In the port of Yokohama there is a ship called Ikawa Maru. It is a Museum on the water and it is known for a fight, that took place in 1889 on its deck between a Russian seaman and the Father of Judo, Jigoro Kano, who even though being little and frail managed to beat the big sailor three times, both on the ground and standing, thanks to his outstanding judo techniques.
On 13th September 1889 Kano Sensei was walking on the deck when he suddenly got attracted by the noise of a crowd. There was a power challenge going on between a big Russian seaman and a Dutch and a Swiss fellow. Of course the Russian was stronger than both of them, they were unable to move him around. Kano got interested and challenged the Russian himself.
He first pinned him to the ground, not allowing him to escape. Then the Russian asked him to pin him down, but Kano Sensei escaped before the big fellow even realized what was going on. Not happy with a double loss, the Russian asked for a return match, but this time standing. Again Kano Sensei managed to beat the enormous chap this time by throwing him with an outstanding judo technique. Both the crowd and the challenged were so amazed by this outcome, that the loser himself had to congratulate Kano Sensei for his performance.
It looks like this is the first record of a judo man, the Father of Judo himself, who got involved in a "mixed martial arts" fight. After this first time many other outstanding judo masters got faced in one way or another with MMA, among which as Sakujiro Yokoyama (1890); Shiro Saigo (1891); Yoshitsugu Yamashita (1903); Mitsuyo Kosei Maeda (1906); Yokoyama and Mifune (1909); Masahiko Kimura (1951); Nishi Yoshinori (1950-60); Anton Geesink (1965) and others.
Today always more Olympic Judo Champions enter the MMA world. It looks like there is a lot more money to earn there than in the modest judo world. Nevertheless the fights are rather savage and resemble the challenges between the gladiators in ancient Rome, with the only difference, that they do not have to salute anyone saying "Ave Cesare Morituri te salutant" (Ave Ceasar the Dying are saluting you), as for now death is not foreseen.
Kano Sensei who was the first to enter a "mixed martial arts" fight, always remained tied to his origins, ideals, ethics and judo techniques.
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