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Kakutogi Road: The Complete History of MMA Vol.51 "Baptism by Fire"
Special Thanks to our wonderful translator John Krummel for his incredible assistance with this column
**Comments made by Mike Lorefice (proprietor of the excellent puroresu/mma emporium quebrada.net) will be preceded by his initials) **
“Baptism by fire” is an idiom oftentimes used in military parlance to denote a soldier’s first time in battle. It can also mean the process that takes place whenever someone takes on a new job or incredible undertaking for the first time. The date is 10-4-92, and while the Fujiwara crew was ablaze in the Tokyo Dome, a different kind of conflagration was taking place in Osaka with the third offering from the Kakutogi Olympic series. The baptism(s) that we are about to take place this evening are twofold. Firstly, we will witness one of the final transitory moments in the metamorphosis of a mild-mannered karate organization into the world’s foremost powerhouse of combat sports. Secondly, this will be the first major test for newcomer Andy Hug, who doesn’t have the luxury of only having to face only one opponent but must run the gauntlet of an entire tournament worth of foes.
This event is interesting, as it seems to be a merger of two key Sediokaikan concepts. The major portion of this will be their yearly karate tournament, but unlike their past World Cup events, this will feature several kickboxing matches, which presumably tie into their latest “Battle Sports Olympic” series. However, unlike their last couple of shows under that moniker, these will be straight striking-based matchups. This outing marks a somewhat strange departure as the first event was full-blown MMA, and the 2nd was a hodgepodge of different rules but still had some mixed/grappling elements to it.
Teeth Optional…
Things start with a montage of Nobuaki Kakuda eating breakfast, all while looking as solemn as humanly possible. Surely he realizes the graveness of what the night has in store for him as he must do battle with the rising Swiss star in Hug, all while his luminescence is waning. After this inside glimpse, we are then treated to a delightful medley of people in shiny white clothes getting kicked in the face. (Some highlights include a participant who was handed some of his missing teeth on his way out of the ring, and Andy Hug knocking out an opponent with an ax kick.)
Andy Hug vs. Mystery Fighter #1
Fantastic match that proves how special Hug really was. Mystery-fighter looked great here, and on any other night probably would have succeeded, but tonight Hug was a cheat code that couldn’t be stopped. Hug was getting away with moves that a normal human can’t get away with in top competition. If suffering the indignity of an ax-kick to the trapezius wasn’t bad enough, rando-fighter effectively lost the match when Hug executed a flawless spinning back roundhouse kick to his face. Fun match.
Karate World Cup 3rd Round: Dale “Apollo” Cook vs. Toshiyuki Atokawa
Our first noticeable moment tonight is when it’s revealed that footfighting legend Dale “Apollo” Cook is a participant in this year’s Karate tournament as opposed to his usual kickboxing matches. While I wouldn’t give Atokawa much of a chance to beat Cook in a regular kickboxing match, he is much more in his element within these karate rules. Cook is super light on his feet and throws some impressive spinning kicks towards Atokawa’s face, but Atokawa wisely ignores this and simply responds by clinching Cook’s gi, which protects his face since punches to the face are illegal. Atokawa’s experience in this style of competition paid off and he was able to eliminate Cook on points.
ML: Although this is a rematch from Kakutogi Olympic II 7/30/92, where Cook won, the rules are in Atokawa’s favor this time. Also, being the older fighter, the tournament structure over a one match is an disadvantage for Cook. Only a brief clip made the tape, so I can’t honestly tell you why Atokawa actually won this time.
Karate World Cup 3rd Round: Nobuaki Kakuda vs. Andy Hug
Whatever the outcome of this match, it will surely be a defining moment of Kakuda’s career. Kakuda is going into this contest at the age of 31, having been a main fixture of the Seidokaikan tournament scene for the last several years, and he has to be wondering if he still has the skills to hang with the elite. No one could ever accuse Kakuda of not giving his all, and tonight was no different. He was able to effectively stifle Hug’s flashy offense in the beginning by charging into phone both range, but as the round progressed he seemed to get tentative on pulling the trigger. This apprehension allowed Hug to gain the distance he needed to fire off a brutal spinning-back kick to Kakuda’s ribs, effectively winning the match. Sadly, had Kakuda kept the bum-rushing strategy, he may have been able to win this battle.
ML: Openweight tournaments are not the best for Kakuda, who was going to be at a reach disadvantage in virtually every contest. Hug is also worlds quicker, and has all the flashy techniques that can finish the fight anytime. I think Kakuda more or less did the best he could strategically against his more skilled younger opponent, and he was able to do some good things on the inside, but this style requires a ton of stamina. Invariably, the fighters get separated anyway, and Hug got one good shot in on him to win the fight before Kakuda could close the distance again.
Karate World Cup Quarterfinal: Andy Hug vs. Minoru Fujita
ML: Being younger and faster, Fujita did a much better job of consistently pressuring Hug than Kakuda did. That being said, Hug is so dangerous that as soon as he pushed off to create space, he connected with a spinning high kick that was the difference.
Karate World Cup Semifinal: Andy Hug vs. Shuji Suzuki
Hug effortlessly switches back-and-forth from a side-stance, spamming axe kicks while Suzuki takes a more straightforward approach with a lot of punches to the body. Suzuki’s strategy seemed to be sound, and he momentarily nullified Hug’s offense, but by the time the third axe kick found its target, the fight started to shift in Hug’s favor and was ended completely when axe kick number five, followed by a vicious knee, took Suzuki out for good.
ML: Suzuki applied less pressure than Hug’s previous opponents, and Hug was able to fight a much smarter fight here, backing up to create space, then pressing forward with high impact offense such as his axe kick.
Stephen “Superkick” Vick vs. Yoshihisa Tagami
We have a real treat on our hands as we get some rare footage of Stephen “Superkick” Vick in action. Vick was a legend in the world of Australian kickboxing, but is now largely forgotten in our modern dispensation. He was notable for achieving an unusual amount of success within kickboxing with a background in Tae Kwon Do, as opposed to karate, and was also the original instructor for John Wayne Parr. His mullet was also second to no man, which is appropriate since he must face the man with the greatest mustache this side of Freddie Mercury in Yoshihisa Tagami. Superkick lives up to his name with a great arsenal of different kicks, but what impressed me the most was how he was able to blast thru several jabs in-between his initial foot shenanigans. Tagami had a lot of trouble dealing with the variety and explosiveness of his opponent. However, he was able to find a little bit of success in the clinch, both by landing a few knees and successfully throwing Vick a couple of times. Good round for Vick.
Round 2 saw Tagami fare a little better as he was able to clinch more often but still had to eat about 4-5 hard shots per engagement.
Rounds 3/4 saw more excellence from Vick, who continually punished Tagami every time he entered into close range.
Round 5 was Tagami’s best round, as he was able to strike effectively from the clinch and get some low kicks in from a distance. However, he was still outstruck by Vick by at least a 2-1 ratio. To my utter shock and bewilderment, they awarded the decision to Tagami, and this may now have upset last month’s Dekkers/Ballentine fight as one of the worst kickboxing decisions I’ve yet witnessed. I have no choice but to conclude total corruption on the part of Sediokaikan. Politics aside, this fight was a lot of fun, and it’s a shame that Vick’s career was winding down just as the K-1 era was beginning.
ML: Vick did a great job of maintaining distance early, scoring on the outside with low and middle of kicks. Tagami definitely had the advantage in close quarters, as he was able to land clinch knees, and in the 1st round had a nice ipponzeoi. You could see by the first round that this was one of those fights where it kind of depends what you were looking for, and we know that the Seido judges are looking for their fighter doing well. Though Vick was in control for the majority of the 1st round, Tagami had a few fierce explosions that made an impact. I could perhaps see giving the first round to Tagami because he landed a more impactful blows, but after that Vick cleaned up his clinch defense, and wasn’t taking big knees anymore. In the later rounds, Tagami made a good adjustment to stalk Vick and was clearly the aggressor, but he was mostly coming forward and missing, the effective striking was clearly still from Vick with his kicks even if Tagami was walking him down rather than letting him control distance as he did in the early portion. I give Tagami credit for putting forth a great effort and doing his best to be as competitive as possible, but in the end, this decision was actually worse than Dekkers/Ballentine, though the fight itself was clearly more entertaining.
Special Thanks to our wonderful translator John Krummel for his incredible assistance with this column
**Comments made by Mike Lorefice (proprietor of the excellent puroresu/mma emporium quebrada.net) will be preceded by his initials) **
“Baptism by fire” is an idiom oftentimes used in military parlance to denote a soldier’s first time in battle. It can also mean the process that takes place whenever someone takes on a new job or incredible undertaking for the first time. The date is 10-4-92, and while the Fujiwara crew was ablaze in the Tokyo Dome, a different kind of conflagration was taking place in Osaka with the third offering from the Kakutogi Olympic series. The baptism(s) that we are about to take place this evening are twofold. Firstly, we will witness one of the final transitory moments in the metamorphosis of a mild-mannered karate organization into the world’s foremost powerhouse of combat sports. Secondly, this will be the first major test for newcomer Andy Hug, who doesn’t have the luxury of only having to face only one opponent but must run the gauntlet of an entire tournament worth of foes.
This event is interesting, as it seems to be a merger of two key Sediokaikan concepts. The major portion of this will be their yearly karate tournament, but unlike their past World Cup events, this will feature several kickboxing matches, which presumably tie into their latest “Battle Sports Olympic” series. However, unlike their last couple of shows under that moniker, these will be straight striking-based matchups. This outing marks a somewhat strange departure as the first event was full-blown MMA, and the 2nd was a hodgepodge of different rules but still had some mixed/grappling elements to it.
Teeth Optional…
Things start with a montage of Nobuaki Kakuda eating breakfast, all while looking as solemn as humanly possible. Surely he realizes the graveness of what the night has in store for him as he must do battle with the rising Swiss star in Hug, all while his luminescence is waning. After this inside glimpse, we are then treated to a delightful medley of people in shiny white clothes getting kicked in the face. (Some highlights include a participant who was handed some of his missing teeth on his way out of the ring, and Andy Hug knocking out an opponent with an ax kick.)
Andy Hug vs. Mystery Fighter #1
Fantastic match that proves how special Hug really was. Mystery-fighter looked great here, and on any other night probably would have succeeded, but tonight Hug was a cheat code that couldn’t be stopped. Hug was getting away with moves that a normal human can’t get away with in top competition. If suffering the indignity of an ax-kick to the trapezius wasn’t bad enough, rando-fighter effectively lost the match when Hug executed a flawless spinning back roundhouse kick to his face. Fun match.
Karate World Cup 3rd Round: Dale “Apollo” Cook vs. Toshiyuki Atokawa
Our first noticeable moment tonight is when it’s revealed that footfighting legend Dale “Apollo” Cook is a participant in this year’s Karate tournament as opposed to his usual kickboxing matches. While I wouldn’t give Atokawa much of a chance to beat Cook in a regular kickboxing match, he is much more in his element within these karate rules. Cook is super light on his feet and throws some impressive spinning kicks towards Atokawa’s face, but Atokawa wisely ignores this and simply responds by clinching Cook’s gi, which protects his face since punches to the face are illegal. Atokawa’s experience in this style of competition paid off and he was able to eliminate Cook on points.
ML: Although this is a rematch from Kakutogi Olympic II 7/30/92, where Cook won, the rules are in Atokawa’s favor this time. Also, being the older fighter, the tournament structure over a one match is an disadvantage for Cook. Only a brief clip made the tape, so I can’t honestly tell you why Atokawa actually won this time.
Karate World Cup 3rd Round: Nobuaki Kakuda vs. Andy Hug
Whatever the outcome of this match, it will surely be a defining moment of Kakuda’s career. Kakuda is going into this contest at the age of 31, having been a main fixture of the Seidokaikan tournament scene for the last several years, and he has to be wondering if he still has the skills to hang with the elite. No one could ever accuse Kakuda of not giving his all, and tonight was no different. He was able to effectively stifle Hug’s flashy offense in the beginning by charging into phone both range, but as the round progressed he seemed to get tentative on pulling the trigger. This apprehension allowed Hug to gain the distance he needed to fire off a brutal spinning-back kick to Kakuda’s ribs, effectively winning the match. Sadly, had Kakuda kept the bum-rushing strategy, he may have been able to win this battle.
ML: Openweight tournaments are not the best for Kakuda, who was going to be at a reach disadvantage in virtually every contest. Hug is also worlds quicker, and has all the flashy techniques that can finish the fight anytime. I think Kakuda more or less did the best he could strategically against his more skilled younger opponent, and he was able to do some good things on the inside, but this style requires a ton of stamina. Invariably, the fighters get separated anyway, and Hug got one good shot in on him to win the fight before Kakuda could close the distance again.
Karate World Cup Quarterfinal: Andy Hug vs. Minoru Fujita
ML: Being younger and faster, Fujita did a much better job of consistently pressuring Hug than Kakuda did. That being said, Hug is so dangerous that as soon as he pushed off to create space, he connected with a spinning high kick that was the difference.
Karate World Cup Semifinal: Andy Hug vs. Shuji Suzuki
Hug effortlessly switches back-and-forth from a side-stance, spamming axe kicks while Suzuki takes a more straightforward approach with a lot of punches to the body. Suzuki’s strategy seemed to be sound, and he momentarily nullified Hug’s offense, but by the time the third axe kick found its target, the fight started to shift in Hug’s favor and was ended completely when axe kick number five, followed by a vicious knee, took Suzuki out for good.
ML: Suzuki applied less pressure than Hug’s previous opponents, and Hug was able to fight a much smarter fight here, backing up to create space, then pressing forward with high impact offense such as his axe kick.
Stephen “Superkick” Vick vs. Yoshihisa Tagami
We have a real treat on our hands as we get some rare footage of Stephen “Superkick” Vick in action. Vick was a legend in the world of Australian kickboxing, but is now largely forgotten in our modern dispensation. He was notable for achieving an unusual amount of success within kickboxing with a background in Tae Kwon Do, as opposed to karate, and was also the original instructor for John Wayne Parr. His mullet was also second to no man, which is appropriate since he must face the man with the greatest mustache this side of Freddie Mercury in Yoshihisa Tagami. Superkick lives up to his name with a great arsenal of different kicks, but what impressed me the most was how he was able to blast thru several jabs in-between his initial foot shenanigans. Tagami had a lot of trouble dealing with the variety and explosiveness of his opponent. However, he was able to find a little bit of success in the clinch, both by landing a few knees and successfully throwing Vick a couple of times. Good round for Vick.
Round 2 saw Tagami fare a little better as he was able to clinch more often but still had to eat about 4-5 hard shots per engagement.
Rounds 3/4 saw more excellence from Vick, who continually punished Tagami every time he entered into close range.
Round 5 was Tagami’s best round, as he was able to strike effectively from the clinch and get some low kicks in from a distance. However, he was still outstruck by Vick by at least a 2-1 ratio. To my utter shock and bewilderment, they awarded the decision to Tagami, and this may now have upset last month’s Dekkers/Ballentine fight as one of the worst kickboxing decisions I’ve yet witnessed. I have no choice but to conclude total corruption on the part of Sediokaikan. Politics aside, this fight was a lot of fun, and it’s a shame that Vick’s career was winding down just as the K-1 era was beginning.
ML: Vick did a great job of maintaining distance early, scoring on the outside with low and middle of kicks. Tagami definitely had the advantage in close quarters, as he was able to land clinch knees, and in the 1st round had a nice ipponzeoi. You could see by the first round that this was one of those fights where it kind of depends what you were looking for, and we know that the Seido judges are looking for their fighter doing well. Though Vick was in control for the majority of the 1st round, Tagami had a few fierce explosions that made an impact. I could perhaps see giving the first round to Tagami because he landed a more impactful blows, but after that Vick cleaned up his clinch defense, and wasn’t taking big knees anymore. In the later rounds, Tagami made a good adjustment to stalk Vick and was clearly the aggressor, but he was mostly coming forward and missing, the effective striking was clearly still from Vick with his kicks even if Tagami was walking him down rather than letting him control distance as he did in the early portion. I give Tagami credit for putting forth a great effort and doing his best to be as competitive as possible, but in the end, this decision was actually worse than Dekkers/Ballentine, though the fight itself was clearly more entertaining.