Logosize	spc
Imagecaption	Kyuzo Mifune (l) and Jigoro Kano (r).
Name	Judo(柔道)
Focus	Grappling
Country	Japan
Hardness	Full Contact
Creator	Kano Jigoro
Parenthood	Various jujutsu schools, principally Tenjin Shin'yō-ryū, Kito-ryū, and Fusen-ryū
Famous pract	Tsunejiro Tomita, Mitsuo Maeda, Vitor Belfort, Anderson Silva, Kyuzo Mifune, Keiko Fukuda, Masahiko Kimura, Gene LeBell, Anton Geesink, Yasuhiro Yamashita, Vladimir Putin, Neil Adams, Hidehiko Yoshida, David Douillet, Kosei Inoue, Fedor Emelianenko, Teddy Riner
Descendant arts	Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Kawaishi-ryū jujutsu, Kosen Judo, Sambo, Daido Juku, Nippon Kempo
Olympic	Since 1964 (men) and 1992 (women)
Website	kodokan.org

is a modern martial art and combat sport created in Japan in 1882 by Dr Kano Jigoro. Its most prominent feature is its competitive element, where the object is to either throw or takedown one's opponent to the ground, immobilize or otherwise subdue one's opponent with a grappling maneuver, or force an opponent to submit by joint locking or by executing a strangle hold or choke. Strikes and by hands and feet as well as weapons defences are a part of judo, but only in pre-arranged forms (kata) and are not allowed in judo competition or free practice (randori).

The philosophy and subsequent pedagogy developed for judo became the model for other modern Japanese martial arts that developed from traditional schools (koryū). The worldwide spread of judo has led to the development of a number of offshoots such as Sambo and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Practitioners of judo are called jūdōka.

History and philosophy

Early life of the founder

The early history of judo is inseparable from its founder, Japanese polymath and educator Jigoro Kano (嘉納 治五郎 Kanō Jigorō, 1860–1938). Kano was born into a well-to-do Japanese family. His grandfather was a self-made man, a sake brewer from Shiga prefecture in central Japan. However, Kano's father was not the eldest son and therefore did not inherit the business. Instead, he became a Shinto priest and government official, with enough influence for his son to enter the second incoming class of Tokyo Imperial University.

Founder pursues jujutsu

Kano was a small, frail boy, who, even in his twenties, did not weigh more than a hundred pounds (45 kg), and was often picked on by bullies. He first started pursuing jujutsu, at that time a dying art, at the age of 17, but met with little success. This was in part due to difficulties finding a teacher who would take him on as a student. When he went to university to study literature at the age of 18, he continued his martial arts studies, eventually gaining a referral to Fukuda Hachinosuke (c.1828–c.1880), a master of the Tenjin Shin'yō-ryū and grandfather of Keiko Fukuda (born 1913), who is Kano's only surviving student, and the highest-ranking female jūdōka in the world. Fukuda Hachinosuke is said to have emphasized technique over formal exercise, sowing the seeds of Kano's emphasis on free practice (randori) in judo.

A little more than a year after Kano joined Fukuda's school, Fukuda became ill and died. Kano then became a student in another Tenjin Shin'yō-ryū school, that of Iso Masatomo (c.1820–c.1881), who put more emphasis on the practice of pre-arranged forms (kata) than Fukuda had. Through dedication, Kano quickly earned the title of master instructor (shihan) and became assistant instructor to Iso at the age of 21. Unfortunately, Iso soon took ill, and Kano, feeling that he still had much to learn, took up another style, becoming a student of Iikubo Tsunetoshi (1835–1889) of Kitō-ryū. Like Fukuda, Iikubo placed much emphasis on free practice. On the other hand, Kitō-ryū emphasized throwing techniques to a much greater degree than Tenjin Shin'yō-ryū.

Founding

By this time, Kano was devising new techniques, such as the "shoulder wheel" (kata-guruma, known as a fireman's carry to Western wrestlers who use a slightly different form of this technique) and the "floating hip" (uki goshi) throw. However, he was already thinking about doing far more than just expanding the canons of Kitō-ryū and Tenjin Shin'yō-ryū. Full of new ideas, Kano had in mind a major reformation of jujutsu, with techniques based on sound scientific principles, and with focus on development of the body, mind and character of young men in addition to development of martial prowess. In May 1882, at the age of 22, when he was just about to finish his degree at the University, Kano took nine students from Iikubo's school to study jujutsu under him at the Eisho-ji, a Buddhist temple in Kamakura, and Iikubo came to the temple three days a week to help teach. Although two years would pass before the temple would be called by the name "Kodokan", or "place for teaching the way", and Kano had not yet been accorded the title of "master" in the Kitō-ryū, this is now regarded as the Kodokan's founding.

Judo was originally known as Kano Jiu-Jitsu or Kano Jiu-Do, and later as Kodokan Jiu-Do or simply Jiu-Do or Judo. In the early days, it was also still referred to simply as Jiu-Jitsu.

Meaning of Judo

Judo: "The way of gentleness". The word "judo" shares the same root ideogram as "jujutsu": , which may mean "gentleness", "softness", "suppleness", and even "easy", depending on its context. Such attempts to translate jū are deceptive, however. The use of jū in each of these words is an explicit reference to the martial arts principle of the . The soft method is characterized by the indirect application of force to defeat an opponent. More specifically, it is the principle of using one's opponent's strength against him and adapting well to changing circumstances. For example, if the attacker were to push against his opponent he would find his opponent stepping to the side and allowing his momentum (often with the aid of a foot to trip him up) to throw him forwards (the inverse being true for pulling). Kano saw jujutsu as a disconnected bag of tricks, and sought to unify it according to a principle, which he found in the notion of "maximum efficiency with minimal effort". Jujutsu techniques that relied solely on superior strength were discarded or adapted in favour of those that involved redirecting the opponent's force, off-balancing the opponent, or making use of superior leverage.

The second characters of judo and jujutsu differ. Where means the "art", "science", or "techniques" of softness, means the "way" of softness. The use of , meaning way, road or path (and is the same character as the Chinese word "tao"), has philosophical overtones. This is the same distinction as is made between Budō and Bujutsu. Use of this word is a deliberate departure from ancient martial arts, whose sole purpose was for killing. Kano saw judo as a means for governing and improving oneself physically, mentally, emotionally and morally. He even extended the physical principle of maximum efficiency into daily life, evolving it into "mutual prosperity". In this respect, judo is seen as a holistic approach to life extending well beyond the confines of the dojo.

Judoka (practitioner)

A practitioner of judo is known as a judoka or "judo practitioner", though traditionally only those of 4th dan or higher were called "judoka". The suffix -ka, when added to a noun, means a person with expertise or special knowledge on that subject. Other practitioners below the rank of 4th dan used to be called kenkyu-sei or "trainees". The modern meaning of judoka refers to a judo practitioner of any level of expertise.

A judo teacher is called sensei. The word sensei comes from sen or saki (before) and sei (life) – i.e. one who has preceded you. In Western dojos, it is common to call any instructor of dan grade sensei. Traditionally, that title was reserved for instructors of 4th dan and above.

Judogi (uniform)

Judo practitioners traditionally wear white uniforms called jūdōgi, which simply means "judo wear", for practising judo. Sometimes the word is seen shortened simply to gi (uniform). The jūdōgi was created by Kano in 1907, and similar uniforms were later adopted by many other martial arts. The modern jūdōgi consists of white or blue cotton drawstring pants and a matching white or blue quilted cotton jacket, fastened by a belt (obi). The belt is usually coloured to indicate rank. The jacket is intended to withstand the stresses of grappling and, as a result, is much thicker than that of a karate uniform (karategi). Judogi are designed to allow an opponent to hold onto it, while karategi are made from slicker material so that an opponent cannot get a grip on the material.

The modern use of the blue judogi was first suggested by Anton Geesink at the 1986 Maastricht IJF DC Meeting. For competition, a blue jūdōgi is worn by one of the two competitors for ease of distinction by judges, referees, and spectators. In Japan, both judoka use a white judogi and the traditional red sash (based on the colors of the Japanese flag) is affixed to the belt of one competitor. Outside Japan, a colored sash may also be used for convenience in minor competitions, the blue jūdōgi only being mandatory at the regional or higher levels. Japanese practitioners and purists tend to look down on the use of blue jūdōgi. are quite rare due to the fact that they are much harder to execute standing than throws are. Some jūdōka, however, are very skilled in combining takedowns with submissions, where a submission technique is begun standing and finished on the ground. However, throwing with a joint-lock is strictly prohibited.

The main purpose of the throwing techniques (nage waza) is to take an opponent who is standing on his feet, mobile and dangerous, down onto his back where he cannot move as effectively. Thus, the main reason for the throw is to control the opponent and to put oneself in a dominant position. In this way the practitioner has more potential to render a decisive outcome. Another reason to throw the opponent is to shock his body through smashing him forcefully onto the ground. If an opponent executes a powerful yet fully controlled throw, he can win a match outright (by ippon) on the basis that he has displayed sufficient superiority, a lower score is given for lesser throws. A score for a throw is only given when executed starting from a standing position.

In keeping with Kano's emphasis on scientific analysis and reasoning, the standard Kodokan judo pedagogy dictates that any throwing technique is theoretically a four phased event: off-balancing (kuzushi); ; ; and finally . Each phase follows the previous one with great rapidity; ideally they happen almost simultaneously. Similarly, strikes (i.e. punches, kicks, etc.) are not allowed due to their certainty of injury, but an athlete is supposed to "take them into consideration" while training by, for example, not fighting in a bent-over position for long, since this position is vulnerable to knee-strikes and other striking attacks.

Ground phase

In competition, combat may continue on the ground after a throw occurs or if the contestants otherwise legally end up on the ground; a contestant is not allowed to simply drop to the ground to commence ne-waza. On the ground, the contestants aim to either obtain a hold down, or to get their opponent to submit either by using a choke or strangulation or armlock (limited to the elbow due to safety reasons.)

Hold downs

are important for self-defence, police work, and military hand to hand combat since the person who has control of his opponent can more easily defend or deliver strikes. In judo, if the hold down is on or maintained (osaekomi) for twenty-five seconds, the person applying the hold wins the match. An osaekomi involves holding an opponent principally on their back and if they turn on to their front or side then matte will be called. (Matte means stop). Then the two judokas will stand up again and then continue or carry on fighting. (Yoshi will be called.)

According to the rules as they stood in 1905, it was only necessary to hold down an opponent, on his shoulders, for two seconds—said to reflect the time necessary for a samurai to reach his knife or sword and dispatch his held opponent. The newer longer requirements can be related to the combat reality that a fighter, police officer, or soldier must immobilize his opponent for a substantial amount of time to control the situation.

In judo, a hold may sometimes result in a submission if the opponent cannot endure the pressure from the hold, or if a submission attempt is used to maintain the hold. Also if the choke or arm-lock is too much for judoka or the judoka is in pain or is hurt then they might submit.

Hold down broken

If the person being held down proceeds to wrap his legs around any part of his opponent's lower body or trunk, the hold down becomes less dominant and is considered broken. In competition, the referee will call out "toketa" (hold down broken) to signify this transition. This defensive position utilized by the bottom person has no formal name in judo though is sometimes referred to as "dō-osae" in Japanese, meaning "trunk hold", and is called the "guard" in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and modern mixed martial arts competition.

In this position, the person on top does not have enough control over his adversary for the position to be considered osaekomi. The bottom person can employ various attacking techniques, including strangles, armlocks while controlling the opponent to prevent attacks from above. One related strangulation technique, known as "body scissors" (dō-jime), is no longer legal in competition judō.

The person on top can try to pass his opponent's legs and in turn hold down or submit him, or he may try to break out of his opponent's grip and stand up. The person on the bottom can try to submit his opponent or roll the opponent over to get on top. , cross armlock]]

Joint locks

Joint locks (kansetsu-waza) are commonly known as arm-lock. They are effective combat techniques because they enable a jūdōka to control his opponent through pain-compliance, or if necessary, to cause breakage of the locked joint. Joint locks on the elbow are considered safe enough to perform at nearly full-force in competition to force submission from one's opponent. Judo has, in the past, allowed leglocks, wristlocks, spinal locks and various other techniques that have since been disallowed in competition to protect athletes' safety. It was decided that attacking those joints would result in many injuries to the athletes and would cause a gradual deterioration of these joints. Even so, some jūdōka still enjoy learning and fighting each other informally using these techniques that are banned from formal competitions, and many of these techniques are still actively used in related arts such as sambo, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, and jujutsu.

Chokes and strangulations

are commonly and simply known as strangle. They enable the person applying the choke to force the adversary into unconsciousness and even death. Strangulation cuts off the blood supply to the brain via compression on the sides of the neck's carotid artery, while a choke blocks the airway from the front of the neck. The terms are frequently interchangeable in common usage, and a formal differentiation is not made by most jūdōka. In competition, the jūdōka wins if the opponent submits or becomes unconscious, a strangle, once properly locked in, can render an opponent unconscious in only a few seconds, but normally causes no injury if released promptly after this.

As a sport

, 2007 men's final]] Although a fully featured martial art, judo has also developed as a sport.

The first time judo was seen in the Olympics was at the 1932 Games in Los Angeles, where Kano and about 200 judo students gave a demonstration. Judo became an Olympic sport for men in the 1964 Games in Tokyo. With the persistence of Rena Kanokogi, an American, and many others, judo became an Olympic sport for women as well in 1988. It is often stated that the men's judo event in 1964 was a demonstration event, but according to the International Judo Federation (IJF) and International Olympic Committee, judo was in fact an official sport in the 1964 games. Dutchman Anton Geesink won the first Olympic gold medal in the open division of judo by defeating Akio Kaminaga of Japan. Judo then lost the image of being "Japanese only" and went on to become one of the most widely practised sports in the world. The women's event was a demonstration event in 1988, and became an official medal event 4 years later. Men and women compete separately, although they often train together. Paralympic judo has been a Paralympic sport (for the visually impaired) since 1988; it is also one of the sports at the Special Olympics.

Collegiate competition in the United States, especially between UC Berkeley and San Jose State University, contributed towards refining judo into the sport seen at the Olympic Games and World Championships. In the 1940s Henry Stone and Yosh Uchida, the head coaches at Cal and SJSU, developed a weight class system for use in the frequent competitions between the schools. In 1953, Stone and Uchida successfully petitioned the Amateur Athletic Union to accept judo as a sport, with their weight class system as an official component. In 1961, Uchida represented the United States at the IJF meetings in Paris, where the IJF adopted weight classes for all future championships. The IJF was created largely based on the earlier European Judo Union, where weight classes had also been used for many years.

Weight divisions

There are currently seven weight divisions, subject to change by governing bodies, and may be modified based on the age of the competitors:

Rules

The traditional rules of judo are intended to avoid injuries to the participants and ensure proper etiquette. Some later additions to the rules were motivated by a desire to make the sport more interesting to observers.

Penalties may be given for being inactive during the match, or for using illegal techniques. Fighting must be stopped if a participant is outside the designated area on the mat (tatami). If the referee and judges need to discuss something during groundwork, the referee will call sono-mama (used in the sense "do not move", literally "as-is") and both fighters must stop in the position they are in. When they are done, the referee says yoshi and the match continues.

All scores and penalties are given by the referee. The judges can make a decision that changes the score or penalty given by the referee.

There are slight differences to IJF rules to accommodate blind judo.

Competition scoring

The object in a judo match is to throw the opponent to the ground on his shoulder; to pin him to the ground principally on his back; or to force him to submit to a choke, strangle or an armlock. Any of these score ippon (一本), immediately winning the match.

Judo has three grades of score: ippon, waza-ari and yuko. An ippon literally means "one point" and wins the match. An ippon is awarded for (a) a throw that lands the opponent largely on their back in a controlled manner with speed and force; (b) for a mat hold of sufficient duration (twenty five seconds); or (c) for opponent submission. A waza-ari is awarded for a throw that does not quite have enough power or control to be considered ippon; or for a hold of twenty seconds. A waza-ari is a half-point, and, if two are scored, they constitute the full point needed for a win.

Yuko is a lower grade of score, and only counts as a tie-breaker; it is not cumulative with other yuko scores. Scoring is lexicographic; a waza-ari beats any number of yuko, but a waza-ari and a yuko beat a waza-ari with no yuko. A fifteen-second hold down scores yuko. If the person who secured the hold down already has a waza-ari, they only need to hold the hold down for twenty seconds to score ippon by way of two waza-ari (waza-ari-awasete-ippon). Throws further lacking the requirements of an ippon or a waza-ari might score a yuko. So-called "skillful takedowns" are also permitted (e.g. the flying arm-bar) but do not score.

(There used to be a fourth score called koka but it was removed in 2009. When the koka was in use, it was a lower score than yuko. Like yuko, koka was purely a tiebreaker. It only counted when competitors had the same amount of waza-ari and yuko. A yuko would beat any number of koka.)

If the scores are identical at the end of the match, the contest is resolved by the Golden Score rule. Golden Score is a sudden death situation where the clock is reset to match-time, and the first contestant to achieve any score wins. If there is no score during this period, then the winner is decided by Hantei, the majority opinion of the referee and the two corner judges.

Representation of scores

Judo scoreboards show the number of waza-ari and yuko scores scored by each player. (A score of koka was also displayed until its use was abandoned in 2009.) Often an ippon is not represented on the scoreboard, because upon award of an ippon the match is immediately terminated. Some computerized scoreboards will briefly indicate that an ippon has been scored.

Scoreboards normally also show the number of penalties imposed on each player, and sometimes the number of medical visits for each. (Only two "medical" attentions are allowed for each competitor during a match—most often for minor bleeds.)

Electronic scoreboards also usually include timers for measuring both competition time and osekomi time.

Changes In Rules

The rules of Judo are always changing for various safety-related reasons. They may also change depending on the age, rank or experience of the Judoka. They may also change depending on the country, club or on the level of competition (i.e. the Olympics versus an international competition versus a national competition).

Penalties

The first penalty is a warning, which is noted on the scoreboard. The second penalty is scored as "yuko" for the opponent. The third penalty is scored as "waza-ari". The fourth penalty is called "hansoku make," and is scored as an "ippon" for the opponent. With a "hansoku make" the match ends permanently. One can also get a direct "hansoku make" for serious rule violations. In this case, the player who got "hansoku make" is disqualified from the tournament.

As self-defense

Judo has formed the basis for many military combative and defensive tactics training around the world.

In addition to the above, judo's background in traditional Jujitsu combined with its police and military applications, has resulted in kata specifically designed to teach technical principles for self-defence: Kime No Kata (Forms of Decision) and Kodokan Goshin Jutsu (Forms of Self-defence). Renkoho Waza feature techniques specially designed for police. Joshi Judo Goshinho feature self-defence techniques for women. Other kata sets feature self-defence applications in more subtle ways.

Various aspects of judo principles and training methods promote attributes and skills helpful in self-defence:

Training with full power and speed against fully resisting opponents: builds speed, stamina, strength, and tenacity.

Body and mental conditioning by repeatedly being thrown with significant force.

Training in safe methods to take falls.

Ability to accurately and quickly use balance, distance, and timing against skilled opponents in fully resistive sparring. Judo practitioners are experts in controlling their opponent's balance whilst maintaining their own.

Sports Judo rules emphasize rapid transition to pins or submissions after a take-down, which builds skills in explosive use of chokes and locks in self-defence situations.

Emphasis in controlling one's opponent during throws allow a practitioner to dictate the angle, direction, and force with which their opponent lands on the ground. The consequences could be gentle or lethal, depending on the judo practitioner's intentions.

However, there are some criticisms about the use of judo for self-defence training:

Over-reliance on using the judo-gi (clothing): judo training for self-defence requires experience sparring against partners not wearing a gi. However, many techniques do not strictly rely on grabbing the gi; indeed, some techniques (especially in groundwork or Ne Waza) do not use the gi at all.

Over-emphasis on the rules of sports judo: Some judo clubs or instructors teach judo strictly in the context of sport.

Lack of striking techniques: Striking techniques in judo are usually only taught to dan grades (i.e. black belts) for demonstrations and kata.

In mixed martial arts

or juji-gatame is applied during a match in mixed martial arts]] Using their knowledge of ne-waza/ground grappling and tachi-waza/standing-grappling, several judo practitioners have also competed in mixed martial arts matches. Former Russian national judo champion Fedor Emelianenko, former UFC fighter Karo Parisyan and Olympic gold medallist Hidehiko Yoshida were some of the most prominent jūdōka in mixed martial arts.

Many MMA fighters trained in judo such as Ferrid Kheder, Yoshihiro Akiyama, Hector Lombard, Shinya Aoki, Satoshi Ishii, Kazuhiro Nakamura, and Don Frye had found success in their endeavor for mixed martial arts.

Paulo Filho, a former WEC middleweight champion has even credited judo for his success during an interview.

Other notable MMA fighters holding black belts in Judo include:

Fedor Emelianenko

Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira

Fabricio Werdum

Anderson Silva

Ronaldo Souza

Renzo Gracie

Manvel Gamburyan

Vitor Belfort

Kim Dong-hyun

Styles

Kano Jigoro's Kodokan judo is the most popular and well-known style of judo, but is not the only one. The terms judo and jujutsu were quite interchangeable in the early years, so some of these forms of judo are still known as jujutsu or jiu-jitsu either for that reason, or simply to differentiate them from mainstream judo. From Kano's original style of judo, several related forms have evolved—some now widely considered to be distinct arts:

Olympic judo: This is the predominant form of Kodokan judo.

*Paralympic judo: modified for blind and visually impaired competitors.

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ): In 1914, Mitsuyo Maeda introduced judo to Brazil. Maeda taught judo to Carlos Gracie (1902–1994) and others in Brazil. Gracie named their development of judo 'Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu' (at the time, in both Japan and Brazil, judo was commonly known as 'Kano Jiu-Jitsu'). Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, considering itself independent of judo, did not follow later changes in international judo rules that were added to emphasize the standing phase of the fight, nor those rules that were introduced to ban the more dangerous techniques. Further, it evolved to greatly empasize the ground aspect of Judo, Judo Newaza, while disassociating itself with Karate(see Gichin Funakoshi 's friendship with Jigoro Kano ) and various other forms of striking or attacking a vital point in favor of takedowns from both Judo and universal grappling moves such as double legs and virtually any form of takedown to get to the judo-newaza technique variations outlined by the Grace family.

Judo-do: In Austria, Julius Fleck and others developed a system of throwing intended to extend judo that they called "judo-do".

Kawaishi-ryū jujutsu: Teaching in France, Mikonosuke Kawaishi developed Kawaishi-ryū jujutsu as an alternative approach to instruction that continued to teach many techniques banned in modern Olympic/Kodokan judo competition.

: As a sub-style of Kodokan judo that became popularized in early 20th century Japanese inter-scholastic competition, Kosen style has the same range of techniques but greater latitude is permitted for ground technique. This style of judo—arguably, like BJJ—is closer to the original early 1900s judo than current Olympic judo is.

Russian judo: This distinctive style of judo was influenced by Sambo. It is represented by well-known coaches such as Alexander Retuinskih and Igor Yakimov, and mixed martial arts fighters such as Igor Zinoviev, Fedor Emelianenko and Karo Parisyan. In turn, Russian judo has influenced mainstream judo, with techniques such as the flying armbar being accepted into Kodokan judo.

Sambo (especially Sport Sambo): Vasili Oshchepkov was the first European judo black belt under Kano. Oshchepkov went on to create Sambo partly from judo's influence, integrating native Russian wrestling and other combative techniques into his new system. Oshchepkov died during the political purges of 1937 for refusing to deny his education and dan-rank in Japanese judo under Kano. In their History of Sambo, Brett Jacques and Scott Anderson wrote that in Russia "judo and SOMBO were considered to be the same thing"—albeit with a different uniform and some differences in the rules.

Daido Juku: A hybrid mixed martial art which incorporates elements of both Judo and Kyokushin.

Safety

Research shows that judo is a particularly safe sport for youths, though adult competitive judo has a higher incidence of injuries compared to non-collision or non-contact ball-sports for example, but similar to other competitive contact sports.

Chokes

Although chokes are potentially lethal techniques, a properly applied choke hold, if released soon enough after submission or unconsciousness, causes no injury. Judo chokes are generally taught to the more experienced Judoka to help ensure the safety of the students. There is ample data demonstrating the safety of applying chokeholds, and training includes emergency care and resuscitation (kappo). Therefore, it is not uncommon to find teenage competitors at national-level competition who have been practising judo for 10 years who can beat adult practitioners, but who are only blue or brown belts due to being too young to qualify for a dan rank. Once an individual attains the level of a dan rank, further promotions can be granted for a variety of reasons including skill level, competition performance and/or contributions to judo such as teaching and volunteering time. Therefore, a higher dan rank does not necessarily mean that the holder is a better fighter (although often it does.)

Jūdōka are ranked according to skill and knowledge of judo, and their rank is reflected by their belt colour. There are two divisions of rank: below-black-belt-level "grades" (kyū), and black-belt-level "degrees" (dan). This ranking system was introduced into the martial arts by Kano and has since been widely adopted by modern martial arts. As initially designed, there were six student grades ranked in descending numerical order, with 1st kyū being the last before promotion to first degree black belt (shodan). There are ordinarily 10 dan ranks, which are ranked in ascending numerical order, though in principle there is no limit to the number of dan ranks.

The tenth degree black belt (jūdan) and those above it have no formal requirements. The president of the Kodokan, currently Kano Jigoro's grandson Yukimitsu Kano (Kano Yukimitsu), decides on individuals for promotion. Only fifteen individuals have been promoted to this rank by the Kodokan. On January 6, 2006, three individuals were promoted to 10th dan simultaneously: Toshiro Daigo, Ichiro Abe, and Yoshimi Osawa. This is the most ever at the same time, and the first in 22 years. No one has ever been promoted to a rank higher than 10th dan, but:

Although dan ranks tend to be consistent between national organizations there is more variation in the kyū grades, with some countries having more kyū grades. Although initially kyū grade belt colours were uniformly white, today a variety of colours are used.

Belt colors

In Japan, the use of belt colors is related to the age of the student. Some clubs will only have black and white, others will include a brown belt for advanced kyū grades and at the elementary school level it is common to see a green belt for intermediate levels.

For dan ranks, the first five are colored black, 6th, 7th, and 8th dan have alternating red and white panels (dandara), and for 9th and 10th dan the belts are solid red. However, holders of grades above godan (5th dan) will often wear a plain black belt in regular training.

Some countries also use colored tips on belts, to indicate junior age groups. Historically, women's belts had a white stripe along the centre.

Examination requirements vary depending on country, age group and of course the grade being attempted. The examination itself may include competition and kata. The kyū ranks are normally awarded by local instructors (sensei), but dan ranks are usually awarded only after an exam supervised by independent judges from a national judo association. For a rank to be recognized, it must be registered with the national judo organization or the Kodokan.

United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom belt rankings used to denote Senior kyu grades vary slightly depending on organisation, but broadly follow the same sequence in ascending order: white, yellow, orange, green, blue, brown and black. Some organisations use an additional red belt between white and yellow.

Brazil

Brazilian belt rankings are normally white, blue, yellow, orange, green, purple, brown and black (6th, 7th, and 8th dan may wear alternating red and white panels, and 9th and 10th dan holders may wear solid red belts). Additionally, a grey belt may be given to very young judoka (under 11 or 13 years old) just before the blue. Sometimes, competitors are organized into two categories depending on grading; the first is from white to green, and the second is purple through black.

Canada

In Canada belt rankings for Seniors are, in ascending order: white, yellow, orange, green, blue, brown and finally black. Belt rankings for Juniors use white-red, white, white-yellow, yellow, yellow-orange, orange, red- green, green-blue, blue, blue-brown, and brown. and ) the United States Judo Association (USJA) specify six kyū, as listed in the table. The USJA requires "Beginners" (not a kyū) to wear a white belt until they test for yellow belt. The USJA also recommends wearing a patch specifying the practitioner's level. This is true for both kyū and dan levels.

Juniors

The USJF Juniors ranking system specifies ranks to 11th kyū (jūichikyū). The USJA Juniors ranking system specifies twelve levels of kyū rank, beginning with "Junior 1st Degree" (equivalent to jūnikyū, or 12th kyū) and ending with "Junior 12th Degree" (equivalent to ikkyū). As with the senior practitioners, the USJA recommends that juniors wear a patch specifying their rank. When a USJA Junior reaches the age of 17, their conversion to Senior rank is:

• Yellow belt converts to 6th kyu (rokyu)
• Orange belt converts to 5th kyu (gokyu)
• Green belt converts to 4th kyu (yonkyu)
• Blue belt or higher converts to 3rd kyu (sankyu)

commonly worn in modern judo]]

See also

Judo techniques, full list of judo techniques

The Canon Of Judo, a book by Kyuzo Mifune (1960)

The Principle of Ju

World Judo Championships

Judo at the Summer Olympics

List of judoka

List of celebrity judoka

List of Olympic medalists in judo

Paralympic judo

U.S. intercollegiate judo champions

Footnotes

Sources

History of the Kodokan – University of Montana judo website.

Kano, Jigoro (1994) Kodokan Judo is the standard reference on judo. ISBN 4-7700-1799-5.

Ohlenkamp, Neil (2006) Judo Unleashed another basic reference on judo. ISBN 0-07-147534-6.

External links

IJF International Judo Federation. The worldwide governing body for judo

Kodokan Judo Institute – Headquarters of judo (Kano Jigoro's school)

European Judo Union – organiser of the European Championships

United States Judo Association (USJA) – Includes majority of U.S. Judo Clubs (approx. 1000 clubs)

Australian Kodokan Judo Association (AKJA)

H2G2 article about judo on the BBC website

Category:Combat sports Category:Gendai budo * Category:Olympic sports Category:Japanese martial arts Category:Sport in Japan Category:Grappling Category:Zen art and culture

Name	Royce Gracie
Birth date	December 12, 1966
Birth place	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Nationality	Brazilian
Height
Weight
Weight class	Welterweight
Style	Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
Fighting out of	Torrance, California, U.S.
Team	Gracie Humaitá
Teacher	Helio Gracie
Rank	7th degree red & black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
Mma win	14
Mma kowin	0
Mma subwin	12
Mma decwin	2
Mma loss	3
Mma koloss	2
Mma subloss	0
Mma draw	3
Mma nc	0
Relatives	Gracie family
Sherdog	20

Royce Gracie (; born December 12, 1966) is a Brazilian professional mixed martial artist, a UFC Hall of Famer and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioner. A legend and pioneer in the sport of mixed martial arts,he is widely considered to be the most influential figure in the history of modern MMA.

Gracie gained fame for his domination in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He became known for beating opponents much larger than him, and between 1993 and 1994, he was the tournament winner of UFC 1, UFC 2, UFC 4, and fought to a draw with Ken Shamrock in the championship match in the Superfight at UFC 5. Gracie popularized Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and revolutionized mixed martial arts with his results contributing to the movement towards grappling and cross-training in the sport.

He holds the most submission victories in UFC history with 11, which he earned between UFC 1 and UFC 4.

Early life

Royce is a member of the Gracie family. He is the son of Hélio Gracie (Helio along with his older brother Carlos Gracie are the originators of Gracie Jiu-Jitsu—Modern Brazilian Jiu Jitsu) and spent his childhood in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. As a toddler, Gracie learned Jiu-Jitsu from his father and his older brothers Rorion, Relson, and Rickson Gracie. He began competing at the age of 8 and by the time he was 16 had attained the level of blue belt.

A year later he was invited by his brother Rorion to help teach Jiu-Jitsu from his garage in America. Despite not knowing English, Gracie accepted the offer and moved to California. He competed in a number of Jiu-Jitsu tournaments in Brazil and the United States and compiled an amateur record of 51-3. Gracie received his black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu at the age of 18. Gracie is now a 7th degree red and black belt, the belt that signifies the designation of "master of jiu-jitsu".

The Gracie Challenge

It has been speculated that soon after he received his black belt, Gracie put out the "Gracie Challenge", in which competitors would face him in a No Rules contest, won by submission or knockout, with a prize of $100,000. This claim was nullified in an interview with Royce himself from silvervision.co.uk in which he states, "It wasn't really a $100,000 challenge. My brother had a big problem with one of the big American kickboxers. Somebody was going to do the commentary for the chapter and they called my brother, and asked if he wanted to face him. He said that he would face anyone in MMA. My brother had already faced and beat him before. He told them to ask him if they knew who he was facing as he should know who he was facing." Benny the Jet pretended he didn't know who the Gracies were, so they made a bet to put a $100,000 down each to fight for something. Benny the Jet later backed down on the bet and allegedly said he didn't want to put his money down and instead put his belt in place of the $100,000 and that if Royce Gracie won, he would become the World Champion in kickboxing.

However, there are contradictory versions of the challenge with American kickboxer Benny "The Jet" Urquidez. According to an interview with Urquidez, the Gracies came to his school and challenged him to a fight. Benny agreed to the fight under the Gracies' rules and asked for time to train and for the fight to be held at a neutral location. When the Gracies found out that Benny was a competent grappler and had been training for many years with grappling legend Gene LeBell and Gokor Chivichyan, they, allegedly, backed out of the fight.

Mixed martial arts career

The Ultimate Fighting Championship

Brainchild of Rorion Gracie and Art Davie, the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) was an eight-man single-elimination tournament with very few rules that would award $50,000 to the winner. The basic premise was to find out how different styles of martial arts would fare against each other. Art Davie placed ads in martial arts magazines and sent letters to anyone in any martial arts directory he could find to recruit competitors for the event. Among the takers were kickboxer Patrick Smith, Pancrase fighter Ken Shamrock, and Savate world champion Gerard Gordeau.

While Art Davie felt that Gracie's older brother Rickson Gracie, who was stronger and more skilled than Royce, was the obvious choice as the Jiu-Jitsu representative, Rorion Gracie chose the younger Royce to represent the family style.

In his first match, Gracie defeated journeyman boxer Art Jimmerson. He tackled him to the ground using a baiana (morote-gari or double-leg) and obtained the dominant "mounted" position, also pinning Jimmerson's left arm around the boxer's own neck. Mounted and with only one free arm Jimmerson conceded defeat, mostly due to frustration rather than submission. In the semi-finals, Gracie fought Ken Shamrock, who showed excellent grappling skills in his first-round submission win over Patrick Smith. Gracie immediately rushed Shamrock, who sprawled effectively and got on top of Gracie. Shamrock then grabbed Gracie's ankle and sat back to attempt the same finishing hold he used to finish his first match, but Gracie rolled on top of him and secured a rear choke that forced Shamrock to tap the mat in submission. Shamrock later stated that Gracie used his gi suit as a tool for ligature strangulation to perform the submission, protesting the fact that he was not allowed to wear his wrestling shoes because the event organisers had stated that it could be used as a weapon, feeling that the rules for the tournament were created to favor Gracie. Royce disputed the claim and said he had used a no-gi choke, meaning that there is no need to use his gi to apply this choke.

In the finals, Gracie defeated Savate World Champion Gerard Gordeau (who broke his hand in the first round of the tournament against Teila Tuli), taking his opponent to the ground and securing a rear choke.

Over the next year, Royce Gracie continued fighting in the UFC, obtaining submission wins over fighters such as Patrick Smith, 250 pound (113 kg) European Judo Champion Remco Pardoel, and Kimo Leopoldo. His final UFC victory was in a match that lasted for 16 minutes (there were no rounds or time limits at the time), during which he was continuously pinned underneath 260 pound (118 kg) wrestler Dan Severn. To end the match, Royce locked his legs in a triangle choke for a submission victory. The match extended beyond the pay-per-view time-slot and viewers, who missed the end of the fight, demanded their money back.

Time limits were re-introduced into the sport in 1995 and Ken Shamrock would become the first fighter to survive Royce Gracie's submission attack and earn a draw. The match lasted for 30 minutes and a 6-minute overtime. The draw sparked much debate and controversy as to who would have won the fight had judges determined the outcome, or had there been no time limits, as by the end of the fight Gracie's right eye was swollen shut. However, the swollen eye was a result of a standing punch due to a sudden change of the rules in which both of the fighters were restarted on the feet. After this fight the Gracies left the UFC.

At UFC 45 in November 2003, at the ten year anniversary of the UFC, Ken Shamrock and Royce Gracie became the first inductees into the UFC Hall of Fame. UFC President Dana White said;

Gracie's official UFC record when he left did include one loss. In the second round of UFC 3 Royce was to face fighter Harold Howard in the semi-finals. Although Gracie came out to the ring, he was dehydrated as a result of his first round match against Kimo Leopoldo. The announcers of UFC 3 stated that Gracie's shoulder had been hurt in the previous round. Before the Howard match began, Gracie's corner threw in the towel.

PRIDE Fighting Championships

Kazushi Sakuraba, a former amateur and professional wrestler who derived his foundation in submissions not from jiu jitsu but rather from catch wrestling, rose up in the years following Royce's final UFC appearance to make a powerful argument for the potency of that particular approach to grappling in the hands of a capable fighter. He did this by embarking upon a series of wins over Brazilian jiu-jitsu blackbelts, including Marcus "Conan" Silvera, Vitor Belfort and Royce's brother, Royler Gracie.

The Gracie family took great umbrage over Royler's loss. Royce Gracie returned to the sport of mixed martial arts in 2000 and entered the 16-Man Pride Grand Prix with dominant heavyweights Mark Coleman, Mark Kerr, and Igor Vovchanchyn. Sakuraba also participated. A special set of rules were requested by the Gracies that would apply only to the potential Sakuraba-Royce match, including no referee stoppages and no time-limits, the fight ending only in the event of a submission or knock-out.

Royce advanced to the quarterfinals by beating Sakuraba's stablemate Nobuhiko Takada (ironically enough, with a judge's decision), before finding himself matched up with Sakuraba. Gracie and Sakuraba battled for an hour and a half. Early in the fight, Sakuraba nearly ended things with a knee-bar towards the end of the first round. Later on, Royce returned the favor with a guillotine choke which Sakuraba lingered in, but appeared to be in no trouble since he took the time to play to the crowd by trying to pull Royce's pants down. Indeed, the Gracie's own no time-limit rules began to work against Royce when Sakuraba, displaying much better conditioning, kept punishing Royce instead of going for submissions, prolonging the match.

As the fight wore on however, Sakuraba's wrestling skills and balance nullified Royce's ability to score a takedown and—in some instances—even pull guard. Royce's ever-present jiu-jitsu gi became a weapon for the wrestler to use against him as Sakuraba used it to help him control Gracie on the instances the fight did come to the ground. However, with Sakuraba's control of the takedown, these instances of ground warfare became increasingly sporadic. After the 90 minute battle of punishing leg kicks, Royce's brother threw in the towel. Gracie could no longer stand and suffered a broken femur from accumulated damage. Sakuraba would go on to defeat other members of the Gracie family including Renzo Gracie and Ryan Gracie earning him the nickname "Gracie Hunter."

Gracie returned to PRIDE in 2002 to fight Japanese gold-medalist judoka Hidehiko Yoshida in a Judo vs. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu limited rules MMA match. Gracie lost that match when the referee declared Gracie knocked out. He contested the loss claiming that he was fully conscious when the match was stopped. The match outcome was changed to no contest and a rematch was scheduled for the following year. Afterward, Royce took Rickson's advice and started fighting without a gi so that his opponents could not stall by holding onto the gi. The grudge match between Yoshida and Gracie had rules more like the standard PRIDE MMA rules. This match took place at PRIDE's Shockwave 2003 event on December 31, 2003. The match had no judges' decision per Gracie's request, and it ended in a draw after two 10-minute rounds; however, Bas Rutten commented Gracie would have won the fight had it gone to the judges' decision.

In September 2004 Pride had a disagreement with Gracie about his participation in the 2005 Pride Middleweight Grand Prix. Gracie had issues with the proposed opponents and rules (Grand Prix fights must have a winner and cannot end in a draw). He jumped to the competing K-1 organization. Pride sued Gracie for breaching his contract with them. The case was settled in December 2005, with Gracie issuing a public apology, blaming his actions on a misinterpretation of the contract by his manager.

Fighting and Entertainment Group

On December 31, 2004 Gracie entered the K-1 scene at the "Dynamite!" card inside the Osaka Dome, facing off against former sumo wrestler and MMA newcomer Akebono Tarō aka. Chad Rowan under special MMA rules (Two 10-minute rounds; the match would end as a draw if there was no winner after the two rounds). Gracie made quick work of his heavy opponent, forcing Akebono to submit to a shoulder lock at 2:13 of the first round. The match was refereed by renowned MMA ref John McCarthy.

Exactly one year later, on the "Dynamite!" card of December 31, 2005, Gracie fought Japan's Hideo Tokoro, a 143 pound fighter, in a fight ending in a draw after 20 minutes. Gracie's original opponent was scheduled to be the tall Korean fighter Choi Hong-man, another MMA newcomer.

Return to UFC

On January 16, 2006, UFC President Dana White announced that Royce Gracie would return to the UFC to fight UFC welterweight champion Matt Hughes on May 27, 2006, at UFC 60. This was a non-title bout at a catchweight of 175 lb. under UFC/California State Athletic Commission rules. To prepare, Gracie cross-trained in Muay Thai and was frequently shown in publicity materials from Fairtex. In round one, Hughes hyperextended Gracie's arm in a straight armbar, but Gracie refused to tap and held on with a calm expression on his face.

Hughes has stated, in past interviews, that Gracie would rather let his arm break than submit. Hughes went on to win the fight by TKO due to strikes at 4:39 of the first round.

Rematch with Sakuraba

On May 8, 2007, EliteXC announced that Gracie's opponent for the June 2 K-1 Dynamite!! USA event in Los Angeles, California, would be Japanese fighter Kazushi Sakuraba.

While both fighters fought a largely strategic fight, Gracie defeated Sakuraba by unanimous decision in a fight of three 5-minute-rounds.

Steroids

On June 14, 2007, the California State Athletic Commission declared that Gracie had tested positive for Nandrolone, an anabolic steroid, after his fight with Sakuraba. According to the California State Athletic Commission, the average person could produce about 2 ng/ml of Nandrolone, while an athlete following "rigorous physical exercise" could have a level of around 6 ng/ml. Both "A" and "B" test samples provided by Gracie "had a level of over 50 ng/ml and we were informed that the level itself was so elevated that it would not register on the laboratory's calibrator," said the CSAC. Gracie was fined $2,500 (the maximum penalty the Commission can impose) and suspended for the remainder of his license, which ended on May 30, 2008. Gracie paid the fine.

Royce Gracie disputed the allegations, most recently in an online video interview on May 2009, saying that his weight in the first UFC event was 178 lb and during his Sakuraba fight was 180 lb, thus only gaining 2 pounds. While Gracie does not consider himself officially retired, neither is he actively searching out matches, telling FanHouse, "I get approached all the time. I just have to say, 'Set up a show,' and I can fight. That's easy. But I don't really have that urge to fight, that anger to fight." In a recent interview in December 2010 , he stated that he might go for a superfight, but he is negotiating his comeback for 2011.

Possible return to UFC

On December 15, 2010 the UFC held a press conference in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil announcing an event August 27, 2011 at the HSBC Arena. During the press conference Royce stated: "This return of UFC to Brazil touched me, made me feel the wish of coming back to the Octagon. Everything has being negotiated with Dana White. Let's wait,”.

Championships and accomplishments

Ultimate Fighting Championship

UFC 1 Tournament Winner

UFC 2 Tournament Winner

UFC 4 Tournament Winner

UFC Hall of Fame

UFC Viewer's Choice Award

Black Belt Magazine

1994 Competitor of the Year

Wrestling Observer Newsletter

Fight of the Year (2000)- vs. Kazushi Sakuraba on May 1

Personal life

Gracie and his wife Marianne have three sons, Khonry, Khor, and Kheydon and a daughter named, Kharianna.

He starred in the music video for Attitude by Brazilian band Sepultura.

In an interview in early 2009, Royce made a series of claims, including:

In an interview that took place January 2010 Royce stated that he had adopted his fathers stance on belt promotions and had gone back to wearing a dark blue belt, as opposed to the more widely accepted black belt.

MMA record

See also

Gracie family

*Hélio Gracie (Father)

*Carlos Gracie (uncle)

*Rickson Gracie (Half-brother)

*Carlos Gracie Jr. (Cousin)

*Renzo Gracie (First cousin, once-removed)

*Rorion Gracie (Half-brother)

*Relson Gracie (Half-brother)

*Royler Gracie (Brother)

*Rolker Gracie (Brother)

*Carlson Gracie (Cousin)

*Rolls Gracie (Cousin)

*Ralek Gracie (Nephew)

*Kyra Gracie Guimarães (First cousin, twice-removed)

List of sportspeople sanctioned for doping offences

References

External links

Official Website

Category:1966 births Category:Living people Category:Brazilian mixed martial artists Category:Brazilian practitioners of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Category:Brazilian people of Scottish descent Category:Brazilian immigrants to the United States Category:People from Rio de Janeiro (city) Category:People from Torrance, California Category:Welterweight mixed martial artists Category:Brazilian sportspeople in doping cases Category:Doping cases in mixed martial arts

Name	Rigan Machado
Residence	Redondo Beach, California, United States
Birth place	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Martial art	RCJ Machado Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
Teacher	Carlos Gracie
Rank	8th Degree Red and Black Belt
Students	Dan Inosanto, Erik Paulson, Chuck Norris, John Will, Bob Bass, Rick Williams, David Meyer, Rick Minter, Cindy Omatsu, Rodney King
Website	http://www.riganmachadoacademy.com

Rigan Machado is an 8th degree red and black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu earning his rank under Carlos Gracie Jr. He is a former Jiu-Jitsu world champion and a veteran of the ADCC. Machado holds a victory over Ron Tripp, the only person credited with a victory over Rickson Gracie. Machado currently teaches out of his California Academy.

Biography

He began training at the age of 5 with his cousins, "The Gracie Family". In an interview when asked about his exact relationship with the Gracies Rigan said "My mother's sister married the founder of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Carlos Gracie." Like all children took it more as a game than really as something he wanted to do for the rest of his life. He started to take training and competing more seriously at the age of 14. This is the time where Rigan would start to train everyday on the mat.From the age of 14 through 21, he won the World Championships every year and every belt division. He amassed a record of 365 wins and no losses in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu competition. He also created a record by having 19 matches in one day and finishing all of them by submission.He remains unbeaten in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in more than 13 years of competition. His training sessions were all very technical and intensive under the eye of his two instructors Rolls Gracie and Carlos Gracie Jr. He also trained with his other cousins such Rickson Gracie, Rocian Gracie, Rillion Gracie, his uncle Carlson Gracie Sr, and his brothers.

Instructor Lineage

Sr. Mitsuyo "Count Koma" Maeda → Carlos Gracie Sr. → Carlos "Carlinhos" Gracie Jr.

External links

Official website

Rigan Machado Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Association

BJJ Legends Magazine Video Interviews with Rigan

BJJ Legends Magazine Interview (Portuguese)

Category:Brazilian practitioners of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Category:Living people

Name	Karo Parisyan
Native name	Կարո Փարիզյան
Other names	The Heat
Birth date	August 28, 1982
Birth place	Yerevan, Armenian SSR, USSR
Nationality	Armenian American
Height
Weight
Weight class	170
Reach
Style	Judo
Fighting out of	North Hollywood, California, U.S.
Team	Glendale Fight Club
Rank	black belt in Judo
Years active	1999–present (MMA)
Mma win	19
Mma kowin	0
Mma subwin	10
Mma loss	6
Mma draw	0
Mma nc	1
Relatives	Manvel Gamburyan, cousin
Sherdog	5153

Karapet Parisyan (; born August 28, 1982) is an Armenian-American mixed martial artist. His cousin, Manvel Gamburyan, is also an MMA fighter.

Early life

Parisyan was born in Yerevan, Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic. His family migrated to America when he was six years old. Parisyan started training in Judo when he was nine years old under fellow Armenian Gokor Chivichyan. Parisyan stated that his father began taking him to Judo lessons because he beat up on his sisters, and Judo would be an effective outlet for Parisyan to take out his anger. Parisyan continued to train at the Hayastan Academy under Gokor and Gene until late 2005.

Judo

Parisyan has six Junior National belts to his credit, and competed in the Olympic Judo trials ahead of the 2004 games in Athens.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

Parisyan competes as a welterweight and made his UFC debut on September 23, 2003, beating Dave Strasser by kimura. He then went on to win the WEC welterweight title, defeating Shonie Carter. He was widely considered as the top contender for the UFC welterweight title before a loss to Diego Sanchez.

Parisyan lost via TKO to Thiago Alves at UFC Fight Night 13 in the second round. Alves showed good resistance against Parisyan's grappling offense, and finished Parisyan with a knee from the clinch, followed by strikes.

Parisyan was scheduled to fight Yoshiyuki Yoshida at UFC 88: Breakthrough, but a back injury forced him to drop out of the fight right before the weigh-ins.

After recovering from his back injury, the Armenian welterweight returned at UFC 94 on January 31, 2009 in Las Vegas against Kim Dong-hyun. Parisyan defeated Kim in a controversial split decision. Following the fight, Parisyan tested positive for banned painkillers hydrocodone, hydromorphone, and oxymorphone. Parisyan has stated that he has a prescription for the medications due to a severe back / hamstring injury.

Parisyan was suspended pending a full hearing in mid-March. On March 17, 2009, the NSAC suspended Parisyan for nine months and ruled his decision victory a "no contest".

Parisyan was scheduled to fight Dustin Hazelett at UFC 106, but pulled out of the fight on November 19, the day before weigh-ins. UFC President Dana White responded to the situation on his Twitter stating that Parisyan will "not be fighting Saturday or ever again in the UFC!!" White also stated that he had "a laundry list of excuses". Later that day, Neil Melanson, a longtime friend and training partner of Parisyan's, divulged to MMA news site Five Ounces Of Pain that Parisyan has been battling an addiction to painkillers dating back to an injury suffered while training for a fight.

Post-UFC

Karo Parisyan entered into talks with Strikeforce, looking to continue his mixed martial arts career in the USA, but they proved unsuccessful.

Parisyan's return fight had taken place on July, 10 for Impact FC 1 in which he was formerly scheduled to fight Luis Dutra Jr., but Dutra would end up being forced off the card with a torn biceps. Parisyan's new opponent was then scheduled to be Ben Mortimer who Parisyan would go on to defeat via rear-naked choke at 4:18 of the second round.

Return to the UFC

On September 2, 2010, it was announced that Karo will be returning to the UFC. He faced Dennis Hallman at UFC 123 in November. Hallman defeated Parisyan via TKO (punches) at 1:47 of round 1. In a discussion with journalist Ariel Helwani following UFC 123, UFC President Dana White stated he believes Parisyan is through fighting in the UFC.

Mixed martial arts record

{| style='font-size: 85%; text-align: left;' class='wikitable sortable' width='99%' |- | align="center" style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"| Result | align="center" style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"| Record | align="center" style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"| Opponent | align="center" style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"| Method | align="center" style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"| Event | align="center" style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"| Date | align="center" style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"| Round | align="center" style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"| Time | align="center" style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"| Location | align="center" style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"| Notes |- |Loss |align=center|19–6 (1) | Dennis Hallman |TKO (Strikes) |UFC 123: Rampage vs. Machida | |align=center|1 |align=center|1:47 | Auburn Hills, Michigan |- |Win |align=center|19–5 (1) | Ben Mortimer |Submission (Rear-Naked Choke) |Impact FC 1 - The Uprising: Brisbane | |align=center|2 |align=center|4:18 | Brisbane, Australia | |- |align=center NC |align=center|18–5 (1) | Dong Hyun Kim |No Contest |UFC 94: St-Pierre vs. Penn 2 | |align=center|3 |align=center|5:00 | Las Vegas, Nevada |Original win (Split Decision); changed after Parisyan tests positive for banned painkillers in post-fight drug test. |- |Loss |align=center|18–5 | Thiago Alves |TKO (Strikes) |UFC Fight Night 13 | |align=center|2 |align=center|0:34 | Broomfield, Colorado | |- |Win |align=center|18–4 | Ryo Chonan |Decision (Unanimous) |UFC 78: Validation | |align=center|3 |align=center|5:00 | Newark, New Jersey | |- |Win |align=center|17–4 | Josh Burkman |Decision (Unanimous) |UFC 71: Liddell vs. Jackson | |align=center|3 |align=center|5:00 | Las Vegas, Nevada | |- |Win |align=center|16–4 | Drew Fickett |Decision (Unanimous) |UFC Fight Night 7 | |align=center|3 |align=center|5:00 | San Diego, California | |- |Loss |align=center|15–4 | Diego Sanchez |Decision (Unanimous) |UFC Fight Night 6 | |align=center|3 |align=center|5:00 | Las Vegas, Nevada | |- |Win |align=center|15–3 | Nick Thompson |Submission (Strikes) |UFC 59: Reality Check | |align=center|1 |align=center|4:44 | Anaheim, California | |- |Win |align=center|14–3 | Matt Serra |Decision (Unanimous) |UFC 53: Heavy Hitters | |align=center|3 |align=center|5:00 | Atlantic City, New Jersey | |- |Win |align=center|13–3 | Chris Lytle |Decision (Unanimous) |UFC 51: Super Saturday | |align=center|3 |align=center|5:00 | Las Vegas, Nevada | |- |Win |align=center|12–3 | Nick Diaz |Decision (Split) |UFC 49: Unfinished Business | |align=center|3 |align=center|5:00 | Las Vegas, Nevada | |- |Win |align=center|11–3 | Shonie Carter |Decision (Unanimous) |WEC 10 | |align=center|3 |align=center|5:00 | Lemoore, California |Won WEC Welterweight Championship |- |Loss |align=center|10–3 | Georges St. Pierre |Decision (Unanimous) |UFC 46: Supernatural | |align=center|3 |align=center|5:00 | Las Vegas, Nevada | |- |Win |align=center|10–2 | Dave Strasser |Submission (kimura) |UFC 44: Undisputed | |align=center|1 |align=center|3:52 | Las Vegas, Nevada |UFC Debut |- |Win |align=center|9–2 | Fernando Vasconcelos |Decision |KOTC 22 | |align=center|3 |align=center|5:00 | San Jacinto, California | |- |Win |align=center|8–2 | Antonio McKee |Decision |UAGF 3 | |align=center|N/A |align=center|N/A | Hollywood, California | |- |Win |align=center|7–2 | Darrell Smith |Submission |RSF 3 | |align=center|1 |align=center|0:59 | Belleville, Illinois | |- |Loss |align=center|6–2 | Sean Sherk |TKO (Corner stoppage) |RSF 2 | |align=center|1 |align=center|16:20 | Belleville, Illinois | |- |Loss |align=center|6–1 | Sean Sherk |Decision |RSF 1 | |align=center|1 |align=center|18:00 | Belleville, Illinois | |- |Win |align=center|6–0 | Guido Jennings |Submission (Choke) |KK 16 | |align=center|1 |align=center|6:33 | California | |- |Win |align=center|5–0 | Justin Bumphus |Submission |ESF | |align=center|N/A |align=center|N/A | Corona, California | |- |Win |align=center|4–0 | Scott Davis |Submission (Armbar) |KK 14 | |align=center|1 |align=center|2:16 | Los Angeles, California | |- |Win |align=center|3–0 | Jason Rittgers |Submission (Armbar) |KK 14 | |align=center|1 |align=center|1:58 | Los Angeles, California | |- |Win |align=center|2–0 | Zach McKinney |Submission (Strikes) |KK 12 | |align=center|1 |align=center|0:23 | Los Angeles, California | |- |Win |align=center|1–0 | Brian Warren |Submission (Ankle Lock) |KK 12 | |align=center|1 |align=center|0:44 | Los Angeles, California |MMA Debut

References and notes

See also

List of male mixed martial artists

External links

UFC profile

Legends Gym

Category:1982 births Category:Living people Category:People from Yerevan Category:Armenian immigrants to the United States Category:American sportspeople of Armenian descent Category:American people of Armenian descent Category:Armenian judoka Category:Armenian mixed martial artists Category:American mixed martial artists Category:Welterweight mixed martial artists Category:Mixed martial artists from California Category:World Extreme Cagefighting champions Category:Doping cases in mixed martial arts