KOHSAKA CHAOS: The Sage Makes a Pilgrimage to Inoki's Colosseum

Known As: Tsuyoshi Kohsaka, TK, The Sage of Combat Sports
Height: 5 Feet 9 Inches or 5 Feet 11 Inches (which is true, IDK?!)
Weight: 224lbs
Time in New Japan: 2002-2003, 2005
Discipline(s): Judo, Jiu Jitsu, Kickboxing
Signature Moves: Heel Hook, TK Scissors into Reverse Achilles, Mid Kick, Cross Armbreaker
MMA Record: 29-20-2 (this has some matches from RINGS which are worked but who cares!)

As Bas Rutten was on his way out, committing magical fake fighting feats at New Japan's THE SPIRAL with Osamu Nishimura, Tsuyoshi Kohsaka was making his debut in the KING OF SPORTS. Fitting, as Rutten and Kohsaka just a few years early produced very real fighting magic in the UFC (despite big john's big dumb ass making big dumb decisions). The Inokiist period was one of pilgrimage; fighters making visitations with intention. As one shooter makes his leave, another enters into the world of Inokiism to challenge for gold and glory.

Tsuyoshi Kohsaka, or simply TK, is a master martial artist. A founder of The Alliance (Frank Shamrock and Maurice Smith being the other members), TK pushed the boundaries of grappling within the fake and real and maybe sorta fake/real fighting of RINGS where he comitted his most well known work (practically a holy text of fake fighting). He is and was the Sage of Combat Sports, a title only worthy of someone to have won in the LUMAX J'Cup, PANCRASE, RINGS, UFC, RIZIN, and PRIDE, and someone who has invented the great transition technique TK SCISSORS!

(Which also is the name of a great blog, inspiration to me, and a definitive source on all things TK related!)

THE NWF CHAMPIONSHIP TOURNAMENT SEMI-FINALS:
The National Wrestling Federation title was taken off some American chumps in the 70s by Antonio Inoki, and it became the title he defended until its retirement in the early 1980s. It laid dormant until 2002 when Kazuyuki Fujita announced the King of Gladiator tournament to revive it. It would challenge the dominance of the IWGP Heavyweight championship, and all the participants had a background in combat sports.

TK has his premiere in NJPW at The Spiral 2002, facing off against the former sumo and IWGP champ Tadao Yasuda. He is able to withstand Yasuda's initial rush, and uses his incredibly slick ground skills to win by Achilles lock. Our friend is on to the next round!



THE NWF CHAMPIONSHIP TOURNAMENT FINALS:
TK returns at the famous January 4th Tokyo Dome show (though the last event was also in the Tokyo Dome, Inoki loved to spend all the money in this era ((maybe too much but who could say!)) to face-off against the towering Yoshihiro Takayama!

This match is soooooo good. Decidedly un-shoot at times, it brings so much glee watching a guy like TK dropkick Takayama square in the fucking head. Sadly, just like our good friend Bas Rutten, Kohsaka fails to achieve the gold here. However, not all is lost, as this tournament and its resurrected championship has massive implications for New Japan in the year 2003. It cemented the place that MMA fighters had carved in the company, and laid the theme for the year plainly. This was going to be the year that Inoki pursues the dream of integrating pro-wrestling and combat sports full stop. Welcome to the era of ULTIMATE CRUSH!



ULTIMATE CRUSH I:
It is still 2003, and the sage makes his return to fight at the MEGA big NJPW Ultimate Crush. Clocking in well over 5 hours, this event was a smorgasbord of Vale Tudo No Holds Barred fighting and pro-wrestling. This will definitely get its own dedicated post in the future, but let us focus on the task at hand: documenting TK's time in NJPW!

TK is facing Dolgorsurengiin Sumyaabazar in New Japan's own MMA rule set: Ultimate Crush Vale Tudo. Elbows, grounded knees, soccer kicks, and clotheslines are all EXPLICITLY endorsed here, making this rule set even more truly Vale Tudo than anything else in Japan at the time. Oh, you might be asking, who is Dolgorsurengiin Sumyaabazar?! Well, he is Blue Wolf's brother, a famous Mongolian Wrestler and now a politician.

But, how does he do compared to his brother? Not well, as while he is taking down TK early in the fight he falls on his on arm and fucks it wayyyyy up! TK gets the win (I guess)!



ULTIMATE CRUSH II:

In October of 2003, the Ultimate Crush show returns! This time with less Ultimate Crush Vale Tudo (boooo!) and a Hulk Hogan match (bigger boo!). It's ok though as TK is here and he is facing the menacing Ricardo Morais (presented here as Ricardon). You might know this guy for being the one to win the Absolute Fighting Championship in 1995 where he defeated 5 guys in one night, including the wild Mikhail Illoukhin (or however its spelled, there are many ways!) with a rear naked choke. He is scary tbh! (he also ran in RINGS a few times, beating the likes of Yoshihisa Yamamoto and our KINGDOM friend Hiromitsu Kanehara, but he lost to Grom Zaza at least)

This is an interesting affair despite lots of laying on each other and punching! TK definitely gets rocked hard a few times but these ULTIMATE CRUSH refs are lenient and frequently bring them up/reset the fighters. The sage is able to very smartly defend himself from the potential vale tudo knees, and uses tricky sweeps to regain control and put some nice ground and pound on. TK manages to win by Unanimous Decision! CLAP FOR OUR MAN!



A QUICK STOP TO VISIT OLD FRIENDS:
But before TK returns back to New Japan, he is making a pit stop in Shoot Style! Please check out this absolute treat of a bout from Kiyoshi Tamura's U-Style promotion. This is not NJPW related but it is a great 3rd chapter to close the story after their famous draw in RINGS '98! I hope you enjoy!! (He also wins the Pancrase Super Heavyweight championship in 2004 as well)

KOHSAKA'S RETURN:

TK is back to face former IWGP Heavyweight champion Yuji Nagata at Nexess V. NJPW is a much different place than it was in 2003 however, as attendance is beginning to plummet and the money is running dry. Some place the blame at Inoki's feet, but always for the most wrongheaded reasons ("Inoki liked martial arts too much" yea duh!). As much as Inoki's spending on promoting events in the Tokyo Dome 5+ times in a year full of laser displays may have contributed (it did!), NJPW was really an early victim of the combat sports crash in Japan throughout the mid to late 2000s. New Japan was hit first, but the writing is on the wall for everyone.

Now that the dark and sad stuff is out of the way, we can discuss this lovely little match. It ends up being quite short, simply a match to build to a blow off at Nexess VI, but the combat we do see is smooth and intentional. This was much more RINGS than Inokiism in the sense of how the wrestling itself played out, but the ending was all story. Kohsaka gets free from a toe hold by sinking in a rear naked choke, but as Nagata begins to pass out he puts pressure on Kohsaka's knees causing a rope break. The ref calls the match as Nagata is out cold; TK is upset and issues a challenge to Nagata, causing other wrestlers to run into the ring to prevent a brawl. Business will have to be finished at a later date. (TK's ALLIANCE gear is so sikk, I would kill to have one of those t-shirts)

NAGATA AND KOHSAKA FINISH IT:

LMAO Sorry for the way fucked audio on this, I have no clue why every copy of this I find has horrid audio. Its ok though because we get some nice shots of Shibata and Kazunari Murakami at ringside. (I wonder what these dastardly dudes are plottin')

This match is such a great climax to both this short feud and TK's tenure in New Japan as a whole. Early in the match, TK won't get off the ropes and Nagata just like... whips out a front rolling kick and clocks him, hits TK with a soccer kick, then scrambles for a failed pin. This makes TK so pissed he takes off the MMA gloves (you know shit is about to fucking go DOWN). The submission exchanges are fantastic, and the reactions that TK and Nagata have are all really felt by the crowd. They let the emotions come through the body's performance; it is not forced or hokey as I tend to find New Japan (and lets be honest, much of wrestling in general) these days. Even in this spectacular exchange, a magical realist dream of combat, it oozes real pain and struggle. That is how stories are told in Inokiism; violence and intensity. This match is Inokiism plain and simple, it really is. Kohsaka loses here, but the sage's pilgrimage was not in vain, and the proof is in the video file just below this text.

[PS. As you probably saw at the end of that match, Nagata is attacked by Yoshihisa Yamamoto, a MMA fighter and pro-wrestler who I dearly like, but has a very long history of being destroyed despite his size (he is so much bigger than Nagata here!). Does anyone know what this was supposed to build to? Yamamoto never had a match in NJPW so I assume this was some planned thing that went nowhere! Weird!]