FIGHTING-ARTS HISTORY : ALL ROADS LEAD TO INOKI

Everything evolves. These two words make up one of the shortest quotes in the history of man. It is true. Everything evolves. Everything... Fighting evolves. It has evolved since the dawn of man, and it continues to evolve today. It evolves now in the form of mixed martial arts and is constantly progressing in the confines of INOKI DOJO. It only makse sense that an ever changing and growing fightstyle is associated with Antonio Inoki. If you look back at the evolution of mixed martial arts and professional wrestling, Inoki is where all roads lead to.

In the eighties, there was an exodus of fighters from New Japan Pro Wrestling. Wrestlers such as Akira Maeda, Satoru Sayama, Yoshiaki Fujiwara, Nobuhiko Takada and Masakatsu Funaki, to name a few, all left the federation and created a fight style that they claimed was one step closer to legitimizing pro wrestling as a fight system. Their styles were kicks, suplexes and submissions. They didn't throw each other off the ropes or jump off turnbuckles. The movement called U.W.F. (Universal Wrestling Federation) became a cultural phenomenon, as fans from all over Japan witnessed something they had never seen before.

In the early nineties, the core wrestlers in U.W.F all split up and started their own federations, all with what they claimed was the ideal form of fighting. Nobuhiko Takada created U.W.F International and became a national sensation, a fan based consisting of fans that appreciated the drama of prowrestling with the kick, suplex, and submission style. Takada, the superstar of U.W.F. International, defeated the likes of Vader, Kitao, and Trevor Berbick, the former boxing heavyweight champion of the world. It was for Takada that the leading fighting industry PRIDE organization was created, so that he could fight Rickson Gracie at the Tokyo Dome. Without Takada, there would be no PRIDE today. Without Inoki, there would have been no Takada.

Akira Maeda started RINGS, an international fighting network consisting of fighters from Russia, Holland, Japan, Brazil, etc. Maeda was the main event figher, and some of his rivals were the likes of Dick Vriz and Volk Han. Maeda eventually created the KOK Tournament, with champions such as Antonio Nogueira and Fedor Emelianenko who eventually became PRIDE Heavyweight Champions after leaving RINGS. If it weren't for Akira Maeda, these men would not have ever gone to Japan to fight. Akira Maeda was a former disciple of none other than Antonio Inoki.

Masakatsu Funaki started Pancrase, a professional wrestling federation geared towards fighting. Funaki fought Rickson Gracie for his retirement match at the Tokyo Dome. He got choked out to Gracie's sleeper and graciously retired from the world of wrestling. The first King of Pancrase is Ken Shamrock who represented Pancrase and fought Royce Gracie at the UFC. The current 2004 King of Pancrase is NJPW American Ace Josh Barnett who was the former UFC Heavyweight Champion. This revolutionary style of Pancrase was started by a young superstar, who made his debut for New Japan Pro Wrestling at the age of sixteen. His name is Masakatsu Funaki. His fighting career started at the New Japan dojo.

Satoru Sayama, the original Tiger Mask, has now become one of the most respected members of the Japanese fighting world. After leaving NJPW and fighting in U.W.F., he opened up a shootfighting gym named the Super Tiger Gym. He then started a completely new organization called Shooto, a practical fight system that incorporated freestly wrestling, boxing, kicking and submissions. Sayama was the first to bring Rickson Gracie to Japan to fight and gave Rickson the catch phrase "The man with 400 fights with no loss." Sayama now has started his new, perfected system of fighting called Seikendo, one most practical for the streets, according to Sayama. Many consider him to be a genius. In the early eighties, Tiger Mask and Antonio Inoki were the superstars of the federation. Tiger Mask has become a legend in Japan. Sayama is constantly at the forefront of the evolution of fighting.

When one looks at the history of professional fighting in Japan, it is obvious that Antonio Inoki was way ahead of his time. He fought Muhammed Ali in a mixed martial arts fight in 1976. He fought Judo Olympic Gold Medalist Willhem Ruska. He battled Kyokushin Karate's Willie Williams to a heated draw. He did this all in the seventies. All of the pioneers of the professional fight world in Japan grew up idolizing Inoki. And by following their dreams, they all paved the way for the ideal system of fighting that they all wanted to legitimize as youngsters under Antonio Inoki.