A tribute to Masakatsu Funaki: The world's greatest real Catch Wrestler and Submission Fighter

Despite of the fact that my blog doesn't deal with sports, I think that as a practitioner and long time fan of mixed martial arts, I must share some words about a man who has been a great inspiration to me. This man is Masakatsu Funaki, a seasoned martial artist and real (not fake) Catch Wrestler.

In United States, "Catch Wrestling" is commonly conflated with "pro-Wrestling" (the fake wrestling shows which features people like Hulk Hogan, the Undertaker and so forth). In Japan, "pro-wrestling" has been considered not so much as a fake, because people there tends to think that japanese pro-wrestlers are real fighters.

The truth is this: Many japanese pro-wrestlers are real trained figthers, but the pro-wrestling shows are mostly fake (like in U.S.). Funaki even participated a lot in these "fake" wrestling shows, and currently he's a "pro-wrestler". However, he is an actual, real figther. (Note the contrast with pro wrestlers in the United States: Almost all of them are not actual figthers, only showmen).

In order to create an actual, real wrestling event, in 1993 Masakatsu Funaki created (together with some other fighters) the organization of Pancrase, the first organization promoting mixed martial arts. The fights of Pancrase weren't "pro-wrestling shows" with fake fights and predetermined winners, but actual fights with few rules (e.g. don't strike with closed fists in the face, just with open hands) among martial artists from different styles.

In the above video, you can watch some of Funaki's real fights in Pancrase. He was a kind of a king of hand to hand fighting, a master of submission holds. With six different black belts (or their equivalent) in several arts, Funaki was a fighting machine.

I remember watching in situ some of Funaki's greastest fights and even talking with some of the wrestlers of Pancrase. I even trained, in seminars in Japan and United States, with some of them. They were absolutely amazing.

One of the fights that I never will forget is Funaki's fight with the great jiu-jitsu master Rickson Gracie. It was in the year 2000. I was present in that stadium to watch the fight and the bets were largely favourable to Funaki. I thought Funaki would beat Rickson, but I wasn't sure (Rickson was the best jiu-jitsu expert in the world). This fight was watched by 40000 persons there and 70000 through cable around the world!:



If you watch the fight carefully, you'll notice that it was on a par during most of the fight. Only at the end, Rickson's worldclass expertise in ground fighting gave him an edge. I never thought this fight would end like this, because Funaki is one of the greatest ground fighters and submission experts.

Funaki said before that fight that he would knock Rickson out in 3 minutes, and I thought it was possible because Funaki's strikes and kicks are extremely powerful. Rickson, smartly, avoid Funaki's punches and closed the distance creating a grappling situation. But even in that situation, Funaki could beat Rickson, I thought, since Funaki's grappling skills are of the best that I've ever seen.

I'll never forget that fight.

Some fans of mixed martial arts will dispute my claim that Funaki is the greastest living Catch Wrestler. They will say that Sakuraba was better and mention as evidence the fight between Sakuraba and Funaki in 2007 (which Sakuraba won):



Perhaps they're right, perhaps not. (The above fight was in 2007 and Funaki was past his prime. In any case, I happily concede that Sakuraba is one of the best figthers in the world).

But I think they at least will agree that he was one of the 3 top Japanese catch wrestlers and submission figthers of all the time. And certainly, he's one of the finest martial artists of the world.