The Sprawl and Brawl Video Review: Choke
Posted by Randy Harrison on 11.27.2007
One of the best MMA documentaries ever gets The Sprawl and Brawl treatment this week. We're looking at the man, the myth, and the legend that is Rickson Gracie and the acclaimed movie featuring his work, Choke. Most hardcore MMA fans know of the film and its importance, but now I have come to spread it to the masses! You can thank me for it later...
If it's Tuesday morning that can only mean one thing, a brand spanking new edition of The Sprawl and Brawl. I'm hoping everyone had a great Thanksgiving long weekend and no one either ate themselves into the hospital or ended up trampled during the post-Thanksgiving sale madness. With all of that holiday craziness out of the way for a little while at least, it's time to take a look back to 1995 when Rickson Gracie and Gracie Jiu-Jitsu ruled the MMA landscape as we review the classic documentary Choke.
This documentary covers the times leading up to and during the 1995 Vale Tudo Japan tournament. It mainly follows Rickson Gracie, the star of the Vale Tudo fight game and the most well-known and respected practicioner of Gracie Jiu-Jitsu. Gracie Jiu-Jitsu is, of course, the Gracie variant on Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and focuses on using grappling to transition to joint locks or chokeholds to gain submissions. The premise of jiu-jitsu is that a smaller or weaker person, using leverage and the proper techniques can defend themselves or even prevail in any situation against any size of opponent.
Jiu-jitsu began in Japan in the early 1900's as Judo at the time was known as Kano Jiu-Jitsu or Jiu-Jitsu for short. When the Gracie family, more specifically Carlos Gracie, decided to learn Jiu-Jitsu in 1917, they took the art with them back to Brazil from Japan and the name of Jiu-Jitsu stuck, although in Japan in 1925 it was determined that it should be called it's original name of Judo. Carlos Gracie passed along the art of Jiu-Jitsu to his brothers, although in the beginning Helio Gracie was unable to take part due to health problems. As he grew he overcame the health problems, learned Jiu-Jitsu and then began teaching the art, leading many to call him the founder of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, despite it being Carlos who began to teach it first.
Helio competed in many various tournaments and submission judo competitions that mostly ended in draws, although one particular defeat in 1951 by Masahiko Kimura led to the naming of the Kimura armlock as it was the hold that was used to defeat Helio. Helio continued competing and teaching and had four sons, Rorion, the founder of the orginal Ultimate Fighting Championship, Royler, the only person to win the prestigious Abu Dhabi Combat Club (ADCC) Submission Wrestling World Championship three consecutive years, Royce, who everyone knows as the champion of the early UFC tournaments and Rickson, who has earned legendary status with his knowledge of BJJ, his undefeated record in over 400 fights and of course his use of the armbar as his favored maneuver to gain victory.
After years of teaching and competing, the Gracies decided to show the world that their form of Jiu-Jitsu was the greatest martial art of them all and took it international to compete in various tournaments and competitons. Rorion and Royce went to the United States and started the UFC, while Rickson went to Japan to fight in their Vale Tudo tournaments which were offshoots of the Shooto organization of hybrid fighting. This documentary follows Rickson through the 1995 Vale Tudo Japan Championship as he prepares to defend the title he won the previous year. With the history lesson out of the way, it's time to take a look at one of the most influential MMA DVDs of all time, Choke.
The movie begins as we see Rickson playing with his children, including a son who already shows great technique for a youngster locking in an armbar. He's introduced as the World Vale Tudo Champion and at this point is being billed as being 398-0. We get highlights of some of his Vale Tudo work with the titles of the film. Rickson says he is ready to die in a fight but those things don't enter his mind during the fight and that he believes intellitgence and fear are very close together. The man who says he fears nothing is stupid, and that he himself is afraid of everything.
Rickson joking with some media members and the photographer says that watching Rickson is like watching history. Rickson does an interview about the Japanese Vale Tudo and he speaks on the rules and is essentially describing the rules of the UFC or Pride in the way that the Vale Tudos are run.
Next it's off to his Jiu-Jitsu academy and him getting taped and gloved up to train. He talks of training for stamina more for explosiveness and to get used to the gloves and everything. That the hard time for training has already passed and that now it's just finishing preparations. He says he's not a fighter and that he believes jiu-jitsu is a self-defense art and that to keep believing in what he teaches or to trust in what he shares with his students he has to be available for any tpe of competition. He enjoys the sense of touch, the weight, momentum and transitions from one movement to another and that it must almost be on auto-pilot where you almost don't know where your movements are going until they get there and you pretty much "flow with the go".
Rickson's training partner talks of Rickson's mind being what makes him great and that he trains on specific moves and that there are times where he will tell him that an armbar is coming and he'll count down until the move. You know exactly what he's going to do but he still manages to do it. Rickson talks about the size of some of his opponents heading into the championship and that there are some tough, heavy guys.
Todd Hays
A former linebacker for the Toronto Argonauts, and current UKF Super-Heavyweight Kickboxing Champion. Hays is shown training and his fight manager says that he thinks that he's the first fighter in this championship that will have skills both standing and on the mat that will rival anyone. Hays has been training for the past year to get ready for these particular rules and for the fights themselves and the manager thinks that they have a great chance to win and that he hopes they meet Rickson because they think they have the strategy and techniques to beat a Gracie.
Helio Gracie
At the moment, according to him, Rickson is the champion of the family as he is the strongest and smartest of them all, with the best technique. He feels that Rickson and all of his sons are invincible and that it's not them that are good but the art of Gracie Jiu-Jitsu that makes them good. Rickson talks about the adaptations they've made to Jiu-Jitsu from the time it first came to Brazil to the present and how other comabt sports are just sports but using BJJ makes it a fight and in a fight anything goes.
This transitions to Rickson Gracie vs. Zulu. It was his last fight in Rio in 1986 and we get clips of the legendary contest including Gracie locking in the rear naked choke that won him the fight. After that fight he decided he had beaten all that there were to beat in Brazil and that he had to challenge himself on the international stage.
Rickson talks about the special relationship BJJ has built between himself and his father and Helio says that he's still waiting to see Rickson find a worthy challenger because his opponents up to this point haven't represented a danger to Rickson's vast abilities.
Koichiro Kimura
Kimura says that he has never been in a fight with no rules and that he's not concerned at the lack of rules. The lack of rules is a rule in and of itself. Kimura is, at the time, the top heavyweight amateur wrestler and shootfighter in Japan and this will be his first professional fight. We get clips of him working during grappling championships and tournaments. He says that he's wanted to fight in a Vale Tudo even before it existed, to fight in a rule-less style and that he wants the challenge.
They show him training his JJ in an empty training room and his coaach says that he thought that shootfighting was the best style of fighting, but that seeing last year's Vale Tudo opened his eyes in that the style of striking in Vale Tudo is much more intense. In shootfighting the punching on the ground is illegal and that it is less dangerous than the Vale Tudo style of fighting.
Kimura feels that it will be best for him to fight Hays on the ground, to wait for him to make the first move and then counter that move to take him to the mat. Kimura feels like once it's on the mat the fight is his. He's not even thinking about Rickson yet and that once he gets past Hays, then he will worry about Gracie.
The Training:
We see Hays working on the ground from the top and his manager talks about being a mentor to Hays and that he's almost like an adopted son. They're close friends and as one of his students Todd will be fighting with his brain and his experience, coupled with his physical attributes. Hays working the sprawl well in training and also doing some work from the guard, showing his strength.
He says that he took up martial arts for self-defense, growing up in a border town in Texas, where the kids would take delight in telling their parents that they had "beaten up the big white kid at school" and that he spent years running home from school and hiding. He got tired of being beaten up and that he'd rather attack first and lose a fight instead of running. He low estimates at being in 75-100 streetfights.
Hays is watching tapes now on Rickson and talks about the rules and how things are different between streetfighting and the Vale Tudo fights. His manager says that Ken Shamrock made $250,000 in just two tournaments in Japan. Hays says his manager thinks that what's best for him is to be fighting and make his money fighting and that he's in limbo between wanting to fight to make money or do other things to make himself happy.
He has aspirations to compete in the Winter Olympics in the bobsled, moving from a push-man to being a driver of a sled, and while wondering how to make enough money to buy a new sled, his promoter got a call asking if Todd would fight in the tournament in Japan. Win, lose or draw, Todd has enough money to buy his sled just from competing in the tournament. If he gets second place, he can buy two sleds and if he wins the tournament he can fund his Olympic dream from 1995 through 1998.
Rickson is on the beach loosening up and rolling along the sand. He feels like he is an artist and that he likes doing things because they're beautiful and intense and he puts his life into his art. He continues loosening up and stretching and he says that without JJ he would feel like he had lost his legs and that it's hard to understand how he would be himself without JJ.
He feels like it's his time to do something important after all of his training and work and effort leading up to this tournament. Just to be able to expose yourself to the competition is an interesting feeling. Clip to him training resistance bands around his forehead and running steps. He feels like his body is a machine and that the machine needs to be well taken care of. He wants his body to be very flexible, very strong, very fast, well coordinated, balanced and he tries to combine it all in his training.
He also meditates and clears his mind, keeping himself in the present moment during his training. He feels like when you control your breath in meditiation you can control yourself phsyically and emotionally.
Kimura shows his wrestling trophies and all of his different mementos from his various tournaments including Japanese military fighting where masks are worn but almost anything else goes. He fought there for three years and feels like it's one of the first times he was exposed to a no-holds-barred style.
His father gives him a hard time about his fighting and the father asks if he has been fighting with no rules the entire time. His mother thinks that it is too dangerous and that both of his parents are thinking of not allowing him to enter as they're worried he could be hurt. Kimura assures them there's nothing to worry about but his mother thinks it's nothing like any of his fights before. Kimura assures them that he's not going to die and that they'll see him again.
We see Rickson in his last training session before leaving for Japan and that he feels very happy to have the friends he has to support him and that they are his inspiration for the fights in Japan.
Hays comes into his home gym and is rather dissapointed in the new gloves that he's received from japan in that they feel a lot more cushioning than the ones he was prepared for. His game is to hit people and he worries that some of that will be taken away by the new gloves. Hays begins training with the gloves again and says that there will be no more excuses or complaining from now on.
Off To Japan:
Rickson at a press conference making a presentation before saying that without the Japanese people he would have nothing. Before them he was nothing and now he's really important and he's the number one guy there. Rickson talks during the press conference about not knowing what's going to happen outside of the first round and that lots of things could happen from injuries to fears and that he's just goign to wait for his opportunities and fight his best.
We move to Nagano, Japan at a mountain training facility where Rickson is going to train and seperate himself from any distractions, concentrating on his training and the fights. He wants to find himself comfortable with Japan and his wife jokes that she's very well-behaved before Rickson cracks a smile and says "No sex!" She says that the Gracie family has always been like that and Rickson says that he feels like you lose vital energy having sex and that if you want to accumulate energy you can't be doing things like sex to lose it.
Rickson doing some meditating in a rapid river and his wife is worried about him catching cold three days before the fight as it's freezing cold. Rickson feels so much energy from the water and that he can better understand himself and connect himself with beautiful energy in the water. Royler is in doing the water now and looks to be taking it a lot worse than Rickson was.
Royler is there to be Rickson's coach and to support him and have outside perspective of the fight and that he will be able to see the whole picture and help Rickson from the outside. He feels like Royler helps him train and pushes him to his limits and that he is a big help heading into the fight. Rickson comes out of the water and proclaims himself, fearless, coldless and re-born.
Rickson feels like all of the pressure and attention is on him and how he's going to win or even if he's going to win. He feels like the champion always has the weight on his back to keep winning to keep the admiration and respect and that as a competitor he always tries to win, but as a human being he doesn't give too much credence to the fame or adulation because it could change him personally and as a fighter.
Rickson's wife talks of her fears rising as the fights draw closer and closer and that she only sees two ways that he can lose. He will either end up unconscious from something or he will be dead because he will never give up and she worries that something could end up hurting him. All she wants at the end of the three days is for him to come out unhurt.
We cut ahead to the rules meeting, with them reading the rules with eight minute rounds with two minute rest periods, continuing until there is a winner. We see the faces of fighters like Hays, Gracie, Kimura, Gerard Gordeau, the former UFC fighter and they confirm who the eight fighters are and that they are all present and accounted for.
Hays' coach is thinking that the rules are being tilted towards the grapplers and that the standing eight count rule which could be in effect for the tournament could seriously hinder their chances. They don't seem terribly impressed with that the Japanese tried to change the rules between the contract they signed and the contract they saw when they showed up. He's very happy with the draw of the tournament and that he thinks that the brackets set up well for Todd to win the whole thing
The Fights:
We move to Budokan Hall as they're setting up the ring for the tournament, and Rickson and Royler are engaged in a game of chess in his hotel room before the tournament begins. They joke and laugh and you can see the love that they have as family as they joke and Rickson says that by letting him win chess Royler has made his day and he's ready to fight.
All of the fighters begin arriving at the arena and they are all looking intense and ready for action, with each being introspective in their own ways. Hays is in the ring and getting the feel for it, loosening up and checking it out while preparing mentally for the fight to come. Hays' coach says that in his entire career Rickson has never been hit in the face and that once he is, his whole gameplan will change.
Rickson begins working out and stretching in the ring for a moment as Hays watches from the background. The tension is palpable between everyone. Hays' coach says that in an eight-man tournament, there's a finality involved that the Japanese like about one man coming from them all to rise as the winner. He also thinks that no matter what happens in any of the given rounds of the tournament it comes down to one winner and seven other guys getting their asses kicked. According to everyone, Rickson Gracie is the man and if Todd beats either Yamamoto or Gracie, he will become the new man.
We get the roll call of fighters as they are introduced to the crowd one at a time. There are shootfighters, ninjitsu fighters, a professional wrestler, a kickboxer. Yoshihiso Yamamoto, Gracie's opponent, gets a hero's welcome as does Rickson Gracie, introduced last as the winner of the previous year's tournament. His record is billed as 401-0.
Yuki Nakai vs. Gerard Gordeau
Nakai is 5'6" and only 135 pounds with a shootfighting style. Gordeau is 6'6" and 240 pounds and will be relying on his savate background. The bell rings and Nakai drops down catching one of Gordeau's legs as he tries to land stomps. G uses his size to start raining in punches while Nakai is grounded and they show Todd Hays training and warming up in the back. Nakai's eye is looking horrible and Gordeau keeps trying to land punches to it standing above Nakai who is still looking for a leg lock of some sort. Gordeau continually landing punches to the face and eventually forces Nakai from the ring, keeping the punches going until they step in to stop him so that Nakai can get back into the ring. Gordeau standing above the prone Nakai and Nakai is trying to defend from his back and they're at a stalemate. We're back to the feet and Nakai shoots in and gets a takedown on Gordeau in the corner and he stands back up and tries for a guillotine choke but Nakai is able to pull his head out and Nakai gets a kneebar to gain the submission. Nakai celebrates but that eye of his looks in terrible shape.
Winner: Yuki Nakai
Hays' coach thinks that Gordeau had the fight won, he just got out of his element and tried something he didn't know and got caught. He uses that to instruct Hays to stay within himself and stick with what he knows. He credits Nakai for sticking with it and winning but he doesn't think Nakai will fight again. Nakai is in the back getting medical attention and says that Gordeau gouged his eye with a thumb.
Koichiro Kimura vs. Todd Hays
The bell rings and they circle tentatively with Hays throwing the first punch and Kimura ducking right under it for a takedown. Hays controls the head and works shots to the body, looking for a guillotine but Kimura pops his head out and starts landing strikes from Hays's guard. Hays kicks him away and Kimura tries for a takedown again but he sprawls well to avoid it. Hays' corner telling him to roll him over to his back as Kimura is sitll trying for a single-leg. Hays works some hard shots to the body and the back and Kimura tries again for the takedown but Hays scrambles to his feet. They clinch and Hays drops straight back for a guillotine, pulling guard and stacking Kimura up, cinching back until Kimura taps out. Hays looks emotional and exhausted as he stands up. Kimura is crushes at the loss and is in tears in the back cursing at himself and telling himself that he blew it. In Hays' dressing room he's getting iced down on his shoulder and he says that it's killing him while his team worries he might have blown it out entirely.
Winner: Todd Hays
Rickson is in the back getting ready for his fight and decides that it's time for a bathroom break and in a comical moment the entire team follows him to the toilet while he goes to the bathroom. They say that the crowd can wait for Rickson since he's the champ. We see Rickson rushing to get to the entrance before the fight and it's the first real sign of panic I've seen from him yet. Hays is in the back disappointed that he's been hurt as he thinks that he was in the perfect position before the injury.
Rickson Gracie vs. Yoshihiso Yamamoto
Yamamoto rushes for a clinch but Gracie reverses it and works shots to the body as Yamamoto has a headlock and is trying to rabbit punch. Gracie's wife in the crowd looks concerned and Gracie starts working uppercuts from behind on Yamamoto and is also landing some shots to the body. Yamamoto turns to face and tries to pull guard on Gracie with a guillotine but Gracie bulls him up and over the ropes to the apron and kicks him in the ass on the way out. That's not very good sportsmanship from a meditative man I'd say. Gracie is being reprimanded and just standing calm as can be in the ring while the chaos continues on the outside. They restart and Yamamoto ges a fairly tight standing guillotine against the ropes and the tension begins to build until Rickson pulls out of it and begins to land shots to the ribs and kidneys of Yamamoto. Rickson gets the trip takedown against the ropes and positions Yamamoto in the center of the ring working shots to the body, forcing Yamamoto to give up his back. Gracie with both hooks in and punching to the side of Yamamoto's head before slipping the rear naked choke in and putting Yamamoto to sleep. Yamamoto is bleeding badly from what looks to be a broken nose as he's brought back to consciousness somewhat, but he still looks in horrible shape. Hays, who has been cheering for Yamamoto the entire fight, watches Rickson walk to the back and knows that that is who he fights next.
Winner: Rickson Gracie
Hays is in the back and is discussing with his coach the possibility of dropping out of the fight with Rickson due to his injury. They consider getting a doctor in to check out his shoulder and want to get things looked at before they decide for sure if they drop out or not. In Rickson's dressing room, Royler is upset at him for being in a rush to win and tiring himself out while Yamamoto played defense. He tells him that if he decides to trade punches with Hays the kickboxer he will lose. Royler tells him to wait for the right moment and not get drawn into a boxing match.
Yuki Nakai vs. Craig Pittman
Nakai is in terrible shape with swelling all over his face and the eye that was injured in the Gordeau fight completely taped and gauzed over. The bell rings and Pittman rushes him, using his size to take him down and just start pummeling him. Nakai turtles and almost snaps on an armbar but Pittman pulls free from it and begins to continue raining in the punishment on him in the corner. Pittman working strikes from the top and trying to pass into side control but Nakai is a gamer on the bottom.
We cut to Rickson's locker room in the back and he's complaining of pain and stiffness in his neck which seems to be really concerning him. He feels like he's lost all of his energy and he seems really agitated.
Hays is in the back talking about his blown shoulder and how he's going to have to pull out. He can't move his right shoulder and he figures either he goes in and "jabs him to death" but realizes that he can't fight the number one fighter in the world with one arm.
We're back to the ring action now with Nakai still on the bottom, working a full guard on Pittman. Nakai throws up his guard higher and locks in a variation of an armbar, forcing Pittman to tap.
Winner: Yuki Nakai
Hays thinks that Nakai has to win "heart of the year" as he's out there fighting with both of his eyes swelled virtually shut. Nakai celebrates in the back, shouting that he's coming for Rickson, before being told he's going down the wrong hallway due to his poor vision.
Hays' manager says that it's best for him to live to fight another day and that they've invested too much time and money into him to risk himself being hurt further while fighting with the shoulder the way it is.
In Rickson's locker room they're all essentially arguing over how the bracket is supposed to play out in terms of finding a replacement for Hays. Rickson thinks that the two fighters who have lost previously will have to fight for the right to face him and that he thinks it unfair if Kimura advances despite a loss. The team argues back and forth, further trying to figure it out, while Rickson tries to relax and await his opponent.
Hays' manager is trying to negotiate to split Hays' win bonus between Hays and the fighter that they're going to have replace Hays in the bracket of the tournament. It looks like it's going to be Koichiro Kimura vs. Wayne Emmons to determine who faces Rickson in the semi-finals.
Koichiro Kimura vs. Wayne Emmons
They're circling and Kimura shoots in for the takedown again, like he did against Hays, and Emmons stuffs it just like Hays did. Emmons bulls Kimura out under the bottom rope with a front-facelock and they reset the fighters in the middle of the ring.
We cut to Rickson stretching in his locker room and then to Hays being interviewed by the Japanese media who are asking him why he decided to come to the competition and he says that he thought it fit his style well and that the less rules the better for his fighting style. Hays' manager says that the Gracies have been fighting with these rules for 65 years and that they've been fighting with them for three months and that it's a starting point to grow off of.
Back to the ring and Emmons is landing some hard knees to the top of Kimura's head while he's turtled on the mat and still trying for the single-leg takedown. You can hear the thunk of the knees cracking against Kimura's skull and he absorbs a few more before getting a sweep in the corner putting Emmons on his back. Kimura starts working hammerfists and punches to the body before Emmons reverses and grabs a double-leg to attempt to take Kimura down again.
Back to the dressing room with Hays and his manager and the manager says that if you get injured and get the shit beat out of you, no one will remember that he won the first fight, they'll only remember him being beaten.
Into the ring again with Emmons still trying for the takedown and Kimura standing up with a guillotine with one arm in. Emmons starts pounding heavy shots to the body trying to get him off but it doesn't work and he actually turns into it worse and Kimura sinks it in without the arm, grabbing a straight guillotine and choking out Emmons. A win but a loss at the same time for Kimura as now he advances immediately to face Rickson Gracie.
Winner: Koichiro Kimura
Koichiro Kimura vs. Rickson Gracie
They decide to give Kimura an extra two minute rest period before the fight and he really looks like he needs it. Rickson stretches to remain ready and they're both ready and they fight. Kimura fires a leg kick and shoots in, picking up Gracie and nearly slamming him. Gracie ends up scrambling and taking Kimura's back, getting both hooks in rather quickly. Gracie starts firing off right hands to the head of Kimura and Kimura is just covering up completely trying to avoid any of the punches. Rickson keeps landing shots trying to force Kimura to move and eventually he does provide enough of an opening for Gracie to secure the rear naked choke and Kimura has to tap.
Winner: Rickson Gracie
Nakai is in the back getting his eyes tended to and we see Gracie back in his locker room with 20 minutes to prepare for the finals of the tournament. Gracie's team seems over-confident in how they will beat Nakai. Royler talks about how Nakai will be focusing on defending due to his size disadvantage.
Kimura is being interviewed now and he's in tears over the loss. He says that he's glad to have had the chance to fight Gracie and that he feels lucky to have had the the chance to meet him and fight him. He would have preferred to win the first fight to get to meet Rickson and not the loser's bracket bout, because although it's a victory, it still felt inadequate. He feels like Gracie's confidence as champion gives him a superiority and that he now understands the depth of Gracie Jiu-Jitsu and how he is going to study and learn as much as he can to understand the discipline.
Rickson is in his dressing room discussing the time difference when the team brings up the condition of Nakai and his eyes being severly swollen and damaged. Rickson says that he's not going to hit him with even a punch. His coach looks unimpressed by Rickson's compassion and says that he's a dangerous opponent and that he should still do whatever it takes to win. They think that a punch to the face might even finish the fight, telling him not to feel sorry for Nakai because he's hoping to get lucky and win the fight himself. Rickson decides that he's sick of fighting for trophies and he wants a big belt. I guess Rickson is part Texan with his desire for a gigantic-ass belt.
1995 Vale Tudo Japan Tournament Final
Yuki Nakai vs. Rickson Gracie
Rickson comes out with his hands at his sides and he starts working hand locks with Nakai, moving from those into a clinch, and working a single-leg into a takedown. Gracie immediately starts trying to pass but Nakai has a strong guard, allowing Gracie into side control but taking guard back quickly. Gracie securesside control on the other side and is holding Nakai down, trying to work for a choke aor an armlock before securing Nakai's legs and taking the mount position. Gracie with a couple of punches from the top but he doesn't look to be putting a lot on them. Nakai tries to buck and turn out from mount but gives up his back. Gracie gets both hooks in and secures the rear naked choke drawing the tap from Nakai.
Winner: Rickson Gracie
Gracie accepts the trophy and the check and poses for pictures after the tournament with his team before we go to the back with a sumo grand champion and Todd Hays congratulating Rickson on his victory.
We cut to the credits and see Hays in Nagano at the bobsled track that is under construction, saying his shoulder is fine now but he still can't raise it, and that he has the money he needed for his sled and that he hopes to be there on the track in Nagano for the Winter Olympics.
Rickson talks of seeing Hays' fight and that he looked very strong. He equates Hays' style to a rock and that he won't fight rock with rock and would instead fight as water, waiting and letting him make a mistake, playing defense until he gives him something rather than exchange power and punches with him. Rickson then says that there was nothing terribly special about him and that you could find strong guys anywhere.
Rickson then talks about fighting Mike Tyson and that he knows he could beat him. He's not sure how the fight would go but he knows he wouldn't want to exchange punches with him. If he could avoid that he'd be fine and he knows he would win.
The Aftermath:
Rickson Gracie went on to fight in Pride in Japan, defeating Nobuhiko Takada on two seperate occasions, both by arm bar. He remained undefeated for the rest of his career and was believed to have ended up with a competitive record of 411-0. He has since retired from active MMA competition but rumors are running rampant that he will be making a comeback in Japan sometime next year despite being nearly 50 years old.
Todd Hays indeed reached his goal of being a bobsledder in the Olympics, competing in three Winter Olympic Games and winning a silver medal in the four-man bobsled in Salt Lake City at the 2002 Games. Hays chose never to compete in mixed marital arts again and has also retired from active bobsledding competitons, coaching football here in the US after competing in the 2006 Olympics in Turin, Italy.
Koichiro Kimura never fought again after the Vale Tudo Japan 95 tournament and has essentially disappeared from the limelight following his loss to Rickson Gracie.
Yuki Nakai ended up being permanently blinded in his right eye due to the tactics of Gerard Gordeau in their fight and as such could never compete in mixed martial arts again. He kept his blindness a secret for years to avoid potentially damaging the reputation of Vale Tudo saying that he felt that he didn't want the actions of one dishonorable fighter to mar the sport. He took up Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu after being impressed by Rickson Gracie's skills at the tournament and is currently a black belt and the president of the Japanese Confederation of Jiu-Jitsu.
My Two Cents:
An absolutely fantastic look into the early years of MMA and into the art of Jiu-Jitsu. Seeing the various fighters and their various reasons for fighting, hearing their thoughts going into and coming out of the fights, and everything in between give a glimpse into the world of a fighter, something that had never been seen up to this point by people outside of the realm of Vale Tudo or MMA.
Rickson comes off as a fascinating character, both incredibly confident in his abilities and of his knowledge of his art, but at the same time vulnerable and at times appearing almost pampered by his team during the course of the DVD. When he speaks you can tell that he really feels that Gracie Jiu-Jitsu is the greatest of all the fighting arts and that he views fighting as more of an expression of his art, rather than an attempt to injure someone or make a quick buck.
This is a great DVD to watch if you're interested in the history of MMA or Jiu-Jitsu, or just if you're wanting to learn more about fighting itself and everything that goes into the mental and physical preparations to fight. A compelling, frank and well-compiled documentary that shows things as they are and doesn't try to sensationalize any of the violence or brutality of the fights. A must own for any MMA fan.
That does it for this week folks. As always I thank you for reading and look forward to welcoming you all again in seven short days for another review, so now I'll say as always, in the meantime and in between time, I'll see you all next time for another Sprawl and Brawl Video Review.
The 411: A compelling documentary and still an incredible story ten years after the filming of the footage and eight years after the release of the DVD. I am happy to have it in my collection and give it the strongest reccomendation for anyone and everyone to buy and enjoy.
