I guess my point is that I think it is possible that if someone is referring to a person's style in the UWF, it could have larger implications about that individual's actual martial arts style. For example, Funaki's style of rolling submission entries from different angles was in tact and probably even magnified, Kazushi Sakuraba's favored moves were the same in the UWF and in mixed martial arts, etc. Its pro-wrestling, but its not necessarily in the same vein as the WWE if you watch a lot of the UWF and then for example, watch the participants in their later competitive careers as fighters/grapplers, you see a lot of similarities. What you say makes sense though, because the former UWF'ers, in their lives as MMA'ists and competitive grapplers, have been known for their high-risk style. Hence it forming such a strong foundation for Japanese MMA. The main distinction is simply that the UWF was at the time, a more stylized exhibition of what its members were capable of, which crumbled under political struggles and beneath an overwhelming desire of the younger wrestlers to showcase what they could do in an unplanned environment.īut the techniques and the training in the UWF was well beyond merely legit. Kazushi Sakuraba also came out of the UWF. RINGs, another famous Japanese MMA organization (the organization where Fedor came from), was founded by Akira Maeda, also of the UWF. UWF alumni Dan Severn and Ken Shamrock were also integral to the UFC. Pancrase, the second oldest of the MMA organizations, was founded by UWF members Masakatsu Funaki, Minoru Suzuki, Ken Shamrock and a number of others.
Shooto, the oldest of the MMA organizations, was founded by the UWF's Satoru Sayama. style shoots, but formed the backbone of the entirety of Japanese mixed martial arts. that not only engaged in shoots such as style vs.
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Its a shoot-style professional wrestling organization made up of legitimate, world-class submission-wrestlers trained by old-school catch-as-catch-can wrestlers such as Karl Gotch, Billy Robinson, etc. I think there is a misunderstanding about the nature of the UWF-it isn't simply professional wrestling. I think that would really be cool, because even though I don't know a lot about the style, I love it and have been impressed by what I've seen. I have never practiced ninjitsu, but I have always respected it and would love to know if ninjitsu thus somehow indirectly influenced my game. Funaki is the grappler I study the most, and perhaps Takefumi Hanai and Masakazu Imanari are tied for second most studied. Thank you, this subject is very fascinating. Could this be the point of reference? Or a sign of koppou/koppo influence? Takefumi Hanai, Imanari, Takumi Yano all share those sorts of tactics with Funaki and have been described as koppou practitioners.
He also had some kicks that involved sliding or rolling, unusual for an MMA'ist. He used rolls, somersaults and a variety of acrobatic movements to get into submission positions-usually leglock positions-from standing. At 5:26 is the description of Masakatsu Funaki that mentions his "koppou-tactics" which have become influential.