Shoot wrestling

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Shoot wrestling or Shoot-style is a Japanese hybrid grappling style and combat sport. Shoot wrestling incorporates techniques from various wrestling, submission grappling, kickboxing and karate styles. It was particularly inspired and influenced by catch wrestling, a form of wrestling with submissions that was the predominant style of professional wrestling in the 19th and early 20th century, at the time a legitimate competitive sport and not yet predetermined.^[1]

Shoot wrestling originated in Japan's professional wrestling circuit (puroresu) of the 1970s, particularly stemming from the influence of wrestlers Karl Gotch, Lou Thesz and Billy Robinson, all who had an enduring popularity in Japan due to their serious submission wrestling style. Professional wrestlers of that era attempted to use more realistic or even "full contact" moves in their matches to increase their excitement, diminishing or eschewing the theatrical elements and acrobatics. Their presentation likewise became more austere: wrestlers commonly wore simple trunks, singlets, or other combat sports-inspired athletic attire rather than elaborate costumes. Some shoot wrestling promotions also incorporated elements of legitimate combat sports into their presentation and rules, including rounds, point systems, and kayfabe judges and officials. The name "shoot wrestling" comes from the professional wrestling term "shoot", which refers to any unscripted occurrence within a scripted wrestling event.^[2]

The first wave of shoot wrestlers were students of Antonio Inoki and Karl Gotch from New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), two wrestlers which already were advocates of a stiffer and more realistic wrestling style. Their students left NJPW to form the Universal Wrestling Federation (UWF) in 1984, pioneering in the new style.^[3] The promotion and its successors, including the Newborn UWF and UWF International (UWFi), popularized shoot-style wrestling in Japan, peaking in popularity in the late 1980s and mid-1990s when UWF-derived promotions drew tens of thousands of spectators, including reported crowds of 60,000 at the 1989 U-Cosmos event and 67,000 at a joint NJPW–UWFi event in 1995.^[4]

Shoot wrestling was popular in Japan from the 1980s until the mid-1990s, when its popularity declined sharply amid the demise of the leading shoot-style promotion UWFi in 1996 and the simultaneous rise of mixed martial arts (MMA) in Japan. The decline was particularly notable for its speed: within a few years, many of the wrestlers and organizations that had helped popularize shoot wrestling had transitioned to legitimate MMA, while others returned to more theatrical forms of professional wrestling.^[3][5] Shoot wrestling had a considerable influence on the sport of mixed martial arts.

Prior to the emergence of the current sport of shoot wrestling, the term was commonly used in the professional wrestling business, particularly in the United Kingdom, as a synonym for the sport of catch wrestling.^[6] Shoot wrestling can be used to describe a range of hybrid fighting systems such as shootfighting, shoot boxing and the styles of mixed martial arts done in the Shooto, Pancrase and RINGS promotions. Organizations, promotions and gyms with origins in shoot wrestling are referred as the "U-Kei".

Historically, shoot wrestling has been influenced by many martial arts, most influential of them being catch wrestling, but also freestyle wrestling, Greco-Roman wrestling, and then sambo, karate, Muay Thai and judo in the sport's later stages.

Karl Gotch is one of the most important figures in the development of shoot wrestling. Karl Gotch would begin his journey into wrestling in the German and North American professional wrestling circuits, where Gotch found moderate success. However, it was in his tours of Japan that the early formations of shoot wrestling took place. Gotch was a student of the "Snake Pit" gym, run by the renowned catch wrestler Billy Riley in Wigan. The gym was the centre of learning submission wrestling as practiced in the mining town of Wigan, popularly known as catch-as-catch-can wrestling. It was here that Karl Gotch honed his catch wrestling skills. Karl Gotch also travelled to India to practice the wrestling form of Pehlwani; later on he would propagate the exercises using the "Hindu mace" and would go on to incorporate the Indian system of exercises using push-ups, neck exercises, yogic breathing exercises and Hindu squats for conditioning. Gotch attained legendary status in Japan, earning the nickname God of Wrestling. In the 1970s he taught catch wrestling-based hooking and shooting to the likes of Antonio Inoki, Tatsumi Fujinami, Yoshiaki Fujiwara, Satoru Sayama, Masami Soranaka, and Akira Maeda. Most of these professional wrestlers already had backgrounds in legitimate martial arts. Masami Soranaka had been a student of full contact karate, kodokan judo, and sumo. Yoshiaki Fujiwara was already a black belt in judo, while Satoru Sayama had studied Muay Thai with Toshio Fujiwara and went on to study sambo with Victor Koga. This would eventually lead to the added influences of karate, Muay Thai and judo to the wrestling style.

One of Gotch's students, Antonio Inoki, hosted a series of mixed martial arts-style wrestling matches in which he pitted his "strong style professional wrestling" against other martial arts, such as karate, kickboxing, judo and sumo in an attempt to show that professional wrestling was the strongest fighting discipline, these were known as "heterogeneous combat sports bouts" (Ishu Kakutōgi Sen; 異種格闘技戦).^[7] These matches eventually culminated into the Muhammad Ali vs. Antonio Inoki. While the previous matches were predetermined, Ali and Inoki could not agree on the terms of the match and it turned into a "shoot".^[8] Inoki would go on to teach these fighting techniques to a new generation of wrestlers in the dojo of his professional wrestling promotion, New Japan Pro-Wrestling.

Later on, many wrestlers became interested in promoting this more realistic style of professional wrestling and in 1984, the Universal Wrestling Federation was formed. The UWF was initially more traditional in its presentation, featuring conventional professional wrestling matches, Satoru Sayama continued to performing under his Tiger Mask persona, and even having lucha libre matches. As the promotion developed, its wrestlers increasingly incorporated the legitimate martial arts techniques they had learned into their matches and presentations. This gradual evolution eventually led the UWF toward the more realistic, shoot-style approach for which it became known. However, internal conflicts between the wrestlers and financial issues soon resulted in a breakup of the company in 1985.^[9] Most wrestlers returned to NJPW, where they were part of an "invasion" angle in which the returning UWF wrestlers were presented as a rival faction challenging New Japan's established wrestlers. But soon, the UWF wrestlers left NJPW again and in 1988 they revived the promotion as the "Newborn UWF" (新生UWF). Led by Akira Maeda, the Newborn UWF expanded and refined the realistic, shoot-style approach that had emerged during the original UWF's existence, placing greater emphasis on realistic strikes, submission holds, and competitive-looking matches.^[9] However, just like the original incarnation, internal disagreements and disputes over the promotion's finances and management eventually led to its dissolution in 1991.

Inspired by Antonio Inoki's "heterogeneous combat sports bouts", UWF and its many successors often staged matches between professional wrestlers and practitioners of other martial arts and combat sports. These bouts pitted wrestlers against opponents trained in disciplines such as karate, judo, kickboxing, and other fighting styles, with the matches often presented as contests between different combat sports. This format became a recurring feature of shoot-style wrestling and helped establish the idea of professional wrestlers testing themselves against fighters from outside professional wrestling. This approach was prominently showcased at the Newborn UWF's U-COSMOS event at the Tokyo Dome on November 29, 1989, which drew more then 60,000 spectators. Every match except one featured a UWF pro wrestler competing against a fighter from another discipline, including Muay Thai, kickboxing, sambo, freestyle wrestling, and judo. Among the bouts was Minoru Suzuki, future founder of Pancrase against American kickboxer Maurice Smith, future UFC Heavyweight Champion, while the main event saw Akira Maeda face Dutch judoka Willy Wilhelm, an Olympic bronze medalist and European judo champion.^[9][10]

After the breakup of the Newborn Universal Wrestling Federation, shoot wrestling branched into several disciplines. One of the first top stars to leave was "Tiger Mask" Satoru Sayama in 1985, he was dissatisfied with the UWF's internal politics and decided to follow his dream of founding his own martial art discipline. He combined his knowledge of shoot wrestling and other martial arts to create a legitimate fighting style which he later named "Shooto", holding the first amateur event in 1986 and first professional event in 1989.^[11] Other wrestlers took the UWF's ideas in different directions. Nobuhiko Takada and his supporters went to found UWF International, which retained shoot wrestling's realistic fighting style but placed greater emphasis on the presentation and spectacle of professional wrestling. In contrast, Akira Maeda founded Fighting Network RINGS, which initially distinguished itself by bringing in foreign martial artists and placing greater emphasis on authentic fighting backgrounds. While Yoshiaki Fujiwara went to found Pro Wrestling Fujiwara Gumi ("Fujiwara family"),^[3] which focused more heavily on technical and catch wrestling skills while remaining a professional wrestling promotion. On the latter, a few wrestlers such as Masakatsu Funaki and Minoru Suzuki, dissatisfied with Fujiwara's turn to lucha libre-inspired style and lack of focus in fighting skills, founded Pancrase in 1993, which adopted shoot wrestling techniques and rules but replaced worked matches with real, unscripted fights.^[12]

The multiple successors and organizations inspired by the UWF range from professional wrestling, to MMA and even standalone martial arts styles, they are collectively known as the "U-Kei" ("U-Group" or "U-Class").

At its peak, the UWF movement had a substantial following in Japan, with its various promotions drawing audiences in the tens of thousands. The Newborn UWF's 1989 U-Cosmos event at the Tokyo Dome drew a reported 60,000 spectators, while the UWFi's 1995 crossover event with New Japan Pro-Wrestling drew a reported 67,000^[4] (The NJPW–UWFi interpromotional feud of 1995 has also been cited as an influence on Eric Bischoff for the creation of the New World Order storyline in WCW).^[13] However, the same movement that popularized shoot-style wrestling also helped create the foundation for the emerging sport of mixed martial arts, and by the late 1990s the appeal of legitimate combat had increasingly shifted away from worked shoot wrestling. The contrast became particularly apparent in 1997: Kingdom Professional Wrestling, the direct successor to UWFi, struggled to attract audiences, while the inaugural PRIDE Fighting Championships event, held at the Tokyo Dome in October, drew 47,860 spectators for the legitimate MMA bout between Rickson Gracie and UWFi ace Nobuhiko Takada. Kingdom folded the following year, while PRIDE went on to become one of the world's leading MMA promotions.^[14] Most shoot wrestlers started to migrate into MMA—Fighting Network RINGS itself became a full MMA promotion—or back to more theatrical forms of professional wrestling.^[3][5]

Shoot-style wrestling did not disappear entirely following the decline of the major UWF-derived promotions, but it largely ceased to be a mainstream form of professional wrestling in Japan. During the late 1990s and 2000s, the style continued primarily in smaller independent promotions, such as BattlARTS (1996–2011) and U-Style (2003–2005).^[15] U-Style's final major event, U-Style Axis, was held at Ariake Coliseum in November 2005 and drew 3,962 spectators. Co-produced with Dream Stage Entertainment, the company behind PRIDE, the event featured Kiyoshi Tamura defeating former UFC Heavyweight Champion and King of Pancrase Josh Barnett in the main event.^[16]

Currently, a few companies have been promoting shoot-wrestling events. GLEAT is a Japanese promotion founded in 2020 by LIDET Entertainment consists of former Pro Wrestling NOAH officials. The "Lidet UWF" is a sub-brand which has UWF-style matches.^[17] Game Changer Wrestling—an American New Jersey–based promotion—promotes shoot-style wrestling events known as the GCW Bloodsport.^[18] The events counted with former MMA and shoot-inspired pro wrestlers such as Minoru Suzuki, Josh Barnett, Matt Riddle and Dan Severn.^[19]

Shoot wrestling branched into several sub disciplines after the breakup of the original Universal Wrestling Federation. The main forms and revivals are listed below.

• Yoshiaki Fujiwara's students Masakatsu Funaki and Minoru Suzuki founded Pancrase in 1993, a mixed martial arts promotion predating UFC which originally used shoot wrestling rules in real non-scripted matches.
• Akira Maeda founded Fighting Network Rings in 1991, a shoot-style wrestling promotion that transitioned to MMA.
• World-renowned gyms like the Lion's Den, Takada Dojo, and the Shamrock Martial Arts Academy propagate the shoot wrestling-based style.
• Dutch kickboxer and MMA legend Bas Rutten trained with shoot wrestler Masakatsu Funaki.
• Junior National Korean taekwondo champion Masa Kin Jim has trained in shoot wrestling. During a brief tour of Japan promoting Korean Martial Arts, Masa Kin Jim became fascinated with the shoot wrestling style. In 1998, he would go on to open one of the first shoot wrestling academies in South Korea.
• In 2004, shoot wrestling received official sport status in western Canada and was eligible for licensing. The first of many matches were held open to the public to build a foundation of awareness for the new sport.

• Pancrase
• Professional wrestling in Japan

• Catch: The Hold Not Taken (DVD). 2005.

• Website of the film 'Catch - the hold not taken', which looks at the history of shoot wrestling