo from Fukui.

Gifu : Riki Fukuda

Breen : Anyone decent from Gifu? I can only think of (Ikuhisa) Minowa. Oh,(Hideo) Tokoro.
Shiroobi : Fukuda.
Breen : Hmmm.Who has had a better career thus far?Fukuda is less embarrassing, but Tokoro has some nice wins.
Shiroobi : Highest win (Phil) Baroni,(Franca) Nogueira,(Murilo) Ninja.I go Ninja.
Breen : Yeah, We'll go Fukuda on that.Ryo Kawamura is from Gifu, too. Another guy who is better than Minowa.

Saitama : Tentsuku Ganjo

Shirobi : Fmmm. Saitama have (Tentsuku) Ganjo,(Daiju) Takase.
Breen : Man, Saitama needs to have better dudes than that.
Shiroobi :And (Noboru "Sinpe") Tahara.

Chiba : Kazuo Misaki

Breen : Chiba... Misaki is the first guy who comes to mind. Who am I missing?
Shiroobi : Misaki, (Yoshiyuki) Yoshida, (Hiroyuki) Takaya,(DJ) Taiki.
Breen : Definitely Misaki.

Tokyo : Akihiro Gono

Shirobi : Tokyo is... Gono,(Takayo) Hashi,(Yuji) Hoshino,(Genki) Sudo.
Breen : Gono was my thought.How dare you put Sudo on the list.(Breen scolded me over Sudo for ten minutes)

After find (Kenji Osawa,Kentaro Imaizumi,Keita "K-Taro" Nakamura)

Yamanashi : Daisuke Watanabe

Breen : fmmm I can't find other than Daisuke Watanabe from Yamanashi.
Shiroobi : I can't believe there is Yamanashi Gakuin (University which strong at wrestling).
Breen : I was about to say that.

Kanagawa : Takanori Gomi

Breen : Well, might as well do the bigger ones. Gomi the best from Kanagawa?
Shiroobi : Other Is (Yushin) Okami,(Caol) Uno.
Breen : Yeah, I know. Gomi's been the top guy in his weight class twice for an extended period of time and has more top-10 wins. Probably the most accomplished lightweight ever. I go Gomi there.

After find (Norifumi "Kid" Yamamoto,Masakazu Imanari,Takeya Mizugaki, Rumina Sato,Yuki Shoujou,Miki Shida,Noboru Asahi,Shinichi Kojima,Takeshi "Lion" Inoue)

Shizuoka : Shinya Aoki

Breen : Shizuoka is Aoki.

After find (Kotetsu Boku,Yusuke Endo,Masahiro Oishi)

Kyoto : Masakatsu Ueda

Breen : Anyone from Kyoto better than Ueda?

Shiga : Tsuyoshi "TK" Kohsaka

Breen : Atsushi Yamamoto for Shiga?
Shiroobi : Yup but there is TK too.
Breen : Oh. That's a no brainer then.

Aichi : Hatsu Hioki

Breen : Aichi ever had a better fighter than Hioki? Someone I'm forgetting about?
Shiroobi : Famous wise (Hidehiko) Yoshida.
Breen : But, Hioki's accomplished more in his career. So, Hioki wins.
Shirrobi : Yup.

After find (Eiji Mitsuoka)

Osaka : Yuka Tsuji

Shiroobi : Osaka is (Yoshihiro) Akiyama.
Breen : Is Osaka really Akiyama? He really doesn't have that many major wins.There aren't any other top-10 fighters with any longevity from Osaka?
Shiroobi : Jyoshi (Women MMA) wise Tsuji.
Breen : I'd give it to Tsuji before Akiyama, but Akiyama will overtake her since he's in the UFC now.

After find (Takashi Nakakura,Seichi Ikemoto,Daichi Fujiwara)

Nara : Satoru Kitaoka

Breen : Nara is Kitaoka.Man, if Kitaoka wasn't from Nara, Red Slayer Guy (Koichi Tanaka) could've won by default.
Shiroobi : Hahaha.

Mie : Shoji Maruyama

Shiroobi : Shoji Maruyama is from Mie.

Wakayama : Ikuma Hoshino

Shiroobi : Wakayama's best is Ikuma Hoshino.
Breen : Hahaha. Nice.

Hyogo : Dokonjyonosuke Mishima

Shiroobi : fmmm Hyogo is between Mishima and Tamura.
Breen : Hmmm. that is tough.
Shiroobi : That is Akitoshi.
Breen : I guess Mishima. More sustainability as a top guy at lightweight, and now the late career run at feather.

After find (Akitoshi Hokazono,Taiei Kin)

Okayama : Megumi Fujii

Shiroobi : Okayama Have Megumi Fujii,Kiyoshi Tamura.
Breen : Fujii. All day.
Shiroobi : And you forget holyness Izuru takeuchi.

Tottori : Takumi Ota

Breen : Tottori Ota or something.

Shimane : Minoki Ichihara

Breen : Tell me Shimane has someone better than Ichihara, Royce's grappling dummy.
Shiroobi : Nope.
Breen : I refuse to accept Ichihara.
Shiroobi : Hahaha.
Breen : Are any of the Jam Water guys actually from Tottori?And why doesn't Van Wolf have a pro fighter to fill up Shimane?
Shiroobi : Haha. Not in pro level.
Breen : Why can't Daiki Ozaki be from Tottori?
Shiroobi : hahaha.

Hiroshima : Kazuhiro Nakamura

Breen : Kaz Nak is from Hiroshima, right?
Shiroobi : Yup.
Breen : I'm incredibly impressed I remembered that.
Shiroobi : Next is (Kenichiro) Togashi.

Yamaguchi : Kuniyoshi Hironaka

Shiroobi : Yamaguchi's top is Hironaka.Important wise (Satoru) Sayama.

Kagawa : Yoshiro Maeda

Shiroobi : Kagawa have Yoshiro.
Breen : Maeda? Really?He's not Osaka-born and bred?
Shiroobi : Yup.
Breen : See, I've already learned something.How educational.
Shiroobi : Hahaha.

Tokushima : Yuichi Nakanishi (After find)

Breen : Does Tokushima have someone better than (Alexander) Otsuka?
Shiroobi : Nope.Famous wise Alex Otsuka.
Breen : But... actual quality?There has to be SOMEONE.I know.
Shiroobi : Next actual quality wise Koichiro Matsumoto.
Breen : Give me beating Nakao over beating Marco Ruas' shopworn ass.

Ehime : Yasuhiro Urushitani

Breen : Isn't Urushitani from some random prefecture?
Shiroobi : Urushi from Ehime.
Breen : Nice.

Kochi : Yuji Hisamatsu

Breen : Kosei Kubota is the only dude I know from Kochi. And I refuse to allow him on there.
Shiroobi : Kochi have Kubota vs Hisamatsu.
Breen : Hisamatsu over Kubota easily.

Fukuoka : Hideki Kadowaki

Shiroobi : Fukuoka have (Hiromitsu) Miura.
Breen : Kadowaki is from Fukuoka. Him above Miura?
Shiroobi : I don't think so.
Breen : Really?
Shiroobi : If he have win against (Nam) Phan I think so.
Breen : But, Miura's wins are just over random welterweight scrubs.
Shiroobi : fmmm.
Breen : Kadowaki beat a top-10 fighter once. That's more than Miura ever did.
Shiroobi : Okey.

Saga (can't find worthy)

Ooita (can't find worthy)

Nagasaki : Mizuto Hirota

Breen : Well, Hirota's from Nagasaki, right?

Kumamoto : Shinsuke Shoji

Shiroobi : Kumamoto is Shinsuke Shoji.

Miyazaki : Yuji Sakuragi

Shiroobi : Miyazaki is Sakuragi.
Breen : That's worse than Toida.
Shiroobi : Hahaha.

Kagoshima : Katsunori Kikuno

Breen : Kikuno would take Kagoshima.

After find (Fanjin Son)

Okinawa : Ryota Matsune

Breen : Matsune is originally from Okinawa?Wild.
Shiroobi : Wiki says so.
Breen : I had (Mitsuhisa) Sunabe pencilled in.