Issue 016
August 2006
R’n’R
Our trip to Japan would not have been complete without attending an event, and while we were there we had the option of Genki Sudo’s “Talk” event, Shooto, and the Copa Striple, but we chose Pancrase at the Korakuen Hall.
I have never really been a big fan of Pancrase, I have watched a few events over the last couple of years and I found most of the fights to be quite dull. We arrived at the event and handed our tickets, and there was PRIDE and Pancrase star Yuki Kondo signing autographs along with a whole host of Pancrase merchandise.
We found a good spot to sit in the balcony (yes, we bought the cheap tickets- we had spent too much money at the Isami 10% sale the week before), and we had a cracking overhead view. To my surprise, it was by far the best MMA show I have seen. It had everything, KO’s, submissions, people been kicked out of the ring, cheating and one of the best wars I have seen involving Ivan Menjivar and Miki Shida!
Japanese MMA life out side of the gym usually revolved around eating and drinking, the AACC team invited us out for drinks and food four times in our two-week stay in Japan. I was very surprised at their consumption of beer, and when I asked about it I was told it comes from Japanese pro wrestling, where the rites of passage for wrestlers came in the form of how much you can drink, not your suplex!
Japan is a great place out side of the gym and I often found my self just walking around amazed at how different Japan can be to my beloved UK. We stayed near Repongi, which is considered to be a trendy part of Tokyo and on one of my walkabouts I got to see just how eccentric the Japanese people can be. One guy had seven sausage dogs on a leash and was taking them on their daily walk, each of them had its own pair of sunglasses, and the next day I saw a guy who was having a walk with two pet pigs (who both sat happily in a pram).
Tokyo is quite expensive and I was hoping to have a big night out but the temptation of MMA gear was too much and I found myself too short of money to go clubbing. For those of you who are single, Repongi is a hotbed for nightlife; there are many clubs, some of which are marketed towards western markets. The OntheMat website (www.onthemat.com) has some great suggestions on places to visit and guides to Japanese nightlife.
Last Words
If you are planning on going over to Japan, you will need to speak a little bit of Japanese. If it wasn’t for my buddy Keishi we would have found it very difficult to get about and arrange all the activities.
I would like to give thanks to Abe, Megumi and the AACC team for making us feel so welcome and for the training they gave us. Team Fulinkazan is proud to represent AACC here in the UK. Also a BIG thank you to Keishi Maeda for arranging the trip and not leaving us stranded in Tokyo- despite all the pissing and moaning we did, you the man gringo.
Japan is an amazing place to visit and more than lived up to my expectations, it would have been nice to visit a little more and maybe trained at a couple more gyms, but I have many fond memories of Japan and I hope to go back again.
