There is so much confusion on this issue and no one seems to believe it when we say the fights that Bart did in Japan were not exhibition-only or “worked” matches. The problem is that in Japan there was organizations doing worked matches but there were also real matches called "shoot" matches. “Shoot” was always an underground term among wrestlers and other submission grapplers to signify that the fights would be real, and not exhibition-only, or staged to have a pre-determined outcome. More importantly, unlike in America, the terms Wrestling and Professional Wrestling have an entirely different meaning. Here we think of groups like the WWF/WWE, etc. In Japan, it had a much broader general meaning, as almost all forms of grappling, including even Judo and Sumo, can often be described or labeled under "Wrestling". Many things do not translate between Japanese and English well, as it is also true for many other foreign terms lacking an exact English equivalent. I’ll start from the beginning and if I miss-spell someone’s name please forgive me in advance, and for some of the people I only have last names.
Universal Wrestling Federation -
This was an organization that did both worked and “shoot” matches. Ask yourself how many times does the average fighter fight in the UFC … maybe two or three times a year on average? They were fighting almost every week and training six days a week. It made sense that every couple of fights you did an "exhibition" because that was how you made your living and no matter how good you are injuries are going to happen. This organization only lasted from the late 70's to early 80's. When it shut down some of the members created a new organization. When you do a search on you tube of “UWF”, this is usually the stuff that comes up. A lot of it is worked matches and of course tends to confuse people.
UWF -
The biggest confusion is that they used the same initials. But the initials didn't stand for anything … it was just called the UWF, as partially a reference to their roots in the former Universal Wrestling Federation. If you have ever been to Japan you would see that when they translate English words it often comes out pretty strange. The most notable members of this later UWF were:
Yoshiaki Fujiwara
Masami Soranaka
Siam (AKA “Tiger Mask”)
Maeda
Funaki
Suzuki
Takeda
Bart Vale
Yuki Ishikawa
Unlike the former Universal Wrestling Federation, the UWF never did any worked matches, as their primary reason for restarting the group under a new banner was their interest in showcasing shoot style matches, and NOT “staged” or exhibition matches. In fact they would often bring in Muay Thai Kickboxing champions, Olympic Judo champions, Olympic Wrestlers from any competitions from around the world to fight. They ran the organization similarly to how the sumo stables are ran. You were paid to train and fight … thus a professional. Unlike today you only get paid to show up and fight as a competitor. Fujiwara and Soranaka did the training of the fighters. This laid the foundation for Shootfighting. What we teach today is what Fujiwara taught to Bart. This organization eventually shut down and became The P.W.F.G.
P.W.F.G. (Professional Wrestling Fujiwara Gumi)
The P.W.F.G. came around when some restructuring of the UWF happened. Some of the original UWF fighters left to open their own fight companies (more on that later). Also I believe there was a change in the sponsors too. Just like the UWF they never did any worked matches. Here is another problem with our present day perceptions on these organizations. Both the UWF (remember the 2nd version) and the PWFG had televised events but they were never broadcast in America like some of the much later Pancrase and other later organizations were. I still watch old Pancrase fights on the local stations here in San Francisco. I haven’t seen any of those fights on you tube or anywhere else of mention on the Internet. What Zach posted was some Pancrase fights, which are contemporaries of the PWFG. It is the same but it is still not those fights from the UWF or the PWFG. When you type in UWF on you tube you get stuff not from these organizations and yes there are ways to tell. Most of the fights are miss-labeled on you tube. An interesting note is that Sakuraba, who is famous now in Pride, originally was an apprentice at the PWFG and got most of his early training there. So was Wayne “Ken” Shamrock, who would later leave to Pancrase (more on that in a minute), then in and out of the UFC, and of course later in the WWF in America (worked matches of course).
As I said before some of the original members of the 2nd UWF started their own fight companies. Most notably are the following:
Pancrase -
Started by Funaki and Suzuki, both students of Yoshiaki Fujiwara. After competing in the PWFG Ken Shamrock was kicked out of the company, for lack of better terms, being a complete jerk and being difficult to deal with. Most of the other fighters, especially the Japanese, did not want to work with him. They later approached Fujiwara and Soranaka and said if he didn’t go, they would. He then went to Pancrase. Several other famous names like Bas Rutten and Josh Barnett also came out of Pancrase. Josh Barnett also claims the Shoot style as his primary style. This is important to note as both he and Shamrock received their training from either Fujiwara and Soranaka, or their students such as Funaki and Suzuki. This was several years after Bart had been competing and winning in the UWF and PWFG.
Rings -
Originally called UWF rings. Maeda started this company. Maeda has fought in many Shoot style matches and even more worked/exhibition style matches in many countries.
UWFi -
The “I” stood for International. Takeda started this company.
This was primarily an exhibition-only company. Another confusion if you look in YOUTUBE.
Shooto -
This was Siam’s company. This was a "Shoot" only company, as their name was meant to emphasize. It was called “Shooto” because that’s how the Japanese pronounce “Shoot”, just as they pronounce “Bart Vale” as “Barto Vale”.
Shootfighting and the ISFA -
Started by Bart Vale.
BattleARTS -
Started by Yuki “Toy” Ishikawa.
Most of the professional fighters in Japan today in some way or another either come directly from, or at least owe most of their knowledge, to the two companies started and headed by Fujiwara and Soranaka. This absolutely paved the way for modern mixed martial arts / MMA to even exist. Ask any of them if Fujiwara or Bart’s fights were “worked” or staged. The rules were different back then. It was a thirty-minute straight round … no breaks. They didn’t wear gloves because gloves didn't exist yet and the gloves that did interfered too much with the hands being able to perform all of the submission holds. This is why instead they did strikes to the head with an open palm, which of course does even more damage to the head if you want to talk about reality. Are you going to have the time to wrap your hands before a fight on the street? Doing “ground and pound” without a glove is a good way to end your career by getting multiple fractures to your wrists, fingers and knuckles. Look at the early days of UFC … it doesn’t look at all like it does today. Does this mean it was all worked matches too?
So, for hopefully the last time, YES, all of Bart’s fights in Japan were real. All of Fujiwara’s shoot style fights were real. Did some of the people in the UWF and PWFG at other times and in other organizations do worked matches too? Sometimes … but when they fought for Fujiwara they were all real. Just because it doesn't look like the ground and pound or BJJ you might be familiar with in America, it does not mean that it’s fake and won't work … if you need proof go ask Bart. I did not get this info second hand. It comes from being around and training directly with Fujiwara, Bart, Ishikwawa, and my instructor Robert Yard (who is a first generation student of Bart’s), something that I am grateful that he has given me the opportunity to do. You can confirm these facts with sources in Japan if you wish or you can use common sense and get on the mat and see if it works. Ask Zach … we can back up our claims by showing you it works. I hope what I wrote here today helps. If I misspelled any names I apologize, as I’m not a professional author or writer… I’m a professional martial arts instructor and unfortunately I can only give a general time frame to the start of these companies as I wasn't there, but I do know in what order they went.
Ian Barney, Instructor
Tracy's Karate Studios
http://www.tracyskaratestudios.com