![]() ![]() However, Helio Gracie was able to perform ukemi thanks to the soft mat used in competitions, so Kimura couldn't subdue him by throwing alone. At the start of the match, Hélio tried to throw him down with osoto gari and ouchi gari, but Kimura blocked them and scored multiple throws by ouchi gari, harai goshi, uchi mata and ippon seoi nage. ![]() Kimura was received in the arena with raw eggs and insults by the Brazilian crowds, and the Gracie challengers brought a coffin to symbolize Kimura would be dead, just like they had done with Kato. The expectation was such that, according to a source, Kimura had been warned by the Japanese embassy that he would not be welcomed back in Japan if he lost the match. The bout between Gracie and Kimura took place again in the Maracana stadium, before an audience of 20,000 people, including president of Brazil Getúlio Vargas. Kimura, however, volunteered to fight in his place. Hélio proposed to continue with the challenge, and Yamaguchi appointed himself the next to fight. However, he lost to Gracie by gi choke in the rematch at the Ibirapuera in Sao Paulo. Kato was the first to accept the challenge, drawing with Hélio Gracie in their match at the Maracana stadium. This played against judo rules in which pins and throws can award someone a victory, but they accepted nonetheless. Gracie proposed a match under what would be known as the "Gracie Rules", in which throws and pins would not count towards victory, with only submission or loss of consciousness. ![]() There they were challenged by Hélio Gracie of the Gracie Jiu Jitsu. In 1949, after touring for Hawaii, Kimura and his troupe formed by judoka Toshio Yamaguchi and Yukio Kato went to Brazil after an invitation by the Sao Paulo Shimbun. Kimura vs Gracie, with the Japanese holding the Brazilian in a kesa-gatame. He began using the makiwara daily prior to his first All Japan success and never lost another competition bout. In his Autobiography, Kimura attributes the use of the makiwara (a karate training implement) as taught to him by So Neichu and his friend and training partner Masutatsu Oyama, as being a significant contributor to his consequent tournament success. First, he trained what today is known as Shotokan Karate under its founder Gichin Funakoshi for two years, but eventually switched to training Goju-Ryu Karate under So-Nei Chu (a pupil of Goju-Ryu karate founder Chojun Miyagi) and finally became an assistant instructor, along with Gogen Yamaguchi and Masutatsu Oyama in his dōjō (the latter also going to university together with him and Aikido master Gozo Shioda). Kimura also entered Karate in his pursuit of martial arts, believing that karate would strengthen his hands. He was promoted to 7th dan at age 30, a rank that was frozen after disputes with Kodokan over becoming a professional wrestler, refusing to return the All Japan Judo Championship flag, and issuing dan ranks while in Brazil. In the Japanese professional wrestling world, he is known for the controversial match he had with Rikidōzan.Īt the height of his career, Kimura's training involved a thousand push-ups and nine-hours practice every day. In submission grappling, the reverse ude-garami arm lock is often called the "Kimura", due to his famous victory over Gracie jiu-jitsu founder Hélio Gracie. An author said," In the history of judo, no one is the strongest before Kimura and no one is the strongest after Kimura." He has often been described as the strongest judoka in history. He won the All-Japan Judo Championships three times in a row for the first time in history and had never lost a judo match from 1936 to 1950. Masahiko Kimura ( 木村 政彦, Kimura Masahiko, Septem– April 18, 1993) was a Japanese judoka and professional wrestler who is widely considered one of the greatest judoka of all time.
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