speaks Japanese? Based on this pic, i can confirm Machida's surname is written as 町田 (direct translation; town and field (as in, rice field) in Japanese. Obviously he is a Japanese Brazillian. I can't guess how Lyoto is written. I am a student of the Japanese Language btw. Does anyone know? Has anyone ever heard him speak? What language does he speak to his father with?
At a guess I'd assume he does speak Japanese since his Dad is from there. He also obviously speaks English and Portuguese too.
I have a feeling he doesn't fluently, being half Brazilian & being born there. Heck, he may very well speak better English than Japanese for all we know. Best bet is for u to look up some of his post fight interview speeches during some early fights in Japan.
I'd imagine so considering he has a well documented relationship with Antonio Inoki, who was his wrestling coach early on. This suggests Machida spent some time training in Japan, which one could assume would have at very least left him with basic capabilities.
Yes, it is. That's how his name has been written in Japanese on YouTube. 町 is a type of small town, in Japanese, but the original Chinese meaning is a raised path in a field. 町田 is also a city in Japan.
Lyoto is not fluent in Japanese. He speaks Portuguese and broken English better than he speaks Japanese. I would assume he understands it better than he speaks it - as is the case with most immigrant families when they have children in a new country. He's a great guy, a true martial artist of ever sense of the word. Some do not care for his fighting style, but I love it. It must be the Karateka in me.
Back when UFC launched it's Japan website, they had Machida do a short welcome video in Japanese. But, he it's obvious he doesn't speak it much. They also had a video interview with Yoshizo in Japanese before a card.
