The Divided Genesis of Mixed Martial Arts: A lesser known history and why pro-wrestling matters
The history and creation of modern mixed martial arts is one that should be familiar to most fans of the sport. It started with a young man by the name of Carlos Gracie being taught the martial arts discipline of Ju-Jitsu by Otavio Maeda,in direct gratitude of the young Gracie’s family supporting Japanese immigration to Brazil in the early 1900′s.
Later, Carlos’ frail,younger brother Helio would refine these techniques to focus more on the application of leverage instead of strength. And from their the legacy of the “Gracie” name was born along with that of the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
But is that really it?
Or is their more to the story than what most of us have learned? Though the seasoned MMA historian will surely already know the path I’m taking and may find this read as no big surprise, the casual fan or the one with little understanding of Mixed Martial Arts history may find this article a worthy read. If nothing else one may come to a richer understanding of what helps make the sport so widely accepted around the world. Though books have partially been dedicated in pursuit of the MMA’s second history,this article should be looked at best as a crash course.
To answer the question we’re going across the globe and focusing our interest on the land of the rising sun. Home of the Samurai and the spirit of Budo. This place is known to us as Japan.
But our history lesson is going to fast forward past the creation of “BJJ” and center on none other than the history of pro-wrestling and its evolution in Japan. Though one may think the discussion of pro-wrestling and MMA goes no further than the likes of Brock Lesnar and Bobby Lashley, one may be surprised to learn the wrestling’s history has intertwined with that of Mixed Martial Arts for decades inside Japan. As a matter of fact, MMA within Japan did not solely rise in response to the creation and eyebrow raising nature of the Ultimate Fighting Championship but was actually created independent of it!
The birth of the sport in American and Brazil is actually not as closely tied to Japan as one may think.
They are related but by no means the same.
Let us start with discussing the nature of pro-wrestling as seen by the Japanese.
Wrestling in Japan in many ways is the same beast as its American counter part but with different cultural eyes. But from the mid 80′s to early 90′s wrestling in Japan started to drift apart from what was being celebrated by American fans. While in the west we where treating ourselves sheerly to the spectacle of it all and loved being engrossed by the polished bodies and soap opera like presentation,Japanese wrestlers and fans started shifting their interest to something more realistic.
With its vibrant culture littered with many martial arts underpinnings the question was always begged ‘which style was superior”?
Though the “all out” aspect of sports combat that would soon make the UFC famous was not implemented into the Japanese spectacle,they created a hybrid that married together the predeterminism of pro wrestling, yet implemented authentic martial arts action into the mix.
The fights themselves were scripted but every bone breaking hold, every jaw busting punch was given to the fullest degree. This was “stiff” wrestling.
This revolutionary change in sports entertainment first manifest itself in the “UWF” (Universal Wrestling Federation).
Despite the change in attitude to combat and entertainment, to some Japanese pro-wrestlers the change was still not fast enough.
So in 1993 wrestling superstars Masakatsu Funaki and Minoru Suzuki took it a step further when they created an organization known as Pancrase. A predecessor to the UFC,Pancrase (all in powers) took the stiff style of the UWF to new heights with undetermined bouts with a pro-wrestling bent to it.
In short, Pancreas was real fighting with a respectable list of rules. Namely,shoot fighting.
Though it wasn’t as “all out” as the soon to form UFC, it was none the less the first real fight promotion of the modern era.
In the coming years the swelling popularity of Japans wrestling stars would usher in the first true golden age of the sport with the conception of Pride fighting.
However, before we go any further let us first step back to MMaAs more well known history.
The one involving the Gracie family. After having conquered America and Brazil with their redefined version of Jew-Jujitsu the family finally found itself in the country which had surved as a corner stone to the martial arts. In Japan it was Rickson Gracie who became the target of Japanese shoot fighters and pro-wrestlers. The man who Royce Gracie claimed was 10x better than him. So we end up with a very interesting dynamic. The Japanese had prided themselves on their martial artist,wrestlers and shoot fighters. However, it was a Brazilian family who had reworked and edited a Japanese style and transformed it into something much greater than it initially was in many respects.
This was considered something of a great offense in the eyes of many Japanese fighters and they where ready to take on the Gracie family. One of the biggest differences between MMA in America and MMA in Japan was that their was no pre-developed history state side to make the sport a heavier influence than what it originally was. America had boxing but this was something different and was difficult for the establishment to grasp.
But in Japan their was already a rich history of contact fighting that one could trace back for years.
Where the sport had suddenly just exploded in America, Japan was already steadily gravitating towards it before the Gracie’s had even created the UFC. This was the catalyst for what made the Pride era of Mixed Martial Arts so amazing. Their was two histories of virtually the same achievement coming together for the first time since Helio Gracie had challenged the likes of Kimura.
This is what made Pride fighting the monster it was. It was originally nothing more than solely a chance for a Japanese wrestling superstar to take on the Gracie who brought vale tudo to Japan. Everything else Pride fighting would later be known for was a direct result of that fight.
Of two histories of combat coming together. With this being said we must not underestimate the dramatic impact pro-wrestling had on Japanese MMA.
And this influence has also passed into America. Were UFC heavy weight Champion Brock Lesnar has surpassed the success of any entertainment star that crossed into MMA, via Japan.
This is why pro-wrestling matters in the current affairs of modern MMA. For when we look back on the sports history we see it has always been their. Even if it’s not so easy to with our modern eyes.
For more on the subject check out the book “Total MMA”
