Issue 016

August 2006

As you can see, this is the ‘Japan Issue’, and we’ve made an extra effort to try and bring you as much insider info on the MMA scene in the Land of the Rising Sun as possible. There is no denying that Japan is an attractive enough place, even when you disregard the fact it contains the world’s most vibrant MMA promotions. 

Traditional and typical images of Japan bring to mind the old stereotypes, especially the battle between old and modern. Whether you think of geisha girls or identikit salarymen, Mount Fuji or martial arts, sprawling metropolises and bustling streets or mountain villages and zen gardens, Japan conjures a heady mix of ancient exoticism charged with the energy of one of the planet’s most powerful economies. 

One might argue that it is only in a country such as this that MMA could flourish so. It was the Japanese who developed many modern systems of unarmed combat, some of which have found much success in modern MMA competition. If anything, you could easily argue that without the Japanese, there would be no MMA. 

When Dr Jigaro Kano created the art of judo by distilling and refining the techniques he had learnt in the traditional ju-jitsu dojos, he gave birth to an activity that would become a pastime, a way of life and an Olympic sport. When one of his emissaries, the judo and ju-jitsu practitioner Mitsuyo Maeda, was charged with travelling to Brazil to further the word of judo, no-one could have envisaged that a family of diplomats could take the art they had been taught and develop it into a highly popular (not to mention successful) offshoot dubbed Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. 

Every MMA fan should understand this: Without the Gracie family there would be no UFC. Seriously. Why not? Because it was Rorion Gracie who conceptualised and created the first ever UFC, having first hand knowledge of how popular the sport was in his home country. Taking his idea with him when he moved to the USA, he put in motion a chain of events that would see a new combat sport emerge, that of MMA. 

But to say that without the Gracies there would be no MMA is plain wrong, and I shall explain why. While the Gracies were selling themselves in the USA, there was a group of people in Japan with a desire to fight for real, albeit in a sporting manner (with rules promoting safety) that would appeal to mainstream audiences. 

Japan is a country with combat sports in the blood. Sumo was the national sport of choice for hundreds of years, and is still hugely popular with the older generations. Martial arts such as judo are taught in the education system, and pupils perform their throws and breakfalls in their PE lessons from a young age. Karate, aikido and similar martial arts are all part of the national consciousness. Japanese society isn’t infested with combat sports- it breeds them. 

It came to pass that MMA in Japan was instigated by an unlikely set of candidates. A group of former professional wrestlers found themselves tired of fighting ‘fixed’ matches, and wanted to use their fighting skills for real. The first professional Shooto event was held in 1989, having been developed by the legendary pro-wrestler Satoru Sayama some three years earlier. Though he was an entertainer, Sayama had been trained in judo, Muay Thai and catch-as-catch-can wrestling. With such an array of skills, he felt combatants should be able to use the skills they possessed in every range. Only three years after the first professional Shooto show, the pro-wrestlers Masakatsu Funaki and Minoru Suzuki introduced the event Pancrase, which predated the first UFC by some six months. 

While the UFC grew in notoriety in the USA and drew much criticism, Shooto and Pancrase grew exponentially. A country with a reputation for being extremely efficient and productive wouldn’t take a sport with so much potential and not do with it everything it could. In less than ten years, Japan was host to the world’s most prestigious MMA events and attracted the best fighters from across the globe. 

And what of MMA in Japan now? As with all sports, it enjoys ups and downs, and one might argue it is currently in a ‘down’ phase. Scandal and corruption pop up everywhere, and MMA in Japan is currently fighting a battle with some very difficult demons. It is worth remembering though, a country with such a passion for organised violence won’t give up on something like MMA as easily as you might expect. The dragon may appear to be dying, but in reality it is just resting. Be sure that when we least expect it, it shall rise again and show us it’s true might. Japanese MMA is alive and well, and you better believe it.