Kakutogi Road Presents: Sayama’s Corner "The Story of Shooto Vol.2"
Note: This is a continuation of where we left of last week, as we continue to rappel the depths of all shoot-mysteries. In this case, as we forge ahead with our translation of “Shooting: The Technical Shooting Fight” from 1986. If you appreciate what we are doing, then please consider becoming a member of our Patreon, over at
www.patreon.com/KakutogiRoad
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Previous page translated (continued)
A Pure martial art [combat sport]: That is what shooting is:
Sayama aimed for a “complete martial art” during the period when he was a prowrestler.
There was the claim in prowrestling that “it is the culmination of every combat sport [martial art] of the world,” and Satoru Sayama the prowrestler agreed with this idea.
The one who had aspired to be a wrestler with the idea of “becoming strong,” became obsessed with martial arts.
Sayama, who above all intended a pure martial art, began using the word “shoot” from this period.
Shoot in English spelling is
SHOOT . Translated into Japanese it means to “shoot [an arrow],” “shoot [a gun],” “fire.”
Eventually he began calling this
technical shooting fight or
shooting .
SHOOTING … in a dictionary of English, it is defined as “discharge,” “firing,” “hunting rifle.”
At the gym, young women and boys also train alongside strong bodied youth
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Previous page translated:
The elements of every martial art [combat sport] is here
During the period when Sayama joined the New Japan Prowrestling dojo, he placed on the wall of his dorm room in the training camp a note paper on which he wrote, “Combat begins with striking and kicking, then throwing, and ends by submitting the enemy,” and he would read it every day, when waking up in the morning and before going to sleep.
Even while spending every day wrestling after diving into the world of prowrestling, he already felt the necessity of striking.
The content of this note paper was something that indeed expresses in an easy to understand manner the world of “striking, throwing, submitting” that became the genuine motto of shooting.
Striking means kicks and punches, throwing means throwing techniques, and submitting means joint locks. Strictly speaking “striking, throwing, submitting” can be “striking, kicking, throwing, submitting.”
When comparing shooting with other combat sports [martial arts], we can see its characteristic in a glance. Boxing involves striking but no kicking, throwing, or submitting.
Kickboxing has striking and kicking but no throwing or submitting. Judo and sambo, as jacket combat sports, in turn have throwing and submitting but no striking or kicking.
And karate, which is also a
gi -wearing combat sport, in contrast to judo and sambo, have striking and kicking but no throwing or submitting. In other words, shooting is a mixed martial art that includes all the elements of various martial arts [combat sports].
It involves the two worlds of stand-up techniques and ground techniques. Stand-up techniques involve fighting from a distance and ground techniques involve fighting in close contact with the opponent.
In boxing or kickboxing, the match cannot proceed when the fighters remain stuck to each other [as in a clinch]. These are sports in which the fighting must proceed strictly from a distance.
In the same way that learning, even within the same field, became finely specialized, combat sports [martial arts] also became specialized, for example, fighting with only punches.
In such times, shooting, without any delay, is striving to establish its aim in the direction of being comprehensive [synthesis] and to plump a new potential for combat sports [marial arts].
Furthermore its techniques involve fighting by aiming to replicate the best techniques of boxing, kickboxing, judo, sambo, and wrestling and mixing them.
And that’s the entirety of the new combat sport born in the last half of the 20th century, or more precisely the mid-1980s, called shooting. If you think about it, shooting is the most natural combat sport.
Previous page translated:
Martial arts [combat sport] is anthropology [study of man]
Every part of the human body can be weapon. In turn weak points are scattered throughout the body. Martial arts [combat sport] involves their offense and defense.
In boxing, the only weapon is punching. Certainly the punch of a heavy weight boxer may be able to easily kill a man. We can regard it a deadly weapon. But in boxing only punches are allowed.
Should not combat be freer? That was how Sayama thought. In response to the opponent’s punches, why not respond with kicks? That would be more natural for a martial art [combat sport].
Will it be a punch? A kick? Or a tackle? One must read the opponent’s moves in an instant.
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A rolling savate kick [spinning back kick] that saved the day showers the face. It would be perfect if he hit him a little more deeply.
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Previous page (s) translated:
Mixed [comprehensive] combat can involve the world of offense and defense in stand-up techniques and settling the fight from a distance. On the other hand it can also involve the offense and defense of ground techniques and settling the fight in close bodily contact.
Compared to boxing or judo, matches in shooting are not simple. The matches become more complex as the technical level improves.
For the spectator it would have to be a sport that’s difficult to understand. Shooting is a combat sport that Satoru Sayama, the founder, was fascinated with even to the extent of throwing away the glory of Tiger Mask.
Only through experiencing it by practicing it, rather than as something to look at, can it have meaning. Only by experiencing it can one understand its value.
In any case, mastering kicks, punches, throws, and submissions require immense time and effort. Any combat sport [martial art] requires the time for repeated practice and research. But because shooting is a combat that synthesizes them, it requires many times more of the energy.
For those who train in shooting, the joy of investigation is its greatest attraction.
Martial arts [combat sports] is essentially something that appeals to the instincts of man. Fighting has been one of the most intimate passions for the human race. No matter how far the human race develops its civilization, the will and passion for fighting remains in the genes of man.
As long as it remains, man is tempted to fight. No one can control this passion. If it goes in the wrong direction it can lead to violence or murder.
To manage this instinct for fighting in different ways, man has repeatedly struggled with his genes. Up to now many martial arts [combat sports] have been born on this earth.
They were born in the form of sublimating the fighting instinct into a sport or in the form of a martial art itself. But no one has skillfully controlled the genes of this fighting instinct. Shooting, as conceived by Sayama, is a martial art that holds the potential for this.
This is because it includes many aspects freer than any combat sport and win or loss depends on their application. As the fighting changes successively from stand-up to ground, kicking to submission, its freedom is closest to the instinct of combat sports.
Moreover its safety measures, such as the shooting shoes, shin protectors, head and face protectors, and so on, are unsurpassed. It checks in advance the potential dangers.
At a glance it may look as if these protectors are denying the whole point of fighting, but that is not the case. To the extent that human beings are fighting, there are vital points in the body as parts that must not be attacked. Shooting is a fighting competition founded on this acknowledgment.
Seeking the possibility of fighting without limit and to the utmost point: Shooting, as conceived by Satoru Sayama, was born of the consumption of the passion and talent taken as far as possible in those two directions.
“In fighting we come to know our humanity. Or rather, combat sport is anthropology [the study of man]. But if it was only about beating up someone, I probably wouldn’t have felt like staking my whole life on shooting” (Satoru Sayama).
By hooking his opponent’s right wrist with his right hand, he tries a cross arm hold. By learning to squeeze the knees, this technique can be mastered.
