August 6, 1993 in Tokyo, Japan
Korakuen Hall drawing 1,850
The WOWOW broadcast of the latest in these entirely pleasant little Korakuen Hall shows begins with the second-tier RINGSmen whose art comprise its offering getting some light work in before the building opens, and I am delighted to see this at all and especially delighted to see someone drilling the flying crab-scissor of kani-basami off in a corner with his partner (drillers are killers). The levels of tracksuit, fellowship, and tracksuit fellowship are all as high as any of us could have hoped. And at once we are ready to go!
Satoshi Honma (who had already lost to Kenji Kawaguchi in SHOOTO) and Yasunori Okuda (who would soon go on to lose to Kenji Kawaguchi in SHOOTO) are up first and I have no reason to believe this is not a total and complete shoot(o) (possibly against Kenji Kawaguchi). Honma wins pretty much immediately (2:53) with a heel hook and I look forward to seeing both of these young gentlemen in the future, such as at UFC 25, where Honma goes the distance with Ron Waterman, or the exquisite inaugural Lumax Cup (Tournament of J '94) in which Okuda finishes Akihiro Gono with the ashi-dori-garami of the held-toe. (Only a year later at that same Cup we would all [like eight of us] bear witness to the tate-shiho-gatame escape and sweep from which this present RINGS blog takes its name.)
Next we have Yoshihisa Yamamoto, who seems to be sticking with the emerald green trunks and pads at least for the time being, against Eric Edlenbos, about whom I know nothing at all, and searches reveal only an OB/GYN of a similar (though inexact) spelling in north Florida. He is a bit of a grunter but also a nice little thrower, this particular and presumably non-OB/GYN (a "No B/GYN") Edlenbos, and a worthy foe and indeed partner against whom and with whom Yamamoto might display his considerable battlart. Yamamoto loves to work from a kesa-gatame (scarf hold) on the right side, doesn't he, and he likes to get there from a kubi-nage (neck-throw/headlock takeover), and these things endear him to me further each time I see them. Edlenbos is a tidy græppler who I am guessing comes from a wrestling background to which submissions have been added later? He is of RINGS Holland so he could just as easily be a straight-up Bluming/Dolman guy and I could be totally off but that is what his ne waza or matwork suggests to me but I remind you I am an idiot. He is kind of a little fella by the standards of RINGS which means he probably has like twenty pounds on me, let me back it up and check . . . okay it is only fifteen! Feeling pretty swole right now as Edlenbos taps hastily to a ramshackle gi-less sode-guruma-jime or sleeve-wheel-choke, also known as the Ezequiel as we have discussed previously (in reference to Brazilian judo champion Ezequiel Paraguassu), and indeed also as the Komlock after Koji Komuro, unreal master of its intricacies/kids'-class instructor at the Kodokan. Yamamoto's application of it was at best halting and at worst "the shits" but Edlenbos had seen enough of whatever it was. I guess they play air-raid sirens when Yamamoto wins now? I support this as much as I support him generally, which is tonnes. As a final note (for now) on sode-guruma-jime, why not have a look at the neat "Snake Choke such as Sode-guruma-jime" Kazushi Sakuraba posted this week?
It's another sambo exhibition! Each has been pretty different in character, so these are not getting even slightly old. This time it is our new friend Nikolai Zouev and our forever-friend Wataru Sakata and a complete success.
Masuyuki Naruse has been thrown inspiringly by the singleted Carlos Dieke before I could even properly introduce him but perhaps it is better that he has introduced himself. He bloodied himself pretty badly actually by bringing Naruse down right on top of him and I have done that myself and oh man that is the worst. I haven't thrown such that the back of uke's head wangs right off your face like that, but I have done ura-nage such that his weight comes down right on your chest and squooshes it in a way where it is pretty hard to breathe and you do not want to admit your folly so you just keep on like everything is okay (it isn't though). This match is awesome: Dieke just threw with a leg-assisted te-guruma (hand-wheel) pickup and worked on top until Naruse grabbed a gyaku-ude-garami (reverse-arm-entanglement/double-wrist-lock/Kimura) from beneath to compel the rope escape and it was all unfailingly legit. Dieke is bleeding all over himself, Naruse, and the most beautiful shade of blue ever employed in the canvasing of a ring. As the match wears on, I worry that Naruse goes up and over a little too easily on at least one of Dieke's throws, but it is hard to fault someone for being too kind. Naruse wins with rolling knee-bar at 10:22 and gets a nice little trophy for it.
Our main event, for some reason, is a five-round contest between Jan Lomulder and a rainbow-haired "Dirty" Bob Schreyber (that is how they are spelling it). They both wear boxing gloves, no kick-pads, and the lightest most satiny little white shorts. Oh no, I think this is straight kickboxing, withholding from us even the faintest hope of ne waza. This is grim. Dirty Bob is irrepressible, though: in Muay Thai there are takedowns (you get right up after), and Dirty Bob, to whom the ways of judo are not entirely unknown, holds an advantage here over Jan Lomulder, but that alone is not enough for Dirty Bob, who chooses to throw from waki-gatame (the Fujiwara armbar), probably the most surefire way to get hansoku-make'd right out of a judo tournament because it can break your partner's arm while driving their face into the mat and they are helpless and you are cruel and your way of judo is rightly deemed untrue. But that's our Dirty Bob! Oh man he just did it again, too. It probably doesn't look like that much unless you know exactly what he is up to with it but to the eye attuned to ways to be a jerk with judo throws it is as clear as can be. Jan Lomulder takes the decision because I guess he kicked and boxed in superior fashion? I have no doubt it was really hard to do and I salute his dedication to his cræft even if, in truth, I am unmoved by it (the fault here is mine alone).
These little Korakuen Hall shows continue to have a really nice low-key energy to them. I am reminded that NJPW has just run two Korakuen Halls in anticipation of Wrestle Kingdom 11 and I have seen neither but I will attend to them almost at once.
WHAT DID DAVE MELTZER SAY:
August 16, 1993: "The RINGS 11/13 show at Tokyo Bay NK Hall was moved to 11/18 at Sumo Hall, apparently because they need a bigger building since it'll be Akira Maeda's first match back."
This is going to be a big one! They are already promoting it on WOWOW with a video package that includes this photo:
August 30, 1993: "8/6 Tokyo Korakuen Hall (RINGS - 1,850): Honma b Okuda, Yoshihisa Yamamoto b Eric Edereaboss, Masayoshi Naruse b Carlos Dyeck, Yan Romulda b Bob Schreiber" (Some wild spelling variations here for the philologically inclined to ponder.)
And that's all, thank you for your time! I would add only in closing that it looks like WOWOW is going to be running Kindergarten Cop:
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| it's not a tumor lol |
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