Shoot Wrestling - Major Forms

Major Forms

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

• Yoshiaki Fujiwara's students Masakatsu Funaki and Minoru Suzuki founded Pancrase.

• "Tiger Mask" Satoru Sayama founded Shooto, which added Muay Thai, Sambo and Judo to the shoot wrestling arsenal.

• Kickboxer Caesar Takeshi founded Shoot boxing, a Stand-up fighting league allowing standing submissions and throws.

• Akira Maeda's founded Fighting Network Rings, a defunct league which emphasised submissions.

• Another Yoshiaki Fujiwara student, Bart Vale, developed Shootfighting.

• World renowned gyms like the Lion's Den, Takada Dojo and Shamrock Martial Arts Academy propagate shoot wrestling-based styles of martial arts.

• Dutch kickboxer and MMA legend Bas Rutten trained with shoot wrestler Masakatsu Funaki.

• Canadian standouts Arthur Lee and William Hamilton developed "pro style" shoot wrestling. A mix of light strikes, basic submissions and traditional folk wrestling, the style stemmed from traditional pankration and was later incorporated in early MWW events.
• In 2004 pro 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.

• Junior National Korean Tae Kwon Do champion Masa Kin Jim has trained in shoot wrestling. During a brief tour of Japan promoting Korean Martial Arts Masa Kin Jim was fascinated with the style shoot wrestling brought to Martial Arts. He opened one of the first shoot wrestling academies in South Korea in 1998.
• In 2002 shoot and pro wrestling superstars Jushin "Thunder" Liger and Minoru Suzuki squared off in a mixed martial arts match-up. Suzuki won via submission (rear-naked-choke) at 1:48 of the first round.