MASAHIKO KIMURA - THE GOD OF JUDO (木村 政彦 柔道の神)

Masahiko Kimura (木村 政彦, Kimura Masahiko, September 10, 1917 – April 18, 1993) was a Japanese judoka and professional wrestler who is widely considered one of the greatest judoka of all time. In submission grappling, the reverse ude-garami arm lock is often called the “Kimura“, due to his famous victory over Gracie jiu-jitsu developer Hélio Gracie. In the Japanese professional wrestling world, he is known for the controversial match he had with Rikidōzan. Kimura was born on September 10, 1917, in Kumamoto, Japan. Masahiko Kimura began training Judo at age of 9 and was promoted to yondan (4th dan) at the age of 15 after six years of Judo. He had defeated six opponents (who were all 3rd and 4th dan) in a row. In 1935 at age 18 he became the youngest ever godan (5th degree black belt) when he defeated eight consecutive opponents at Kodokan (headquarters for the main governing body of Judo). Kimura’s remarkable success can in part be attributed to his fanatical training regimen, managed by his teacher, Tatsukuma Ushijima. Kimura reportedly lost only four judo matches in his lifetime, all occurring in 1935. He considered quitting judo after those losses, but through the encouragement of friends he began training again. He consistently practiced the leg throw osoto gari (large outer reap) against a tree. Daily randori or sparring sessions at Tokyo Police and Kodokan dōjōs resulted in numerous opponents suffering from concussions and losing consciousness. Many opponents asked Kimura not to use his osoto gari. At the height of his career, Kimura’s training involved a thousand push-ups and nine-hours practice every day. He was promoted to 7th dan at age 30, a rank that was frozen after disputes with Kodokan over becoming a professional wrestler, refusing to return the All Japan Judo Championship flag, and issuing dan ranks while in Brazil. Kimura also entered Karate in his pursuit of martial arts, believing that karate would strengthen his hands. First, he trained what today is known as Shotokan Karate under its founder Gichin Funakoshi for two years, but eventually switched to training Goju-Ryu Karate under So-Nei Chu (a pupil of Goju-Ryu karate founder Chojun Miyagi) and finally became an assistant instructor, along with Gogen Yamaguchi and Masutatsu Oyama in his dōjō (the latter also going to university together with him and Aikido master Gozo Shioda). In his Autobiography, Kimura attributes the use of the makiwara (a karate training implement) as taught to him by So Neichu and his friend and training partner Masutatsu Oyama, as being a significant contributor to his consequent tournament success. He began using the makiwara daily prior to his first All Japan success and never lost another competition bout. 木村政彥（1917年9月10日－1993年4月18日）是一位知名的日本柔道家。被譽為是史上最強的柔道家，有「木村之前無木村 木村之後無木村」的美譽。 16歲時木村政彥即取得柔道四段，18歲時更成為史上最年輕的柔道五段，曾經在講道館一次擊倒8名黑帶選手。根據紀錄，在他的柔道生涯當中，僅僅輸過四場比賽而已，而這四場敗戰都發生在他取得三段之前。木村之所以如此強橫，歸功於其特殊的重量訓練以及持之以恆的鍛鍊。他每天都會作1000次的伏地挺身，一天的練習時間超過9小時。 1950年代初期，木村政彥應力道山之邀請加入日本職業摔角聯盟，成為一名職業的摔角選手。但是他在擂台上的戰績和人氣，卻始終比不上力道山。有些報導指出，力道山因為本身是韓國裔的日本人，所以他並不希望身為純種日本人的木村戰績比自己好。因此在安排比賽時，並不是相當的公平。 木村政彥之後自組了一個地方性的摔角團體國際摔角軍隊(IPWF)，來和力道山的日本職業摔角聯盟相抗衡。之後力道山和木村正式決裂，兩人展開決鬥。這場決鬥在當時的日本造成相當大的轟動，但是根據多年之後雙方當事人的證明，這場比賽是一場黑道、金錢與暴力等黑影壟罩下的假比賽。 最後力道山撕毀賽前的決定，原本應該是平手收場的比賽在力道山的猛烈攻擊之下，木村政彥被KO擊敗。之後IPWF這個團體被日本職摔聯盟合併，但是值得一提的是，IPWF是日本最早引進墨西哥式蒙面摔角的團體。 木村政彥在被力道山擊敗之後，支持木村的黑社會老大原本無法忍受力道山的囂張跋扈，所以決定要派人暗殺力道山。但是木村政彥否定了這項決定，包括當時有名的空手道家大山倍達都想要給力道山一個教訓。木村政彥表示總有一天力道山會因為自&#