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[Berzerker]

Just wondering how much a ticket is (average seat). Debating hitting up the "Dynamite" event on NYE with my gf. I've been to the ones in Korea, cost like $50 for a mediocre seat. Anyone here frequent these events, or any other martial arts events in Japan? What organizations are worth checking out? (I'll be in Japan in Nov.) I'm a big mma/combat fan. Any info would be sweet.....

[fluffyhamster]

I've never seen an event live (well, unless simultaneous broadcast on TV counts) - I usually catch up on things in mags and/or on DVD later - but I doubt if $50 will get you a super-dooper seat in Japan either (a lot seems to depend on the venue/size and layout of the event).

Regarding K-1, I prefer the 'World Max' events (guys are all at or slightly under 70kg). The qualifying round for Japanese fighters (in Feb) was a bit lackluster, but the next, wider qualifier (in April) was pretty blistering (I thought it was only in the very final elimination tournament, to win the world champ belt, that they really went hell-for leather despite having to fight up to three times in the one night). I haven't seen the June round yet, but I'm guessing that the October final elimination will be the one to really watch!
http://www.tbs.co.jp/K-1MAX/

K-1 also runs the Hero's (sic) events, but these lack the size, spectacle and ultimately the polish of Pride (witness the very questionable refereeing when Sakuraba made his Hero's debut, or the Akiyama body oil scandal etc). They have some good fighters though, which sometimes makes it worth watching, and there can be some interesting clashes between K-1 and more grappling/MMA-based guys (e.g. Jerome Le Banner vs. the aforementioned Akiyama) - Pride is all expert grapplers sometimes, so it can lack the scrappiness and foul-ups more akin to those you could once see in the early days of actual MIXED (i.e. style against style) martial arts (that being said, I ultimately prefer to watch guys who can do it all and are thus truly practising 'a "mixed" art' in and of themselves).

You probably know that DSE sold Pride to the owner of UFC, so I don't know how Pride is ultimately going to shape out...evolve, or decline? Certainly there have been some high-profile "defections" to UFC (I guess the fighters get tired of fighting the same old faces, which is what happens when they stay in one organization too long) e.g. Mirko, Nogeira and now perhaps Silva too (although he may just be wanting to fight the once under UFC rules - I didn't really read the article closely enough to see). I haven't seen the last event that DSE produced, but it looked good! A nice mix of fighters. Here's to hoping it's on DVD soon. BTW I really recommend that you rent the Pride 2006 Openweight tournament, and Pride Fumetsu DVDs to get a taste of recent Pride.

There are a lot of smaller organizations and events e.g. Pancrase, Shooto etc. You can find out about them most directly by checking in stores like Tsutaya for mags like Gong Kakutogi (I think that's the title, or is it Kakutogi news, or...? Helpful hint: generally these sort of mags have guys on the cover beating the crap out of each other LOL); also look for book or sports stores that sell the Quest line of DVDs (most of these are technical/instructional, like the endless stuff produced in America by the likes of Panther, but there are some good compilations of Shooto, Contenders, ZST, Best of whatever fighter etc).

A lot of this may be old hat to you...just makin' conversation.

[Berzerker]

hey thanks.