Here's some more BattlArts. Opening couple of matches are short enough. Basen TAGAI vs. Super Tiger was not good. I appreciated the focus on the arm, but the arm work was pretty lacklustre, and Super Tiger's kicks were sloppy (and not the fun, deadly looking sloppy, but the sort of sloppy that makes you question why that would knock a guy out). I also didn't really like the Walter vs. Yano match. Yano takes it to the outside and introduces a chair, which I hated. BattlArts is somewhere where the regular striking often looks (and is) nastier than most promotions . The chair would be unnecessary if Yano was able to actually hit anyone hard. He also does some other stuff that looks weak, like his standing splash to Walters arm (or leg, I temporarily can't remember what he was targetting in this match). I was hoping for Walter to smack Yano around a lot more, and there were a few nice punches (although I realised that they were actually to the shoulderblade rather than the head, which doesn't make much sense as an offensive strategy from a pure striker who struggles more on the mat with submissions). I did like the suddeness of the finish though, and Yano sold it like the victim of a blunt force head trauma (which it might actually have been).
Usuda vs. Yamamoto was a really great match. Comparing it to the other two great singles from February with these two guys (Usuda vs. Yoshikawa, Yamamoto vs. Otsuka), this combined elements I really liked from both - great, completely organic matwork exchanges and Usuda's selling in particular. I also liked the sense of a veteran on the backfoot, having to really struggle to find an opening to sneak a victory. In the Otsuka match, Yamamoto was very much the underdog for the middle of the match, but here's he is really in control. His mat counters are both visually impressive yet never contrived looking. Has this the length of the Yoshikawa match and the final few minutes of drama, I think we'd be talking match of the year.
I liked Ishikawa vs. Tiger Shark a lot. This was another great Ishikawa performance, where, like the Walter match on the previous show, the other guy (whilst mainly being along for the ride) plays his role. He had plenty of head kicks, and whilst I never really bought him as a realistic threat (which was probably the intension here), he didn't look out of his depth in any aspect. Ishikawa is maybe the best guy I've seen this year for little details, which in the context of the realistic BattlArts style, are really great.. Firstly, he never stops moving or doing things - in a submission, he'll look to add extra pressure by including another limb; on the backfoot he'll be firing off little counter punches, even whilst falling to the mat. The finish was a great example of the former, first countering an armlock with one of his own, then manoevering around so he was on top, then adding the headscissors to clinch the victory.
And the main event tag was just kind of OK. There was a load of no-selling that I wasn't wild about, with Sawa and Sasaki shrug off punches to the face. Then, after all that indyish no-selling and strike exchanges, they tag on a finish that was much more realistic, with a single knockout blow that just happens to get the job done. The match was really built around a feud they seem to have, which meant limited Otsuka, especially in the last seven minutes or so. His mat section wit Sawa wasn't high end Otsuka mat dominance, but was fine; in particular the bits where Sawa was fighting to avoid a suplex. Also enjoyed his running headbutt to the back of Yoshikawa - especially as it looked liked he was lining up for a punt. Otsuka will make you sell.
Showing posts with label battlarts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label battlarts. Show all posts
Wednesday, 30 December 2009
Wednesday, 9 September 2009
BattlArts: 5th July 2009
A new BattlArts show at last, courtesy of Lenny. Because they are a puroresu organisation, they are running a tournament this summer. Here's some matches.
Yamamoto vs. TAGAI was OK. The early matwork was decent. This is Yamamoto's match - TAGAI doesn't do much outside of his moves, while Yamamoto is selling and building up small themes. I like how Yamamoto sets up the finish by attempting earlier his big submission holds when he has opportunity - the leg bar, the jujigatame and the rear naked choke. His counterwork is really impressive. TAGAI is fine on the mat, but not very good when standing up - that corner clothesline was very weak. I loved the battle over the armbreaker at the end, with TAGAI blocking, and Yamamoto working out a way to leverage the block apart. I'm not the first to say it, but Yamamoto is where the future of BattlArts should lie, not the indy juniors they have.
The Ishikawa vs Walter match gives us a brilliant performance by Ishikawa to bring to bring the whole thing together. Walter's got stiff strikes, but it is apparent that he hasn't got much else. Opening few minutes have Walter punching and Ishikawa putting over how deadly they are. He targets Walter's arm - a minute or so later, Walter starts kicking, and Ishikawa (like a king) switches his submission attack to the leg immediately. It's stuff like that which convey a sense of strategy, and hence a story. As the match progresses, Walter's limited arsenal becomes his weakness, and Ishikawa takes control. You get the sense that Walter would have lost without the time limit. I really liked how Ishikawa conveys the struggle on the mat with the larger opponent - each counter or roll-through looks like hard work. Ishikawa is excellent at selling things like that. There are two hugely violent right hand from Walter which Ishikawa sells like gunshots, but the nastiest spot was the headbutts. The sound of the first one made me feel as little ill. Would have been really great if it wasn't such a one-man show. Walter seems to have no idea about allowing for underdog comeback spots, cutting several off with awkward transitions.
I liked the Sawa vs. Super Tiger match too - not as much as the Ishikawa match, but it built into a surprisingly good match. Sawa will still throw in a couple of his goofier spots, but he leaves it until later, and concentrates on striking and matwork, which he is good at. Super Tiger is someone I don't really like much outside of short bursts in tag, or opposite someone who can build a match around great selling of strikes. But I liked the way he let the balance shifted in this match. Super Tiger really puts over Sawa's comeback in the middle, and the match develops into a very even, pacy affair. I loved the finish - Super Tiger finally lands one of his big kicks, and he repeats this until Sawa can't answer the ten. Sawa looks strong in defeat, selling the strike but giving the crowd something to cheer for. Probably the best Sawa match I can think of.
Nothing high-end from this show, but these three matches are worthwhile.
Yamamoto vs. TAGAI was OK. The early matwork was decent. This is Yamamoto's match - TAGAI doesn't do much outside of his moves, while Yamamoto is selling and building up small themes. I like how Yamamoto sets up the finish by attempting earlier his big submission holds when he has opportunity - the leg bar, the jujigatame and the rear naked choke. His counterwork is really impressive. TAGAI is fine on the mat, but not very good when standing up - that corner clothesline was very weak. I loved the battle over the armbreaker at the end, with TAGAI blocking, and Yamamoto working out a way to leverage the block apart. I'm not the first to say it, but Yamamoto is where the future of BattlArts should lie, not the indy juniors they have.
The Ishikawa vs Walter match gives us a brilliant performance by Ishikawa to bring to bring the whole thing together. Walter's got stiff strikes, but it is apparent that he hasn't got much else. Opening few minutes have Walter punching and Ishikawa putting over how deadly they are. He targets Walter's arm - a minute or so later, Walter starts kicking, and Ishikawa (like a king) switches his submission attack to the leg immediately. It's stuff like that which convey a sense of strategy, and hence a story. As the match progresses, Walter's limited arsenal becomes his weakness, and Ishikawa takes control. You get the sense that Walter would have lost without the time limit. I really liked how Ishikawa conveys the struggle on the mat with the larger opponent - each counter or roll-through looks like hard work. Ishikawa is excellent at selling things like that. There are two hugely violent right hand from Walter which Ishikawa sells like gunshots, but the nastiest spot was the headbutts. The sound of the first one made me feel as little ill. Would have been really great if it wasn't such a one-man show. Walter seems to have no idea about allowing for underdog comeback spots, cutting several off with awkward transitions.
I liked the Sawa vs. Super Tiger match too - not as much as the Ishikawa match, but it built into a surprisingly good match. Sawa will still throw in a couple of his goofier spots, but he leaves it until later, and concentrates on striking and matwork, which he is good at. Super Tiger is someone I don't really like much outside of short bursts in tag, or opposite someone who can build a match around great selling of strikes. But I liked the way he let the balance shifted in this match. Super Tiger really puts over Sawa's comeback in the middle, and the match develops into a very even, pacy affair. I loved the finish - Super Tiger finally lands one of his big kicks, and he repeats this until Sawa can't answer the ten. Sawa looks strong in defeat, selling the strike but giving the crowd something to cheer for. Probably the best Sawa match I can think of.
Nothing high-end from this show, but these three matches are worthwhile.
Sunday, 2 August 2009
BattlArts: 12th April 2009
It's been a long time since some BattlArts emerged, so I'm looking forward to this. I've actually got the whole show this time, rather than just the top few matches, courtesy of Lenny.
The opener is between Ryuji Walter and Sanchu Tsubakichi - I know neither. Ryuji Walter takes some energetic submission stuff from his opponent, before absolutely destroying him with just stream of sick strikes. This isn't good by any objective criteria, but it certainly gets a visceral reaction. Chihiro Oikawa vs. Esui is a similar experiment in watching two wrestlers I haven't seen before, as I often pick and choose my BattlArts matches and don't watch the undercard stuff as much. I thought this was fine and quite basic, Esui had her submission and Oikawa had her strikes.
Munenori Sawa/Fujita Jr Hayato vs. Tiger Shark/Akifumi Saito, was, I think, my favourite match on the card. Really, really simple match, with about 80% of it being kicks - all four guys whaling into each other until one doesn't get up. I love Hayato's attitude, and he stalks around the ring. Saito takes a quite heroic beating. Tiger Shark combines my three loves of sharks, tigers, and wrestling characters based on sharks and tigers. He has only short spells in this, but looks right at home. I loved his exchange of punches with Sawa, and his sneaky strike as Sawa winds up for a big punch.
Next, Yoshikawa vs. Yano. Lukie on DVDVR says this is an important match because its one of the first big matches between the new generation of BattlArts guys. But this was awful. Yoshikawa wasn't great, but I wasn't offended by what he was doing. Yano was appalling. I've seen people describe a person's performance as embarrassingly bad before, but I never knew what that was like until I saw this. He should never throw uppercuts. He should never do that deranged jilted lover drunk on gin attack. He should never use the ropes as a springboard. The matwork was weak - clearly, neither guy is a natural on the mat, and if I wanted to draw a positive from this match it would be that I have renewed admiration for Usuda because I really liked the matwork in his matches with both guys.
And the main event is Yamamoto/Super Tiger vs. Ishikawa/Usuda. It wasn't blowaway amazing, but certainly good enough. Everyone matches up at least once, and its hard to pick which bit was best - Yamamoto began all his sections with immense energy, and has nice long sections on the mat with both his opponents; Super Tiger lands some nasty-looking kicks - his big spinning one was right on the mark and looked great. Ishikawa and Usuda do exactly as they always do - great on the mat, plenty manly standing up. I liked the pace and the build through matwork to strikes to some high impact stuff at the end to finish off Yamamoto. Selling was good, particularly by Yamamoto and Ishikawa.
The opener is between Ryuji Walter and Sanchu Tsubakichi - I know neither. Ryuji Walter takes some energetic submission stuff from his opponent, before absolutely destroying him with just stream of sick strikes. This isn't good by any objective criteria, but it certainly gets a visceral reaction. Chihiro Oikawa vs. Esui is a similar experiment in watching two wrestlers I haven't seen before, as I often pick and choose my BattlArts matches and don't watch the undercard stuff as much. I thought this was fine and quite basic, Esui had her submission and Oikawa had her strikes.
Munenori Sawa/Fujita Jr Hayato vs. Tiger Shark/Akifumi Saito, was, I think, my favourite match on the card. Really, really simple match, with about 80% of it being kicks - all four guys whaling into each other until one doesn't get up. I love Hayato's attitude, and he stalks around the ring. Saito takes a quite heroic beating. Tiger Shark combines my three loves of sharks, tigers, and wrestling characters based on sharks and tigers. He has only short spells in this, but looks right at home. I loved his exchange of punches with Sawa, and his sneaky strike as Sawa winds up for a big punch.
Next, Yoshikawa vs. Yano. Lukie on DVDVR says this is an important match because its one of the first big matches between the new generation of BattlArts guys. But this was awful. Yoshikawa wasn't great, but I wasn't offended by what he was doing. Yano was appalling. I've seen people describe a person's performance as embarrassingly bad before, but I never knew what that was like until I saw this. He should never throw uppercuts. He should never do that deranged jilted lover drunk on gin attack. He should never use the ropes as a springboard. The matwork was weak - clearly, neither guy is a natural on the mat, and if I wanted to draw a positive from this match it would be that I have renewed admiration for Usuda because I really liked the matwork in his matches with both guys.
And the main event is Yamamoto/Super Tiger vs. Ishikawa/Usuda. It wasn't blowaway amazing, but certainly good enough. Everyone matches up at least once, and its hard to pick which bit was best - Yamamoto began all his sections with immense energy, and has nice long sections on the mat with both his opponents; Super Tiger lands some nasty-looking kicks - his big spinning one was right on the mark and looked great. Ishikawa and Usuda do exactly as they always do - great on the mat, plenty manly standing up. I liked the pace and the build through matwork to strikes to some high impact stuff at the end to finish off Yamamoto. Selling was good, particularly by Yamamoto and Ishikawa.
Monday, 4 May 2009
BattlArts: 14th February 2009
My abject disappointment that the world snooker final ended early is replaced by the realisation that I had downloaded matches from BattlArts February show. BattlArts - like snooker, except they punch for real.
First up, Otsuka vs. Yamamoto. Otsuka is my favourite guy in the promotion, and Yamamoto is an undercard guy who seems to be ignored in favour of Yoshikawa in some parts (although not at Wrestling KO, which is why I'm excited about this). The match, though only ten minutes long, is fantastic, and is currently my puro match of the year. The first five minute are all mat exchanges. I knew already that Otsuka is great in complex, intricate matwork and he is here, with loads of slick escapes that moves credibly into the next hold or struggle over the next submission. What I wasn't expecting was for this to be nearly matched by Yamamoto, who has his own line of counters into leg submissions and really contorted, leveraged holds.
Otsuka surprises Yamamoto by abandoning the mat section first, dropping him with a piledriver. The most legitimate, wrong piledriver in the world. The story is then Yamamoto's head versus Otsuka's leg. They do a lovely section where Otsuka goes for his giant swing, which Yamamoto fights into a front headlock, which Otsuka turns into brainbuster. The ending stretch is great - Otsuka goes for a number of head-drop suplexes between headbutts and kicks to the face, while Yamamoto fights for his leg bar, before finally taking one head drop too many. Everything is done with such focus here that the ten minutes it's given is used as well as can be. Great matwork, fantastic selling and a dramatic final struggle all make for an early contender for match of the year, and place both guys comfortably into the top 20 workers of the year.
Usuda (with hair) vs. Yoshikawa next. This got really good. Opening eight minutes or so were fine - nice strikes (especially the opening, with Yoshikawa surprising Usuda and knocking him ridiculous for a second) and good matwork exchanges. They establish some themes early on - Usuda's arm bar is quickly escaped, and Yoshikawa begins the leg work. The turning point is the long leg submission on Usuda, quickly followed by a couple more. Usuda is really great selling in the hold, and although there were a couple of points early on where he kicked with it, at the point where the leg really became the story, this ended. Yoshikawa is pretty relentless here, meaning that the veteran Usuda needs something desperate to turn the tide. This takes the form of the punt - the one he did against Yano last year was nasty, but this one split Yoshikawa open. From there, a series of wrenching arm submissions is enough for a hard-fought victory. The match had the feel of a sporting encounter where youthful energy and intensity dominates, but veteran instincts manage to claw a win out of a desperate situation. Excellent work.
The main event tag was less impressive. It was certainly less driven by any underlying story, and I didn't think the actual work was as interesting. You can normally rely on Super Tiger for some wild kicks, but they were noticeably weaker here, and at one stage he seems unsure what to do - Ishikawa and Yano are in the middle, and Sawa comes in with a kick to help his partner. Super Tiger, in the mean time, stands in his opponent's corner not doing anything. The Yano and Sawa team are fine - they can work around the mat competently, and Sawa is all youthful exuberance, running around and kicking everything that moves and is called Super Tiger or Yuki Ishikawa. Ishikawa is his usual great self - he work almost entirely with strikes and matwork, but makes everything interesting. Take his exchange with Sawa in the middle. They fight over an ankle lock, and Ishikawa combines this with a boot right in Sawa's face. His matwork sections are a highlight - the control and the use of leverage or a stray limb to gain an advantage make for great looking sequences, but there isn't enough of him in this match to make it particularly noteworthy.
Overall, this show continues from 2008 in establishing BattlArts matches as a definite fixture in my end-of-year ballot. The two singles, in particular, are a bit special.
First up, Otsuka vs. Yamamoto. Otsuka is my favourite guy in the promotion, and Yamamoto is an undercard guy who seems to be ignored in favour of Yoshikawa in some parts (although not at Wrestling KO, which is why I'm excited about this). The match, though only ten minutes long, is fantastic, and is currently my puro match of the year. The first five minute are all mat exchanges. I knew already that Otsuka is great in complex, intricate matwork and he is here, with loads of slick escapes that moves credibly into the next hold or struggle over the next submission. What I wasn't expecting was for this to be nearly matched by Yamamoto, who has his own line of counters into leg submissions and really contorted, leveraged holds.
Otsuka surprises Yamamoto by abandoning the mat section first, dropping him with a piledriver. The most legitimate, wrong piledriver in the world. The story is then Yamamoto's head versus Otsuka's leg. They do a lovely section where Otsuka goes for his giant swing, which Yamamoto fights into a front headlock, which Otsuka turns into brainbuster. The ending stretch is great - Otsuka goes for a number of head-drop suplexes between headbutts and kicks to the face, while Yamamoto fights for his leg bar, before finally taking one head drop too many. Everything is done with such focus here that the ten minutes it's given is used as well as can be. Great matwork, fantastic selling and a dramatic final struggle all make for an early contender for match of the year, and place both guys comfortably into the top 20 workers of the year.
Usuda (with hair) vs. Yoshikawa next. This got really good. Opening eight minutes or so were fine - nice strikes (especially the opening, with Yoshikawa surprising Usuda and knocking him ridiculous for a second) and good matwork exchanges. They establish some themes early on - Usuda's arm bar is quickly escaped, and Yoshikawa begins the leg work. The turning point is the long leg submission on Usuda, quickly followed by a couple more. Usuda is really great selling in the hold, and although there were a couple of points early on where he kicked with it, at the point where the leg really became the story, this ended. Yoshikawa is pretty relentless here, meaning that the veteran Usuda needs something desperate to turn the tide. This takes the form of the punt - the one he did against Yano last year was nasty, but this one split Yoshikawa open. From there, a series of wrenching arm submissions is enough for a hard-fought victory. The match had the feel of a sporting encounter where youthful energy and intensity dominates, but veteran instincts manage to claw a win out of a desperate situation. Excellent work.
The main event tag was less impressive. It was certainly less driven by any underlying story, and I didn't think the actual work was as interesting. You can normally rely on Super Tiger for some wild kicks, but they were noticeably weaker here, and at one stage he seems unsure what to do - Ishikawa and Yano are in the middle, and Sawa comes in with a kick to help his partner. Super Tiger, in the mean time, stands in his opponent's corner not doing anything. The Yano and Sawa team are fine - they can work around the mat competently, and Sawa is all youthful exuberance, running around and kicking everything that moves and is called Super Tiger or Yuki Ishikawa. Ishikawa is his usual great self - he work almost entirely with strikes and matwork, but makes everything interesting. Take his exchange with Sawa in the middle. They fight over an ankle lock, and Ishikawa combines this with a boot right in Sawa's face. His matwork sections are a highlight - the control and the use of leverage or a stray limb to gain an advantage make for great looking sequences, but there isn't enough of him in this match to make it particularly noteworthy.
Overall, this show continues from 2008 in establishing BattlArts matches as a definite fixture in my end-of-year ballot. The two singles, in particular, are a bit special.
Sunday, 22 February 2009
Battlarts: Matches of the Year
So, I'm starting to finalise my match of the year ballot for the DVDVR poll, and I've been watching and rewatching all the Battlarts candidates today. A lot of my top 20 ballot will be Battlarts matches, at least five, maybe seven. Nothing is moving the six man tag from the top of the list. I may have enjoyed at least one match more (the Z1 tag title match, such is my love of Hidaka), but I don't think anything is better (you see how that distinction works, one being subjective and visceral, the other being objective and analytical?). The 45 minutes of cumulative violence and the individual performances which all introduce new elements into the mix - Sawa as the youthful energetic junior, first to be eliminated, Otsuka working in crazy submissions and huge headrop suplexes, Ikeda dicking it up on the apron for ages, and he and Ishikawa's final brutal exchanges. Completely unique, and deserving of all the accolades. I didn't rewatch Usuda vs. Yano - it will probably make the bottom of my ballot. A very simple match, but very well executed, and notable for some excellent stuff on the mat (which I assume Usuda led) and an absolutely brutal finish. I mean, just sickening.
So, what else is there? Well, first I watched two Super Tiger singles matches back to back. The first is against Otsuka, and the second is against Ishikawa. First thing to note is that Super Tiger is a great striker, and is able on the mat, but he needs someone like Ishikawa or Otsuka to hold the thing together. Both matches feature really great selling performances, particularly from Ishikawa and Otsuka, though Super Tiger does nothing to hurt the match in that respect. Both guy's take some hideous strikes from Tiger, and give them the respect they deserve - Otsuka in particular hits the mat for a 7-count after the first spinning head kick about four minutes in, and never really regains the upperhand he had on the mat.
I really love Otsuka's amateur style matwork at the beginning - he finds all sorts of unlikely positions whilst looking for control. Compared to the Ishikawa match, the strikes aren't so nasty, though there are a couple of wild spinning kicks to Otsuka's head. I liked the boston crab spot as well. There's a really smart story of momentum on display here - Otsuka, the veteran, is utterly in control until Tiger hits some big strikes, then Otsuka spends the rest of the match surviving and trying to find bigger moves to get the win. Also, this plays off the July tag by mirroring Tiger's elimination in that.
The match is obviously a lot more pro-style than many Battlarts matches, in both moves and structure. The Ishikawa match, like many Battlarts matches, emphasises realism, the struggle, the back-and-forward combat until finally someone is too beat to continue. The Otsuka match has much more noticeable stages where one individual is in charge, especially after the opening mat section. The Ishikawa match is much more strike-based - there is a bunch of knees and a front kick to Ishikawa's (unprotected) face that are pretty disgusting, but although Ishikawa takes a larger quantity of nasty stuff than Otsuka, I find it hard to say I prefer one selling performance over the other. This match will make my final list, but it won't beat the Otsuka one.
Next, I watch Ishikawa versus Carl Greco. This match fought entirely on the mat through holds, counters and submission. What's really incredible to me is that its still felt like a pro-wrestling match - the holds and counters and transitions are perhaps smoother than in a real submission fight, and there is constant motion and small details in each one. Greco is maybe slightly more technically skilled, but Ishikawa isn't far behind. My favourite part was after the final voluntary ropebreaks, where each man basically said, let's find out who's best. There was an extra intensity (in an already intense and focused match) to the grappling, and some really amazing (and possibly even beautiful) sequences - Ishikawa's escape into the double leg grapevine was my favourite. Greco just found a way to get his killer hold (a nasty neck vice) in first. I placed this just after the above two singles, mainly because I really liked the overall performance in them - the selling and the psychology. The work in this though is a bit special.
Then I watched a few of tags. I thought the September Ishikawa tag wasn't the best I'd seen from any of the participants. Most of the match was Super Tiger and Otsuka working over Yoshikawa, and even by the end Ishikawa was kept out of it, so that the whole thing felt quite one-sided. Also, there wasn't as much from Otsuka that was noteworthy - they team looked dominant, but not in the most interesting way. Yoshikawa doesn't sell the whole thing as epically as his partner could, either.
The second tag was much better. Super Tiger and Hara have to work hard to force Sawa into selling during the heat section. It's only his tendency to pop up and hit a couple of his spots that drop this further down my list. The final section with Ishikawa and Tiger is spectacularly violent. I like how, one month after Ishikawa survived Super Tiger's strikes and found a way to victory, the finish to this is Super Tiger not letting up until Ishikawa isn't able to get back up again.
Then I rewatched the Zero-1 Light Heavyweight Tag title match, and I'm still convinced it comes in a number 2 on my list. Here again, the match takes on a more pro-style feel, with a structure that is similar to a lot of junior tags (especially the breakups of the nearfalls at the end), although an execution that is not. Hidaka, the only non-Battlarts guys in the match (anymore) looked excellent here, seeming perfectly comfortable with the style. I loved how he included a couple of his usual spots, but within the context of the match - the leg capture powerbomb to counter a series of stiff kicks, having Sawa restrain Yoshikawa in the corner before doing the cartwheel jumping kick. Some of Ishikawa and Hidaka's mat exchange were glorious, and I wished there were more stuff between them, as they match up really well - they are two guys that are excellent all-rounders.
There was a sizeable heat section on Yoshikawa, more based around focused leg attacks than striking or more opportunistic submission stuff, another noticeably pro-style feature. Ishikawa eventually tagged in, and apart from the great parts with Hidaka, I thought he had a nice bit with Sawa - especially the leglock where he kept rubbing his boot in Sawa's face, and some of the matwork that followed. The finish came down to Sawa and Yoshikawa striking it out until they had nothing left, while the partners prevented each other from breaking anything up. Sawa punches Yoshikawa straight in the face three times, which is the most violent thing I've ever seen him do, and locks in a octopus for the win (again, another pro-style spot incorporated into a Battlarts context).
I've got a few more Battlarts matches to watch, but I think those are the realistic match of the year contenders. The others are just for fun and Otsuka. Here's my Battlarts Match of the Year list:
1. Ishikawa/Sawa/Otsuka vs. Ikeda/Usuda/Super Tiger II, July 26th
4. Super Tiger II vs. Yuki Ishikawa, October 25th
5. Ishikawa vs. Greco, June 1st
6. Usuda vs. Yano, November 16th
7. Ishikawa/Sawa vs. Hara/Super Tiger II, November 16th
8. Ishikawa/Yoshikawa vs. Otsuka/Super Tiger II, September 21st
So, what else is there? Well, first I watched two Super Tiger singles matches back to back. The first is against Otsuka, and the second is against Ishikawa. First thing to note is that Super Tiger is a great striker, and is able on the mat, but he needs someone like Ishikawa or Otsuka to hold the thing together. Both matches feature really great selling performances, particularly from Ishikawa and Otsuka, though Super Tiger does nothing to hurt the match in that respect. Both guy's take some hideous strikes from Tiger, and give them the respect they deserve - Otsuka in particular hits the mat for a 7-count after the first spinning head kick about four minutes in, and never really regains the upperhand he had on the mat.
I really love Otsuka's amateur style matwork at the beginning - he finds all sorts of unlikely positions whilst looking for control. Compared to the Ishikawa match, the strikes aren't so nasty, though there are a couple of wild spinning kicks to Otsuka's head. I liked the boston crab spot as well. There's a really smart story of momentum on display here - Otsuka, the veteran, is utterly in control until Tiger hits some big strikes, then Otsuka spends the rest of the match surviving and trying to find bigger moves to get the win. Also, this plays off the July tag by mirroring Tiger's elimination in that.
The match is obviously a lot more pro-style than many Battlarts matches, in both moves and structure. The Ishikawa match, like many Battlarts matches, emphasises realism, the struggle, the back-and-forward combat until finally someone is too beat to continue. The Otsuka match has much more noticeable stages where one individual is in charge, especially after the opening mat section. The Ishikawa match is much more strike-based - there is a bunch of knees and a front kick to Ishikawa's (unprotected) face that are pretty disgusting, but although Ishikawa takes a larger quantity of nasty stuff than Otsuka, I find it hard to say I prefer one selling performance over the other. This match will make my final list, but it won't beat the Otsuka one.
Next, I watch Ishikawa versus Carl Greco. This match fought entirely on the mat through holds, counters and submission. What's really incredible to me is that its still felt like a pro-wrestling match - the holds and counters and transitions are perhaps smoother than in a real submission fight, and there is constant motion and small details in each one. Greco is maybe slightly more technically skilled, but Ishikawa isn't far behind. My favourite part was after the final voluntary ropebreaks, where each man basically said, let's find out who's best. There was an extra intensity (in an already intense and focused match) to the grappling, and some really amazing (and possibly even beautiful) sequences - Ishikawa's escape into the double leg grapevine was my favourite. Greco just found a way to get his killer hold (a nasty neck vice) in first. I placed this just after the above two singles, mainly because I really liked the overall performance in them - the selling and the psychology. The work in this though is a bit special.
Then I watched a few of tags. I thought the September Ishikawa tag wasn't the best I'd seen from any of the participants. Most of the match was Super Tiger and Otsuka working over Yoshikawa, and even by the end Ishikawa was kept out of it, so that the whole thing felt quite one-sided. Also, there wasn't as much from Otsuka that was noteworthy - they team looked dominant, but not in the most interesting way. Yoshikawa doesn't sell the whole thing as epically as his partner could, either.
The second tag was much better. Super Tiger and Hara have to work hard to force Sawa into selling during the heat section. It's only his tendency to pop up and hit a couple of his spots that drop this further down my list. The final section with Ishikawa and Tiger is spectacularly violent. I like how, one month after Ishikawa survived Super Tiger's strikes and found a way to victory, the finish to this is Super Tiger not letting up until Ishikawa isn't able to get back up again.
Then I rewatched the Zero-1 Light Heavyweight Tag title match, and I'm still convinced it comes in a number 2 on my list. Here again, the match takes on a more pro-style feel, with a structure that is similar to a lot of junior tags (especially the breakups of the nearfalls at the end), although an execution that is not. Hidaka, the only non-Battlarts guys in the match (anymore) looked excellent here, seeming perfectly comfortable with the style. I loved how he included a couple of his usual spots, but within the context of the match - the leg capture powerbomb to counter a series of stiff kicks, having Sawa restrain Yoshikawa in the corner before doing the cartwheel jumping kick. Some of Ishikawa and Hidaka's mat exchange were glorious, and I wished there were more stuff between them, as they match up really well - they are two guys that are excellent all-rounders.
There was a sizeable heat section on Yoshikawa, more based around focused leg attacks than striking or more opportunistic submission stuff, another noticeably pro-style feature. Ishikawa eventually tagged in, and apart from the great parts with Hidaka, I thought he had a nice bit with Sawa - especially the leglock where he kept rubbing his boot in Sawa's face, and some of the matwork that followed. The finish came down to Sawa and Yoshikawa striking it out until they had nothing left, while the partners prevented each other from breaking anything up. Sawa punches Yoshikawa straight in the face three times, which is the most violent thing I've ever seen him do, and locks in a octopus for the win (again, another pro-style spot incorporated into a Battlarts context).
I've got a few more Battlarts matches to watch, but I think those are the realistic match of the year contenders. The others are just for fun and Otsuka. Here's my Battlarts Match of the Year list:
1. Ishikawa/Sawa/Otsuka vs. Ikeda/Usuda/Super Tiger II, July 26th
2. Sawa/Hidaka vs. Ishikawa/Yoshikawa, August 31st
3. Super Tiger II vs. Alexander Otsuka, August 31st4. Super Tiger II vs. Yuki Ishikawa, October 25th
5. Ishikawa vs. Greco, June 1st
6. Usuda vs. Yano, November 16th
7. Ishikawa/Sawa vs. Hara/Super Tiger II, November 16th
8. Ishikawa/Yoshikawa vs. Otsuka/Super Tiger II, September 21st
Thursday, 9 October 2008
BattlARTS July 26th 2008: Ishikawa, Otsuka and Sawa vs. Ikeda, Usuda and Super Tiger II
So, I've just downloaded a match that is getting loads of attention on the DVDVR boards: Yuki Ishikawa, Alexander Otsuka and Munenori Sawa vs. Daisuke Ikeda, Katsumi Usuda and Super Tiger II, from the BattlARTS July show.
I preface this by saying I've watched absolutely no BattlARTS or, for that matter, any worked shoot promotions before. In fact, my sum total of experience of anything even slightly related to the genre is those Takada matches in New Japan in 1995-6, the Yamazaki vs. Hashimoto feud, and one Maeda match from the 1980s. And I watched that Joe vs. Angle match from earlier this year, which was totally definitely UWFi style. Cough. Anyway, this is a match which Phil Schneider has called possibly the best thing ever done in this style, so apparently, I'm starting from the top. Normally, I wouldn't like doing that - but I really want to see this now.
Play.
So, the match is an elimination tag. Sawa is in a lot at the start, and he brings loads of energy and takes quite a lot of offence from the opposing team. I'm struck immediately by the amount of quality mat wrestling and the intensity of the striking, but both are to be expected in this style of match. The first fifteen minutes fly by with loads of submissions (and loads of everyone running in to break up holds with head stomping and, in Super Tiger's case, out of control flying elbows) until Sawa gets eliminated. That spot is really nice - he gets caught with a knee bar then an anklelock when he goes for the Shining Wizard, while his partners are prevented from making the save.
There's a bunch of cool stuff in the next portion of the match with Otsuka, my new religion. Firstly he pulls out a lucha-y counter and submission. Then he pulls out a nasty head vice, which looks doubly nasty when Super Tiger doesn't get taken down to the mat but instead finds his head twisted at right angles (very wrong angles) to his shoulders.
Gradually, the match moves from matwork and submissions to more striking. There's a point about 22 minutes in where Ikeda stomps through Ishikawa's skull to break a pin, then Usuda delivers a handful of the most legitimate looking headkicks I can remember seeing. Ishikawa gets revenge some minutes late, headbutting Ikeda, then mouting him and punching his SQUA in the face. And so it goes on. More importantly, this is combined with a subtle, slow deterioration-type of selling which really conveys to cumulative damage building up over the course of the bout, and really makes the match for me.
Otsuka finds more clever things to do when an opponent swings a kick wildly, transitioning into a knee bar on one occassion, and a leg-capture suplex later on. I really loved having a knockout blow in the three headdrop suplexes that eliminated Usuda. They are headdrop - they should be sold like death.
The match finally comes down to Ikeda and Ishikawa, who just let everything hang out. Amongst all the hideous violence, there's one kick that seems to just catch the front of Ikeda' face, which I can only reasonably assume removes the nose. Anyway, they strike and strike, and catch a couple of possible finisher submission, but neither find the winning shot and time runs out at 45 minutes.
I am conscious that new things often seem particularly exciting, but even so, I still thought this was on another level to most of what I've seen this year. It'll definitely feature in my top matches of the year. There's something very unforced about it, which probably comes from not working in spots to pop the crowd. I asked around to see whether the reason this was getting so much attention was because it was an exceptional example of the BattlARTS style, or because it was at the usual standard, but extended into a long match with an different format in the elimination match. The answer appears to be the latter. Therefore, more BattlARTS please.
I preface this by saying I've watched absolutely no BattlARTS or, for that matter, any worked shoot promotions before. In fact, my sum total of experience of anything even slightly related to the genre is those Takada matches in New Japan in 1995-6, the Yamazaki vs. Hashimoto feud, and one Maeda match from the 1980s. And I watched that Joe vs. Angle match from earlier this year, which was totally definitely UWFi style. Cough. Anyway, this is a match which Phil Schneider has called possibly the best thing ever done in this style, so apparently, I'm starting from the top. Normally, I wouldn't like doing that - but I really want to see this now.
Play.
So, the match is an elimination tag. Sawa is in a lot at the start, and he brings loads of energy and takes quite a lot of offence from the opposing team. I'm struck immediately by the amount of quality mat wrestling and the intensity of the striking, but both are to be expected in this style of match. The first fifteen minutes fly by with loads of submissions (and loads of everyone running in to break up holds with head stomping and, in Super Tiger's case, out of control flying elbows) until Sawa gets eliminated. That spot is really nice - he gets caught with a knee bar then an anklelock when he goes for the Shining Wizard, while his partners are prevented from making the save.
There's a bunch of cool stuff in the next portion of the match with Otsuka, my new religion. Firstly he pulls out a lucha-y counter and submission. Then he pulls out a nasty head vice, which looks doubly nasty when Super Tiger doesn't get taken down to the mat but instead finds his head twisted at right angles (very wrong angles) to his shoulders.
Gradually, the match moves from matwork and submissions to more striking. There's a point about 22 minutes in where Ikeda stomps through Ishikawa's skull to break a pin, then Usuda delivers a handful of the most legitimate looking headkicks I can remember seeing. Ishikawa gets revenge some minutes late, headbutting Ikeda, then mouting him and punching his SQUA in the face. And so it goes on. More importantly, this is combined with a subtle, slow deterioration-type of selling which really conveys to cumulative damage building up over the course of the bout, and really makes the match for me.
Otsuka finds more clever things to do when an opponent swings a kick wildly, transitioning into a knee bar on one occassion, and a leg-capture suplex later on. I really loved having a knockout blow in the three headdrop suplexes that eliminated Usuda. They are headdrop - they should be sold like death.
The match finally comes down to Ikeda and Ishikawa, who just let everything hang out. Amongst all the hideous violence, there's one kick that seems to just catch the front of Ikeda' face, which I can only reasonably assume removes the nose. Anyway, they strike and strike, and catch a couple of possible finisher submission, but neither find the winning shot and time runs out at 45 minutes.
I am conscious that new things often seem particularly exciting, but even so, I still thought this was on another level to most of what I've seen this year. It'll definitely feature in my top matches of the year. There's something very unforced about it, which probably comes from not working in spots to pop the crowd. I asked around to see whether the reason this was getting so much attention was because it was an exceptional example of the BattlARTS style, or because it was at the usual standard, but extended into a long match with an different format in the elimination match. The answer appears to be the latter. Therefore, more BattlARTS please.
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