Kiyoshi Tamura: Complete and Accurate

elliott · March 20, 2016

Continuing on..

Kiyoshi Tamura vs Masayuki Naruse 8/28/98

Slow tentative start as you expect in a shoot style match. Tamura hits the always fun Muy Thai knees in the corner while they’re locked in the clench. The early mat work is perfectly solid stuff. Its more restrained than your insane all out Tamura grappling, but still good, organic, back and forth stuff where they work towards submissions and change positions without going for rope breaks. It isn’t as earth shattering as the Kohsaka match, but Naruse isn’t on that level. At one point, the match stop as doctors come in to look at Naruse’s knee after a Tamura submission attempt and rare rope break. Naruse is pretty badly limping at this point making himself an easy target for Tamura. Rope breaks start coming a lot quicker now with Naruse’s mobility fucked up as Tamura racks up a big lead in points. There’s also a great knockdown where Tamura nails Naruse with a kick to the ribs right as Naruse goes for his crazy spinning back fist. Finish was inevitable with Naruse hurt. This was, I mean, it wasn’t bad. It was on the disappointing side for sure. I’d say SKIPPABLE though. I can’t imagine recommending this.

Kiyoshi Tamura vs. Yoshihisa Yammamoto (RINGS 9/21/98)

Yearbook

Nice feeling out opening mat work leading to an awesome moment where they both end up on their feet and Yammamoto just charges as Tamura. The mat wok here isn’t as over the top flashy as the Han or Ilioukhine match, nor as ambitious as the Kohsaka match, but it is great stuff for sure. Yamamoto is absolutely relentless with palm strikes during a standing exchange. Awesome moment where Tamura is trying to fight back after a knockdown and is unloading with this awesome striking combo and attempts a high kick which Yammamoto blocks and turns into an ankle lock. They continue trading strikes and the crowd is going bananas. Tamura plants a knee to the chest for a knockdown. This picked up in a major way when they just decided they were going to try and hit each other as hard as possible as many times as possible. After some unbelievable standing exchanges, they take things back to the mat and are both looking for finishes. Tamura is insane in this match attempting his jumping kicks and knees more often while Yamamoto fights back with hard slaps. Tamura takes the match with a hard slap leading to a choke. This felt like a really great New Japan match where they sort of fart around at the beginning (although it is good farting around) and then when it picks up it picks up in such a major way by the end of it you’re like “oh yeah that’s a MOTYC.” Easy easy EPIC.

Missing Tamura vs Vladimir Klementiev 10/23/98

Missing 11/20/98 Mega Battle Team Tournament with Tamura vs Andrei Kopilov and

Nikolai Zouev

Missing Tamura vs Kenichi Yamamoto 11/23/98

Kiyoshi Tamura vs Kohsaka 1/23/99

Follow up to their all time classic from the previous June. They go right to the mat after a great struggle over a Kohsaka take down. Kohsaka is so fucking smooth. He’s one of the rare guys that doesn’t look completely outclassed by Tamura on the mat. This allows them to push their exchanges much further than you would see in something like the Naruse match. I mean, there’s a borderline rolling cradle at one point. Tamura is top notch as usual in terms of his selling and desperate attempts for the ropes when Kohsaka finally does get something locked in. This is all really good mat work until the finishing stretch when they have an awesome strike fest that starts with both guys throwing hard low kicks at each other, Tamura getting a slight advantage on jumping on it just blasting Kohsaka with jumping knees and hard slaps before getting the knockdown. But Kohsaka manages to pull out the surprise win. This was awesome. Its only 10 minutes so its WAY shorter than their classic from the previous June. But its cool to see them work a different sort of match. GREAT stuff.

Kiyoshi Tamura vs. Hiromitsu Kanehara (RINGS 3/22/99)

Yearbook

Pretty tentative opening moments with both guys attempting strikes before taking it to the mat. The mat work is your more traditional shoot style mat work without the wild chances you’ll see in a Volk Han match. They don’t work at a breakneck pace but the grappling is typically excellent. Tamura has a pretty easy time with Kanehara early on and you don’t really get the feeling that Tamura is in any danger at any point even when Kanehara has better positioning or is attempting submissions. This was a bizarre match. It isn’t particularly bad and both wrestlers look fine, there just isn’t much to say about it. It almost feels like a NJ match where the light for TV goes on with 1 minute left. This is probably the worst match of Tamura’s career that goes longer than 15 minutes. Again it isn’t necessarily bad…its just felt like they slept walked through. I blame Kanehara. SKIPPABLE.

Tamura vs Frank Shamrock 4/23/99 (Shoot)

Kiyoshi Tamura vs Bitsaze Tariel 5/22/99

I enjoy this match up so I’m looking forward to this. Tariel is so much fun throwing a ton of big strikes and even jumping at Tamura at one point to the delight of the crowd. This is a lot of fun early on with Tamura just getting overwhelmed in the first 2 minutes. Tamura finally gets an opening and takes Tariel down and works towards a sleeper. Tariel’s striking is his best offense but also his worst defense here. He keeps leaving himself open for Tamura to get a takedown and Tariel cannot hang on the mat with Tamura so Tamura is able to maintain control. Tariel does a good job putting over the danger of Tamura’s ground game. This is a little formulaic. Tariel goes after Tamura with strikes, Tamura eventually gets a takedown and tries for submissions leading to Tariel going for the ropes which leads to them standing and repeating the formula. This is not a bad thing. It leads to an awesome match. Tariel gets blown up towards the end, but he worked his ass off to get there. GREAT

Kiyoshi Tamura vs. Yoshihisa Yammamoto (RINGS 6/24/99)

Yearbook

OJ told me these two didn’t like each other in real life and the fans knew it. That added to the pre-match slap Tamura hit son Yamamoto give this a special feel from the get to. The opening mat work is incredible. It is lightening fast but worked with a grittiness that reminds me of the early exchanges against Anjoh only with more polish on both sides. The crowd here is fabulous. Reacting to every little cue the workers give. The mat work here is more in line with the Kohsaka match where it feels more traditional than a Han match that feels more innovative and exciting. Not to say the mat work here isn’t exciting. It is spectacular. Between the speed, technique, degree of difficulty, etc the best Tamura mat exchanges are the best in wrestling history. This probably has the most exciting strike exchanges I can remember seeing throughout this project. It may not be as innovative or how the highspots of Tamura vs Han or Tamura vs Ilioukhine. It may not have the ambitious sporting feel of Tamura vs Kohsaka. But this. This has all the great mat work and striking you hope to get out of a Tamura match but it adds a certain aggression. Tamura wrestles with more of an edge here than he usually does. He always wants to win and you can obviously see the urgency with which he wrestles. But here, this is the only time where it seems to go beyond sport and feels personal. Maybe I’m projecting because I know they don’t like each other in real life. But that really seems to come through. Compare this to the Kohsaka match. That seems positively Olympic. This is a fight with rules and it is spectacular. Probably one of the 20 best matches ever. EPIC

Sadly this is all I have from RINGS. I’ll have to go back and pick up some of these shows I missed at some point. It is much more likely I’ll pick up all the U-Style shows first to be honest. There’s a little bit of U-Style online though and I’ll review what I’ve been able to find.

Kiyoshi Tamura vs Joop Kasteel 8/19/99

Goddamn Joop Kasteel is an intimidating dude. Slow start with both guys feeling each other out. I love the spot when they go to the mat and Tamura throws a punch at Kasteel’s gut and Kasteel just leans back and puts his arms out like “Come on, hit me” so Tamura blasts Kasteel to no reaction. So then Tamura just goes for a leg lock instead realizing that Kasteel is literally made of steel. Seriously Kasteel is so big and strong that his punches while lying flat on his back look really fucking rough. This is really Tamura just trying to figure out how to deal with this giant man on the mat who not only is deceptively quick but has the strength to just toss Tamura around. AMAZING knockdown sell by Tamura after Kasteel hits him with a low kick putting Tamura down. Kasteel actually responds in kind going down after a Tamura kick to the ribs. Tamura is just awesome towards the finish selling damage to the leg from a few really hard Kasteel kicks. Tamura gets the win which felt like an upset just because of the way it was worked. FUN

Tim Cooke · March 22, 2016

I'll get the 1/23/99 Tamura vs Kohsaka uploaded for you

Tamura and Yamamoto did not like each other. from the Nov 18, 2002 WON:

Tamura is very upset about the making of the Randleman vs. Yamamoto match because he hates Yamamoto and had no idea they would be appearing on the same card until the announcement was made publicly. I'm upset with that matchmaking as well, as Yamamoto has had serious concussion problems in the past and it was recommended years ago that he retire, and he's a much smaller guy than Randleman as Yamamoto fought at a UFC show at 169 pounds a few years back. The reason for the hatred by Tamura is that Yamamoto revealed publicly that a lot of Tamura's most famous matches in RINGS were actually pro wrestling matches and not MMA matches. There was talk over the weekend that Tamura may pull out of the show, which would wreck it completely from a marketing standpoint. Pride officials claim the story is overblown and internally they never knew of any problems until the story broke in the papers, and don't believe the match is in jeopardy.

elliott · October 8, 2016

Since it’s Hall of Fame season, I wanted to look at my dude Kiyoshi Tamura and see how he stacked up as a candidate. I ranked him 12^th overall during GWE, but if I had to do it again, I’d rank him #3 overall behind only Terry Funk and El Satanico. I’ll first run through his results/attendance figures and then post a Gordy List. Thanks to http://www.prowrestlinghistory.com for all results/attendance figures. I will also spoiler all the results/comments about results so this page is less ridiculous.

Kiyoshi Tamura debuted May 21, 1989 losing to Minoru Suzuki in 5 minutes at NK Hall in front of 7,000 people in the opening match. He continued on the in the opening match for his first few shows until he “got” to wrestle Akira Maeda in the semi main event (underneath a Takada vs Fujiwara match) in front of 5,600 people in Sapporro at UWF’s 10/25/89 show at the Nakajima Sports Center. It should be noted that even though he’s in the semi-main event, Tamura should get zero credit for drawing a single person. UWF was the hottest wrestling promoting in Japan in 88 and 89 on the back of Maeda and Maeda making Takada. Tamura was just cannon fodder. And Maeda treated him as such and destroyed Tamura with knees to the face so hard he broke I believe Tamura’s cheekbone. This caused Tamura to miss the next 14 months of action. Indeed he wouldn’t appear again until 12/1/90 in the opener against Masahito Kakihara in what turned out to be UWF2.0’s last ever show. When UWFi was formed, Tamura vs Kakihara was the opener for the very first show which I’ve always thought was really cool but again doesn’t mean anything. All Tamura is known for at this point is having his face destroyed by Maeda.

Tamura gets his first main event here:

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From here Tamura jumps over to RINGS. So lets take a look…

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elliott · October 17, 2016

Real quick here's where I stand on voting for guys purely on work...

I think it would be fine as long as all of the draws and historically significant people were already in. if work is being voted on, it should be the least important thing. I'm sure the tens of thousands of people who were paying to see JYD in the early 80s thought he was a great worker. I'm sure the 2,000-5000 fans that filled around half of the buildings Tamura performed in at his peak in 98/99 thought he was great too.

I understand that ring work is one of the 3 main criteria for the HOF, but it seems weird to me to vote in people who are only strong in the one totally subjective category. It just seems like a way to get favorites in when there are obviously more deserving candidates. By all accounts, Big Daddy is the biggest star in the history of british wrestling and people are voting for Kiyoshi Tamura who probably isnt one of the 100 most historically significant Japanese wrestlers for a "Hall of Fame" strikes me as a silly odd. Are the people voting for Tamura voting for Red Bastien? Bastien was widely considered one of the best wrestlers of his era.

This isn't to say we should discredit work entirely. Just mostly. Its hard for me to wrap my head around having the most subjective criteria by far be held up as the definitive building block. I mean, I think Tamura is the 3rd best wrestler of all time, best of the 90s, etc, but I make terrible decisions about everything so why would I assume I'm right about this? But I KNOW JYD was a major draw in the early 80s and was historically significant as an African American ace in the south. I find those qualities far more important as HOF candidacy building blocks than me really digging those 90 Tamura matches I watched.

I also don't really agree with GOTNW about the Japan category being the most chaotic category. I think its actually the least chaotic category. THe Sharpes and Gordienko probably shouldn't be on the Japanese ballot at all and that kind of muddies things up. What makes the Japan category tough is that people feel they HAVE to vote for someone and the Japanese candidates are really weak compared to the rest of the ballot and other than Fujiwara I don't really think any of them should be in.

Compare that to Mexico where probably 6 or 7 folks could have gone in already and then Meltzer adds Fishman who might actually be a legit candidate as well. That's a chaotic ballot. The Japanese ballot sucks because none of those dudes are HOFers yet everyone fees like they have to vote for a Japanese candidate.

Anyway, Tamura. Sure, I could see voting for him in the future but there are at least 20 "absolutely better candidates" on the ballot and probably 15-20 more people I'd need to know more about before saying one way or the other. I'm not honestly sure he'd be a better candidate than Low-Ki. Tamura is definitely a worse candidate than Ultimo Dragon who practically everyone agrees was a terrible induction.

I say ALL of this literally as I rewatch the 1/21/98 match against Ilioukhine which I think is one of the best matches ever. So. Yeah. I'm a weirdo.

elliott · November 6, 2016

Since I derailed my own celebratory thread about Tamura by eviscerating his HOF case, I wanted to take this back to Tamura the worker. I'll post my new reviews of missing matches & U-Style and then start working on my last Tamura project.

I wrote up all of the missing UWF/UWFi/RINGS Tamura that I have gotten and watched recently. I edited those matches into the posts so the reviews remained chronological for anyone coming across this in the future. But I'll post those reviews here in spoilers for people who want to read them.

Anyway, here we go.

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Kiyoshi Tamura vs Masahito Kakihara 12/1/90

Finally recovered from Maeda breaking his face in October 1989, Tamura returns in tme to work his 6^th match ever (and Kakihara’s 4^th) as the opener on the final UWF2.0 card. This is a really interesting match to watch considering the experience level of the wrestlers and knowing Tamura is just back from a major injury. This is also really cool to see because it is the first opportunity to watch Tamura work a match of any real length as it runs 14:58. All of his matches have been good up to this point, but this is the longest one by far and he’s working against an even less experienced wrestler so he doesn’t have a veteran to lean on. So its hard not to call this a great match when thinking about it in those conditions. These two aren’t nearly as good as they would become and you can see that obviously. They aren’t even as fast or explosive as they would be in the years to come. Tamura isn’t nearly as polished or technically perfect as he would become and I think both guys got blown up at times. But honestly. This was pretty remarkable considering the experience level. For all I’ve said about being able to see Tamura’s potential in these early matches, this is really the best example of that. He’s already leading a younger worker in this match. Feeding him openings like Kakihara’s choke after a Tamura throw or the way Tamura leans into Kakihara’s spin kick to make sure he gets him just right. The way Tamura sells the spin kick and then milks every last second of the 10 count is just fucking perfect. Tamura keeps the match moving along and is already full of interesting and creative counters to submissions. His striking has been great from day one and this is awesome because you get to see him mad. Early on he has an easy time with Kakihara taking him down, locking in submissions etc. Finally Kakihara gets fed up and just starts blasting Tamura’s previously broken face. So Tamura’s like “ok you wanna strike, lets strike” and then he just annihilates Kakihara. Again neither guy, Tamura included, is the striker they would become, but in Tamura’s case I think its more of a stamina issue just coming back because he’s pretty amazing in flurries already. Anyway, this was really amazing to watch. Its not a MOTYC or anything and in terms of a “pure shoot style” match, this isn’t something I’d recommend to OJ. But I think Soup would really like this match. Soup, watch this fucking match! GREAT

Kiyoshi Tamura vs Gene Lydick 1/16/95

They go right to the mat trading submission attempts back and forth. Its not Tamura vs Han shit but its perfectly solid stuff leading to the first Lydick rope break. More solid back and forth mat work follows leading to Tamura needing a rope break. Tamura is really dominant on the mat without even seeming to be. He’s just so smooth he doesn’t appear to be in any real danger at any point. Lydick’s german suplex is awesome and I love that Tamura continues to sell the damage of it as he defends a Lydick submission attempt. Lydick’s selling of Tamura’s big knockdown off a high kick was terrific. Tamura’s desperation block of Lydick’s second german attempt was really amazing. Great struggle and really unique defense of the move really. Good finish. This was FUN.

Kiyoshi Tamura vs Billy Scott 4/19/96

Tamura’s 2^nd to last UWFi match. The opening grappling is MUCH quicker than in the Lydick match I just watched. It’s not like Sakuraba level, but Scott is a much quicker athlete than Lydick and some of the other gaijin so Tamura is able to let losse a little more which is always great. The work leading up to the first rope break with Tamura’s sleeper attempt and then cross armbreaker is really good. The following back and forth grappling segment is also very strong with both guys really focused on going for kimuras before Tamura finally scoots away. Finish kinda came out of nowhere but that’s not a bad thing in shoot style. This is perfectly ok. I’ll say FUN.

Kiyoshi Tamura vs Yoshihisa Yamamoto 12/19/96

I’m excited for this as it’s their first match together and they’d go on to become great rivals both in and out of the ring. This was really fun. Its short, about 10minutes, but very good and very aggressive. They’re standing and striking for most of the match and really just blasting the shit out of each other. I think the plan was strike until Yamamoto gets completely gassed, go to the mat until he catches his breath, stand up and strike, repeat formula. So this was very exciting and very heated. Tamura gets cut along the way and the finish is fucking spectacular. GREAT.

Kiyoshi Tamura vs Chris Haseman 4/4/97

Very tentative and slow start. I can’t help but laugh at Haseman’s Amerian cornerman screaming “Rip his arm off” like it’s karate kid. GET HIM A BODY BAG YEAAAAH! This is a pretty non-descript match. Back and forth mat work. Nothing really spectacular or even notable. SKIPPABLE

Kiyoshi Tamura vs Joop Kasteel 11/20/97

Tentative start as Tamura figures out how to best approach this giant musclebound man in front of him. Kasteel is an imposing figure to be sure when he’s charging and throwing strikes at you because he’s surprisingly quick in addition to being a human brick wall. Finally Tamura is able to grab a leg and lock in an ankle lock for a flash sub. This was FUN. I enjoyed Kasteel quite a bit actually.

Kiyoshi Tamura vs Dick Leon-Vrij 3/28/98

Vrij is such an intimidating figure. Just big and long and clearly a great athlete. This starts with both guys feeling each other out with strikes before going to the mat where neither guy can really get control. Great knockdown by Vrij with a sick looking knee which Tamura did a great slow knockdown sell for. Back to the mat with Vrij in control at first but Tamura getting a nice rolling counter to get the advantageous position but Vrij is able to just power out of it in a really impressive spot. Vrij follows up with a great striking combo. Tamura’s selling of near knockouts is one of his amazing traits I haven’t talked about nearly enough. He is incredible at selling damage in a realistic fashion that still reaches everyone in the crowd. Great facial expressions and body language. This fucking guy. Tamura gets some payback with a super fast slapping combo for a nominal knockdown. This only makes Vrij angry andhe comes out with a wild striking combo leading to Tamura locking in a sleeper and Vrij goes for the fucking eyes! Whoa! The ref gives Vrij a yellow card and Virj offers a handshake but Tamura waves him off. Damn. Tamura immediately takes Vrij down and gets a sleeper with Vrij tapping almost before Tamura even locks it in. Tamura stands over Vrij giving him the Allen Iverson stepping over Ty Lue look and it’s awesome. That was an interesting finish. FUN.

Kiyoshi Tamura vs Masayuki Naruse 8/28/98

Slow tentative start as you expect in a shoot style match. Tamura hits the always fun Muy Thai knees in the corner while they’re locked in the clench. The early mat work is perfectly solid stuff. Its more restrained than your insane all out Tamura grappling, but still good, organic, back and forth stuff where they work towards submissions and change positions without going for rope breaks. It isn’t as earth shattering as the Kohsaka match, but Naruse isn’t on that level. At one point, the match stop as doctors come in to look at Naruse’s knee after a Tamura submission attempt and rare rope break. Naruse is pretty badly limping at this point making himself an easy target for Tamura. Rope breaks start coming a lot quicker now with Naruse’s mobility fucked up as Tamura racks up a big lead in points. There’s also a great knockdown where Tamura nails Naruse with a kick to the ribs right as Naruse goes for his crazy spinning back fist. Finish was inevitable with Naruse hurt. This was, I mean, it wasn’t bad. It was on the disappointing side for sure. I’d say SKIPPABLE though. I can’t imagine recommending this.

Kiyoshi Tamura vs Kohsaka 1/23/99

Follow up to their all time classic from the previous June. They go right to the mat after a great struggle over a Kohsaka take down. Kohsaka is so fucking smooth. He’s one of the rare guys that doesn’t look completely outclassed by Tamura on the mat. This allows them to push their exchanges much further than you would see in something like the Naruse match. I mean, there’s a borderline rolling cradle at one point. Tamura is top notch as usual in terms of his selling and desperate attempts for the ropes when Kohsaka finally does get something locked in. This is all really good mat work until the finishing stretch when they have an awesome strike fest that starts with both guys throwing hard low kicks at each other, Tamura getting a slight advantage on jumping on it just blasting Kohsaka with jumping knees and hard slaps before getting the knockdown. But Kohsaka manages to pull out the surprise win. This was awesome. Its only 10 minutes so its WAY shorter than their classic from the previous June. But its cool to see them work a different sort of match. GREAT stuff.

Kiyoshi Tamura vs Bitsaze Tariel 5/22/99

I enjoy this match up so I’m looking forward to this. Tariel is so much fun throwing a ton of big strikes and even jumping at Tamura at one point to the delight of the crowd. This is a lot of fun early on with Tamura just getting overwhelmed in the first 2 minutes. Tamura finally gets an opening and takes Tariel down and works towards a sleeper. Tariel’s striking is his best offense but also his worst defense here. He keeps leaving himself open for Tamura to get a takedown and Tariel cannot hang on the mat with Tamura so Tamura is able to maintain control. Tariel does a good job putting over the danger of Tamura’s ground game. This is a little formulaic. Tariel goes after Tamura with strikes, Tamura eventually gets a takedown and tries for submissions leading to Tariel going for the ropes which leads to them standing and repeating the formula. This is not a bad thing. It leads to an awesome match. Tariel gets blown up towards the end, but he worked his ass off to get there. GREAT

Kiyoshi Tamura vs Joop Kasteel 8/19/99

Goddamn Joop Kasteel is an intimidating dude. Slow start with both guys feeling each other out. I love the spot when they go to the mat and Tamura throws a punch at Kasteel’s gut and Kasteel just leans back and puts his arms out like “Come on, hit me” so Tamura blasts Kasteel to no reaction. So then Tamura just goes for a leg lock instead realizing that Kasteel is literally made of steel. Seriously Kasteel is so big and strong that his punches while lying flat on his back look really fucking rough. This is really Tamura just trying to figure out how to deal with this giant man on the mat who not only is deceptively quick but has the strength to just toss Tamura around. AMAZING knockdown sell by Tamura after Kasteel hits him with a low kick putting Tamura down. Kasteel actually responds in kind going down after a Tamura kick to the ribs. Tamura is just awesome towards the finish selling damage to the leg from a few really hard Kasteel kicks. Tamura gets the win which felt like an upset just because of the way it was worked. FUN

elliott · November 6, 2016

And here's all the U-Style I have write ups for:

Kiyoshi Tamura vs Wataru Sakata 2/15/03

Tamura offers a handshake but Sakata opts to slap him in the face instead. You’re funeral Sakata. This is the main event of the first U-Style show so the crowd is into it. Tamura doesn’t look to have missed a beat which makes sense considering he’s spent the last 3 years doing shoots and probably the same training he’s been doing for years. This is all on the mat early with both guys looking good. Its not Tamura vs Han but its very good nonetheless. There’s an awesome sequence leading to a ropebreak where Tamura works for an armbar, triangle choke and back to the arm bar. This leads to a rope break and the first real strike exchange leading to Tamura’s awesome spinebuster, single leg crab combo that the crowd pops huge for. This has really picked up by this point and this is terrific from here with both guys desperately going for submissions and counters. Tamura honestly seems quicker now than he was when he was younger. AMAZING spot where Tamura is doing repeated knee strikes with the crowd cheering along and Tamura hitting an awesome jumping kick for the knockdown. Tamura’s selling is SO fucking good here. He’s incredible at the sort of “almost knocked out dead on your feet” selling mixed with desperation diving for the ropes. Finishing stretch was great. Tamura looks out of this world great. EPIC.

Kiyoshi Tamura vs Dokonjonosuke Mishima 4/6/03

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This looks slightly JIP on youtube. Crowd is into this early. Great throw by Mishima. Mishima wins my heart right away by taking some really creative chances for the sake of positioning. This is cool because its Tamura getting to work with someone smaller than him which isn’t something we got to see a lot of throughout his career. Mishima is really quick so there are some really breathtaking “blink and you’ll miss it” moments in this. Mishima also pulls out some of the most bizarre submission attempts this side of Mikhail Ilioukhine including this totally fucking gnarly toe lock that looks so brutal and leads to a rope break. Oh my god, those handstand kick things Mishima does. Holy shit. Dokonjonosuke, where the fuck have you been all my life? Everyone who likes shoot style just a little bit needs to see this shit. Tamura is the perfect sort of opponent for a goofy fuck like Mishima. Tamura has superior technique but also is one of the great athletes and naturals in wrestling history so he’s able to deal with all of Mishima’s weirdo stuff. EPIC match. Million billion stars. This was just an absolute delight. I with they had 10 more matches together.

Kiyoshi Tamura vs Katsuhisa Fujii 12/9/03

This is really good right away. They work a really quick and aggressive pace early with each guy trying to get the advantage. Fuji’s german suplex attempt and Tamura’s desperation “DON’T SUPLEX ME OH NO YOU’RE SUPLEXING ME NOOOO” selling is fucking awesome. Fuji is really cool trying to slam Tamura and throw him around but Tamura keeps fighting back with submissions. I’m watching this on Tabe’s best of Tamura comp and the match cuts out like right in the middle of a transition about 5 minutes in. DAMNIT. This was looking really good.

Kiyoshi Tamura vs Tsuyoshi Kohsaka 2/4/04

Here we go! Really nice back and forth mat work early on. These two were just made for each other. Their matches together don’t have the hatred of Tamura vs Yamamoto or, I hate to say creativity because these are creative matches, so I’ll say this doesn’t have the unique Umami flavor of the Han series. But these two might be each other’s best opponent in a more classical Flair vs Steamboat sort of way. Like these two reach the closest ideal to what the shoot style founders were pushing for. I dunno if that makes sense. That said, they do some really fun and interesting counters/escapes in this and the work in generally is what you would expect from these two: Fucking Excellent. They do a really good job here of building to counters. Sometimes they are quick and see and opening, boom counter. But they also work in some slower escapes as well that are super dramatic and beautifully built to like the triangle choke Tamura slllllowly works his way out of. Phenomenal short knee and high kick combo by Tamura with a really great “I’m woozy but I’m ok” sell from Kohsaka followed up by an every better high kick by Tamura and an “OK, now I’m fucking out” sell by Kohsaka. Great segment. They continue on with more awesome strikes trading the advantage back and forth. Crowd is hot for this shit. Tamura’s selling on knockdowns is so damn good. They go back to the mat and they’re a little quicker now. Working towards submissions faster and going for rope breaks as business has picked up in a big way. They do a wildly entertaining trading leglocks section that is usually one of the worst spots in shoot style matches but these guys are so fucking good they know how to actually make that entertaining. Tamura’s single leg crab is SO over in U-Style. Pretty amazing to see that move get that reaction in 2004. The finishing stretch is predictably fantastic with these two. This was just a phenomenal match. Easy EPIC. I love this match.

Kiyoshi Tamura vs Kyosuke Sasaki 3/13/04

Sasaki slaps Tamura when Tamura offers a handshake. I’m sensing a U-Style trend there. I really like watching Tamura get to match up with all these small athletic dudes after watching him face people bigger than him throughout his career. It makes these U-Style matches a great change of pace and allows Tamura to not only be more dominant and also really push himself athletically and talk more chances. This is another really good match with typically excellent mat work. Tamura actually lets Sasaki get ahead on points by locking in a few submissions leading to Tamura needing rope breaks. After his 2^nd rope break, Tamura seems to get a little more focused like he’s determined not to let Sasaki get the better of him on the mat. Tamura has a really easy time standing with Sasaki. Tamura is bigger, stronger and as quick as Sasaki so he can just shrug off most of Sasaki’s strikes. Sasaki does a really bad job selling a knockdown off a Tamura slap but he makes up for it eating the vintage Tamura jumping kick. Love the guillotine choke by Tamura as well. Sasaki seems totally gassed and dead on his feet at the end of this. This didn’t quite live up to my expectations, but I think that has more to do with Sasaki. Tamura looked great, I just don’t think Sasaki could keep up. I’ll go with FUN.

Kiyoshi Tamura vs Kazuki Okubo 4/28/04

Okubo changes up the prematch “Diss Tamura” routine by giving Tamura a shove intead of a slap. Okubo most really hate himself. They open with an awesome high kick exchange with Tamura getting the better of it and a quick knockdown. They go back to an awesome strike exchange before Tamura goes for a flipping armbar. Opening moments of this are terrific. They finally slow it down a bit when they go to the mat but its still really good shit and they keep the match moving along well. There’s a really nasty spot with Okubo doing almost a single leg crab but Tamura is lying on his back. Its gnarly. This is really hard fought back and forth mat work. The speed isn’t going to blow your mind, but it is quite intense and the flexibility required for some this shit is ridiculous. Tamura really makes Okubo work for every counter and submission attempt. They go to a strike exchange and its almost unfair. These guys are a similar size, Tamura’s a big bigger and certainly more muscular, but he’s also faster than Okubo so when they have a strike exchange, Tamura can just take a hard slap or kick and throw a more devastating strike right back. I remember the old “He’s a great thinking man’s wrestler” line about Takada calmly thinking his way through counters and reversals. You can really see that with Tamura in these U-Style matches. He seems completely in control at all times. Okubo ends up gassed and blown up and easy prey for Tamura to take apart with kicks. Tamura just goes after Okubo’s ribs with strike after strike getting two knockdowns. FINALLY Okubo gets a counter and puts Tamura in a single leg crab. Tamura’s really great selling it and inching slowly towards the ropes. But Okubo is too gassed to hang for the final strike exchange. Tamura even dances away making Okubo chase him a little and him with strikes before finally Tamura kinda gives him a “Ya done yet? Yeah you’re fucking done” before ending it. This was pretty awesome. Tamura was essentially playing the bully leading to a great finishing run. GREAT

Kiyoshi Tamura vs Hiroyuki Ito 8/18/04

Ito opts to shake Tamura’s hand prematch. Smart decision. Oh but Ito runs right out at the bell with a slapping combo leading to an intense striking exchange to start this off. Ito with a quick takedown and an immediate rope break from Tamura like a minute in. Whoa. That’s not something you see often. Back to the groud and Ito almost gets a triangle choke and cross armbreaker before finally getting a second rope break with a triangle choke. And holy shit Tamura is down 2 points early. He does an awesome job selling the damage from the triangle. Back standing and Ito really stays on top of Tamura with strikes but Tamura is able to block most of them. Tamura manages to take Ito down but Ito is skilled on the mat immediately looking for counters and almost locking in a 3^rd triangle choke. The grappling is fucking awesome in this match. Since Tamura is on the defensive so much we get to see a lot of really awesome counter attempts and he reminds you just how great he is at selling and building drama through holds. His selling during strike exchanges remains fantastic. The build and the pop for Ito’s first knockdown of Tamura is so so so great. And it makes Tamura mad so he fights back with his own wicked combo for a knockdown. But Tamura is still selling his ass off basically kneeling in the corner as Ito tries to beat the count. And Ito does so we get another amazing strike exchange. Goddamn this shit is amazing. Tamura actually gets down to his last point with Ito still having two left. So this is total desperation time. Tamura is just completely relentless going after Ito as the crowd goes bonkers. Finishing stretch here is just fantastic. This is a fucking classic match. Probably one of Tamura’s 10 best matches of his career. Easy EPIC. Stop everything and watch this fucking match if you haven’t seen it.

Kiyoshi Tamura vs Alexander Otsuka 8/18/04

Otsuka is one of my all time favorite wrestlers and I have a pretty high opinion on this Tamura guy too. So I’m stoked for this matchup. Seriously, if Otsuka does a giant swing, I’m going to call this the greatest match ever no matter what. Tamura gets an instant knockdown with two high kicks. Whoa. Otsuka is awesome selling so if he just gets his ass kicked the whole time, I’m down for that. Otsuka charges at Tamura and they go to the mat for some nice grappling. Even though Otsuka worked shoots and was a shoot style worker, I feel like when most people think of him they think of the real human suplex machine and guy who does giant swings and rana’s in BattlArts. But he’s an extremely talented mat worker also and he gets to show that off in these exchanges with Tamura. Really Otsuka is able to keep up with Tamura on the mat but whenever they stand, Tamura just crushes Otsuka with kicks. I love Otsuka’s selling of them covering up, almost turning around before finally crumpling under the weight of these kicks. Otsuka can bock them but it doesn’t help him at all. . He finally manages to fight through them and get one big slam in but he just can’t keep Tamura off of him. Finish is NASTY. This was short, there was no giant swing or tope con hilo or dragon suplexes or hurricanranas or any of the things you love about Alexander Otsuka. Just awesome mat work and selling. GREAT

Kiyoshi Tamura vs Josh Barnett 11/23/05

They go right to the mat for back and forth grappling. It’s all really good stuff and Barnett surprisingly is able to keep up with Tamura down there. This is so much better than you’d expect early on. Really fun mat work from both guys with cool counters and submission attempts. Tamura hits one of the greatest knees to the face in wrestling history for a knockdown. Barnett has one of Tamura’s legs and is going for a takedown and Tamura jumps up and just destroys Barnett with the other knee. It is so fast and so brutal. Just amazing. Barnett is furious and decides to come back with some of the best suplexes you’ve ever seen. Tamura is an awesome bumper and light enough that Barnett can do these incredible dead lift throws. Tamura has to fight back with strikes which Barnett is awesome selling or submission attempts, but Barnett shows himself to be a competent grappler capable of defending himself and using his strength and technique to put Tamura in peril on the mat. Tamura is really good at choosing when to sell one of Barnett’s throws as a knockout sort of throw and when to react as thought it was a takedown. Obviously the knockout throws probably hurt him way more, but I’m glad Tamura didn’t really sell the gut wrench suplex as a knockout because it didn’t really look all that devastating. Smart shit. The ensuing back and forth mat work is really good stuff. Their standing exchanges are super exciting too but Barnett starts to blow up a little bit as the match goes on. Tamura’s dead weight defense and rolling leg lock counter to a german suplex attempt was a fantastic spot. As was Barnett’s tribute to Maeda capture suplex. The finish is so so so so so so so good. Instantly one of my favorite finishes. Holy shit. This was really this great. Easy EPIC.

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Kiyoshi Tamura: Complete and Accurate

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