Karate World Cup 3rd Round: Nobuaki Kakuda vs. Andy Hug Kakutogi Road: The Chronological History of MMA |
"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 that still had some mixed/grappling elements to it.
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 axe kick).
Karate World Cup 2nd Round: Andy Hug vs. Gozen Morita
Fantastic match that proves how special Hug really was. Morita 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, Morita 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.
Stan “The Man” Longinidis vs. Adam Watt
Now for a fight that we at Kakutogi HQ are very excited about, between two Aussies that have both been on an impressive run recently, albeit for different reasons. So far this year, Stan has easily vanquished both Branko Cikatic and Grant Barker, whereas Adam Watt has shown outstanding promise for a rookie giving both Rob Kaman and Peter Aerts a difficult time, despite being KO'd by both.
Things start in the strangest possible fashion when Watt clinches up with Stan, and it appears that Stan intentionally shifted his weight against the ropes to make both himself and Watt tumble out of the ring. This maneuver caused Watt to land on his head and rendered him unable to continue. As if the last decision wasn't bad enough, the judges inextricably awarded Stan a TKO victory, which apparently means that tossing your opponent out of the ring is an underused strategy. Weird.
ML: I thought Watt was arguably the one that caused them to actually tumble to the floor. He is the one who grabbed the ropes, and then he seemed to lean forward/put pressure on Stan's upper back after Stan arched back against the ropes, but either way rules should have been put in place so that this would have been ruled a no contest. I would like to comment on the actual action, but all that happened before is Stan threw one combo to back Watt into the ropes.
Peter Aerts vs. Masaaki Satake
I will gladly cheer against Aerts any day of the week, but I doubt that Satake has any chance to defeat this lumberjack. Satake surprised me in round 1 by pushing through more offense via power punching than I would have expected. Still, Aerts was able to keep neutralizing Satake from the cinch, which prevented him from getting too carried away. Even round.
Aerts began to heat up and go on the offensive in round 2. Bad round for Masaaki.
Satake tagged Aerts with a particularly nasty overhand right in round 3, but simply isn’t throwing enough volume to overwhelm his foe. Another winning round for Aerts.
Round 4 sees Satake continuing to look for a big bomb to land, and does manage a couple, but is foolish in trying to stand and bang with Aerts at this kind of tepid pace.
Satake smites Aerts with an excellent right hook early on in round 5, which seemed to stun Aerts more than he wanted to let on, but Satake seemingly lacks a killer instinct and gave Peter too much time to recover. This round was probably Satake’s best, but it wasn’t enough. To be honest, Satake did better than I expected him to. Had he taken a page out of Frank Lobman’s playbook and went for an all-out close-range assault, then he may have succeeded, but he didn’t, and anytime you give Aerts some room to work with, you are asking for a loss. Not that Satake’s mistakes cost him anything, as this was ruled a draw. Normally I would have been flabbergasted at a decision this inept, but after all the other shenanigans we’ve witnessed so far tonight, I can’t say I’m surprised. This should have been an obvious victory for Aerts, but a KO was probably the only way to gain a victory over Satake at this point.
ML: Satake's one advantage of having some size was negated against Aerts, who is not only taller and longer, but much quicker, more athletic, and actually talented. Satake knew he had to pressure Aerts, but just lacked the speed, stamina, and willpower to do it with any consistency, even early in the fight. Satake was completely outclassed when Aerts was fighting on the outside or the one who was coming forward, but was somewhat competitive on the rare occassions when he mustered the energy to make a push, lumbering as they were. As the fight progressed, Satake was more and more badly outworked by his faster and more technical opponent, who would land combos without even taking a counterstrike against a laboring opponent who looked like he needed to be put on oxygen. Satake landed a few good left hook counters later in the fight, probably because Aerts had long since stopped fearing anything that might actually come from his opponent given how little resistance Satake had been putting up, but as a whole, the fight was growing more and more embarrassing for Satake with each round. Aerts was really flowing tonight, and he was very consistent throughout, whereas even when Satake got a lucky shot in, he was unable to follow it up. This should have been a lesson in humility, but unfortunately only John Candy offers Humility 101. Crooked judges, on the other hand, scored this fight that was 50-45 at best as 50-50, 50-50, 50-46. This may be the worst decision we have seen so far. Tagami may have been overmatched, but at least showed a lot of heart, willpower, and determination. You could get behind the guy and feel like he actually cared about winning, whereas Satake was so lazy and uninspiring.
Karate World Cup Final: Andy Hug vs Taiei Kin
After several entertaining bouts (and brazen displays of judging corruption) we are greeted to the finals of this historic evening, where Taiei Kin has a 2nd chance this year to lay claim to being one of the best karate practitioners in the world by winning in a tournament format. Sadly, just as Sediokaikan founder Kazuyoshi Iishi robbed him of this mantle earlier in the year, it would appear that destiny has robbed him a second time by forcing him to face one of the greatest to ever do it, in Andy Hug. It will be hard to not cheer for Kin, who is worthy of all the honor and accolades that would surely be bestowed upon him with a victory this evening. However, Hug’s trajectory is too meteoric to be stopped and this is the hour that he must make himself known to the Japanese public.
Naturally, things start with Hug trying to axe kick Kin into oblivion, but much to his credit, Kin seems unfazed and wisely clinches to Hug’s gi for dear life. Kin unloads a plethora of short punches and knees, but Hug quickly breaks free and unloads another axe kick that connects. I felt that Hug did enough to win this round, but it was at least reasonable to continue into the 2nd.
Neither man accomplished much in round 2. Even round.
Hug dominates the 3rd round, and even our insane judges couldn’t deny him the victory this time. Although, if this had been Satake instead of Kin, they may have ordered 12 extra rounds and a blowtorch for Masaaki.
ML: Hug's performance in this tournament was remarkable, as fight after fight, the opponent knew the axe kick and the high kick were coming, but he is just so quick, flexible, and athletic that they still could not stop it. Sometimes he missed, of course, but no one was making him pay for attempting these higher risk maneuvers, so there was no reason for him to not keep setting them up until they did their job. Kin did a good job of getting inside and grabbing the gi to keep Hug out of his preferred range, but wasn't so much scoring with body punches as just delaying the inevitable. Hug would either go for a trip, or fight his way free and go back to hunting high and low with the kicks. Kin perhaps landed more punches, but none of them really did any damage. There was really no reason for this to go an extra round. It's difficult to compare this tournament win to Hug's 1996 Grand Prix given the level of competition in '96 was so much higher. This was Hug's actual sport, and he was off the charts, whereas he was an excellent kickboxer but that win was more impressive in the sense that normally Hoost would have defeated him in the Semifinal (a 2 extra round split decision, which was the only one of their 4 fights that Hug took from Hoost).
Conclusion: This was a very fun event if we can overlook the moments of corruption/ineptness. More importantly, this was probably the most dominant that Hug ever looked. Andy had a lot of great moments in his career, but he never came closer to appearing to be an unstoppable force of nature as he did this evening. While this wasn’t as important as his 1996 World Grand Prix victory, he never looked better, and this forever put him on the map as being the de facto force in Japanese karate.
ML: This show was fine, but clearly a huge step down from Kakutogi Olympic II, which had a number of good matches, and Kakutogi Olympic I, which was really interesting as one of the first examples of mixed fighting.
*We had our most excellent translator John Krummel go through this event and here are his translations/comments:
“Here's a transcript of the speech in the Seidokaikan karate Olympic. I ended up making a transcript of most of the talking. The narration is somewhat cheesy and too romanticized or sentimental, and very much propaganda for Seidokaikan, but that's often how they like to do such narration for events like that in Japan.... Here it is:
Narrator: In the morning of the 1992 Kakutogi Olympic, Kakuda eats breakfast at home, trying to relax and uplift his spirits. Today he will meet his strongest opponent in his 14-year karate career, Andy Hug, the number one contender in winning the Karate World Cup. Unless he beats Andy, he will lose the 3rd round [of the tournament], staking his will and pride, Kakuda heads towards the ring. Andy Hug, born 1964, September 7th. He is a top contender to win this tournament. While growing up he was absorbed in soccer and he was even nominated as a best junior player, but he felt team sports were not for him, and started karate at the age of 10. Since then, he has built up a brilliant record to become a legendary figure. His favorite technique, the axe kick was perfected through his many fights and his own style of training. He now is about to open another door in his life in pursuit of a new glory. At 9am, Kakuda’s car arrives at the arena. Already there are fans lined up waiting to enter the arena. Kakuda, who ordinarily works as an instructor at the Seidokaikan, today will be in the same role as his students. The tension given rise to by the buzz at the venue oozes out from him as sweat. A little later, Hug and other foreign fighters arrive at the arena. His big body invites the gaze of many onlookers. Creators of an epoch: They will stand there to carve out history. And quietly they are there to discover their own soul. The fight has already begun. Towards the stage that has begun to be set, Hug’s expressionless look shines. At 10am, the audience enters the venue. The people gather at a single arena that is to become the expression of an epoch. The arena with its strange enthusiasm becomes an alternate world beyond time.
Today’s event involves a tournament of 48 fighters plus 3 extra single matches. The fighters include not only karateka but fighters from other disciplines. A fierce battle ensued from the start. Tournament digest [I see karate fighters of other styles fighting against Seidokaikan: Suishinkai karate, Nisshinkaikan karate, kenpo, Uchidajuku, Seishinkaikan, etc.]
Narrator: Combat sports: in these chaotic and turbulent times Seidokaikan after 10 years of existence has begun sculpting a new era. An evolving karate—Seidokaikan’s theme is shaking the souls of many martial artists. That is why free fighters, to an unbelievable degree, are attracted to the events of Seidokaikan in search of a true battle. These 16 fighters entering the tournament from round 2 are also unlimited in style and enter the ring with only their pride. They are true samurai. For Seidokaikan, another new challenge is about to begin. Unbelievable drama, one after another, is about to commence.
Seidokaikan chairman, Kazuyoshi Ishii’s welcome speech: “This is the 11th year for Seidokaikan. We will end our 10th year and from this year are taking our first step in a new direction. Without rest, we intend to keep fighting, so we ask for your kind support.” The rules of the tournament are 3 rounds of kumite [bare knuckle no face strikes]; then if no winner, extra round. If there is no winner after the extra round, and if there is a weight difference of 10 kilos, the lighter fighter wins. But if there is no such weight difference, an extra 2 rounds with gloves [allowing face punches] will commence. And if there is still no winner, there will be a tile breaking contest and the winner is determined by how many tiles were broken. And if the fighters broke the same number of tiles, the lighter fighter is declared the winner. [the narrator goes on to provide a summary of the 2nd round of the tournament…]
Kakuda’s post-fight interview (after fighting Hug): “… For one instant I wasn’t paying attention and he got me. My ribs made a sound when that happened… He’s the strongest fighter out of everyone I’ve fought, during the 13 years of my fighting career… Rob Kaman was strong too, and Willie [Williams] was also strong, but no one was as strong as this fighter…”
Tagami’s post-fight comments: “…well I thought I could beat him when my left kick and hook hit him, but he wouldn’t go down, he was pretty tough…”
Narrator on Stan the Man: Australia’s top star, WKA world jr. heavy wt. and super heavy wt. champion. Adam Watt: in last year’s World Cup, he made it to the finals. After Satake and Kakuda, he’s considered the nr. 3 of Seidokaikan karate.
Doctor’s explanation at end of Watt vs Stan match: Watt dislocated his right shoulder when falling out of the ring. As a result, Stan wins by TKO.
Satake’s post-fight interview: Q: What were your impressions of your opponent? A: “His punches were heavy, his right punch. But I was able to take the hits. [It’s hard to make out his words as he’s speaking with his mouthpiece… plus he speaks in a Western Japanese dialect, which I can't understand too well] … when he threw his heavy punch like bang, it might have knocked me out if it hit me…but I was determined to not get KO’d no matter what. This time I didn’t want to get knocked down at all… and I wanted to just keep going… some of my punches hit him, especially hooks from below, with my submarine strategy. With the neck clinches, it wasn’t too bad, and I was able to hit him pretty well… but as far as quantity of hits…. [implying Aerts had more] But with this I feel like I’ve advanced one step forward.”
Kin’s pre-fight interview [vs. Hug] … “well, he’s shown his overwhelming power… so I have no choice but to just rely on my fighting spirit and go for it.. I’ll try my best so that I can show in the finals, all my training. Please cheer for me, osu!”
Narrator: The curtain closed after 8 hours of fierce battle. 1992 Karate World Cup, its battles have become legends and history ingrained in the hearts of onlookers… Tournament and single matches, moreover the participants were top athletes of the martial arts world. Any match could have been the main event, and there were many dream matches, one after another. Seidokaikan, having chased the ages for 10 years, is now embarking onto the next 10 years to come. Now after this event, it will be in a position of being pursued by the epoch. In the martial arts world of fierce battles, Seidokaikan, which gathers wandering fighters, will now be journeying along with them. Seidokaikan that in some sense has reached the top… what will be its next challenge? For Seidokaikan the point is to always be evolving. What sort of dream will Seidokaikan show us next?
*In Other News*
The huge news in Japan right now is that billionaire Hachiro Tanaka is growing tired of the wrestling business and is considering withdrawing his support completely. For those that are unfamiliar with this name, Tanaka is the man who controls the purse strings behind several Japanese kakutogi promotions, including the PWFG, WAR (Wrestle and Romance), and NOW (Network of Wrestling). While Fujiwara’s group appears to be the most solvent of the three, they have all reportedly lost money and may be in imminent danger of collapse.