Videos Jiu-jitsu, Arte Suave, the Gentle Way. The beauty in grappling arts lies in their ability to make things look effortless. Using technique and leverage to launch someone twice your size into the air. But sometimes there is an inherent beauty in just simple, straight-forward violence and the perfect example of that is WBA World Super
BJJ This Friday, legendary Japanese MMA promotion Shooto will host their third major fight card of 2012. The main and co-main events will both feature title fights, but the bout that gets me most pumped is Keita “K-Taro” Nakamura vs. Yuki Sasaki. Both men are veterans in the Japanese scene and both are awesome grapplers. K-Taro
MMA This past weekend, Japanese MMA legend Akihiro “DJ Gozma” Gono announced his retirement from MMA, following a TKO loss to Bellator Lightweight champ Mike Chandler. Gono’s career spanned (almost exactly) 18 years and included fights in Shooto, Pancrase, ZST, Pride Bushido, UFC, Deep, SRC, Bellator and various Kickboxing organizations. Like many Japanese fighters of his
BJJ Remember when Takanori Gomi was a half-way decent grappler? Yeah…it’s been a while, but I’m here to remind you. Check out some classic footage of Gomi competing the Japanese Combat Wrestling circuit in the early 2000’s. Oh, how the mighty have fallen.
MMA Here is our documentary on Enson Inoue, in two parts. We filmed this while visiting Japan last year. Enson was kind enough to give us some time, so we met him at his Saitama gym. Getting Enson to talk is not a problem. In fact the hard part is editing down everything that he says.
MMA In 1999, Alaxandre Franca Nogueira challenged Noboru Asahi for the Shooto Lightweight (65kg/143lbs) World Championship. Madness ensued. Asahi retired in 2003 and founded the Tokyo Yellowmans MMA team, coaching fighters like UFC Vet Yoshiyuki Yoshida and Hiroshi “Iron” Nakamura. WARNING: LOTS OF LEGLOCK ATTEMPTS! NOT FOR THE SQUEAMISH.