Osawa-Juku: Here to School You

Shifting his hips back and forth in an attempt to display the fundamentals of his kicking technique, Kenji Osawa (Pictures) cannot stress enough just how important this subtle hip movement is to lashing out kicks that -- if executed correctly -- will prove nigh-impossible for an opponent to defend against.

That is, of course, only if anyone in the room can replicate it correctly.

For a number of Osawa's pupils at his Sunday Osawa-Juku (meaning, "Osawa Cram School"), the hip thrusting is a strange, new concept. Under the stress of trying out a foreign movement and hesitant to look foolish by doing what looks like pelvic thrusts, students stand stiffly until Osawa demonstrates the movement as a little dance. With the tension broken, everyone laughs.

Despite the gravity of the fight game, lightheartedness is an important teaching tool in Osawa's curriculum, as well as an invaluable component in the Japanese fighter's own training.

Later that evening, at the Wajutsu Keishukai Honbu, the main headquarters for one of Japan's largest networks of mixed martial arts gyms, Osawa can be seen grinning like the Cheshire cat as he spars in preparation for his fight against "Louro" Marcos Galvao (Pictures), at Shooto's May 18 card, "Back to Our Roots 3."

Winging punches from leftfield and multi-level kicks from out of the blue assail his hapless sparring partners who can't help but grin back at Osawa's skill and infectious humor.

"Osawa is like someone out of a comic book. … He's a passionate person who looks forward in life," said "Hadairo" Tetsu Suzuki (Pictures), one of Osawa's peers. "He's the same in competition as he is in daily life."

Osawa is one of the many that appear to be in his natural element when fighting, loving every minute of it. It's almost as if nothing else could make him happier than to be toe-to-toe with someone -- an attitude that one would perceive to be borne out of a long history of combat sports and competition throughout the early years of his life.

Or so it seems.

"Unlike other fighters, I didn't do judo or wrestling or anything when I was a kid, so I didn't have that kind of experience that comes with competition," admitted Osawa. "When I was in high school, I did do boxing, but I had bad eyesight. In Japan, you can't become a pro with bad eyes, so I gave it up."

With Osawa's apparent lack in the vision department, it appeared as if his aspirations of pursuing any kind of combat sports career were beyond his reach. However, like many in the MMA world, inspiration to continue regardless came in the form of a legendary match-up between two of MMA's greats in 2000.

"I've always liked watching MMA. After I saw Royce Gracie (Pictures) versus Sakuraba, I decided that I wanted to do that, too. … When I saw Royce versus Saku, I went and had laser surgery because I thought it was the same rule with MMA [as in boxing, with regard to eyesight]. I was 23 years old, then. I knew it was a little late to start, so it was ‘now or never -- I'd better hurry.' So, I joined Wajitsu Keishukai A3. At the time Akira Shoji (Pictures) was the instructor."

And now, almost seven years later, Kenji Osawa (Pictures) has racked up a 12-5-1 record, most of which has been made in professional Shooto, as well as a few GCM events along the way.

However, since his smashing debut at GCM Demolition 4 in 2003, Osawa has had his share of ups and downs while battling to make it to the top of the Shooto world ranks -- which, for those that follow Japanese MMA well know, is a difficult task given the strength of competition in Shooto.

Musing over his B class trials and tribulations, "The experience of losing and struggling for an A class license in Shooto was, of course, very valuable to me," Osawa said. "I realized many things about myself. When you lose, you fix the problems, right? You improve yourself. … You experience a lot of growth through losing, both personal and technical."

That struggle carried over somewhat into his tenure as an A class Shootor. Of particular note were his performances in late 2005, where despite being the arguable favorite, a draw to BJJ fighter Daniel Lima (Pictures) and a loss to "DJ.taiki" Daiki Hata (Pictures) soon after being promoted to A class saw him off to a shaky start as an elite Shootor.

"I don't want to remember [that fight]. Daniel Lima (Pictures) is very tough. He broke my spirit in the first round with a lot of pressure, strikes and knees -- I was overwhelmed by the second round," he confessed.

"[As for DJ.taiki,] I want to remember the fight with him least of all. I'd watched one of his fights before and thought that he was pretty good, especially in striking. On the other hand, before our fight, he'd lost to my Keishukai teammate, Takumi Murata (Pictures), and Murata said he wasn't that good. I thought that I was stronger than Murata, so I should have no problem with DJ. Plus, DJ had gone to Wajutsu Keishukai RJW a long time ago, and everyone there said that he was a little crazy but not that strong. ‘I can't lose,' I thought at the time."

With that mindset coming into the fight, Osawa appeared convinced that he had Hata's number.

"I wasn't that great at grappling, but I tried to grapple my way to a win," says Osawa, "DJ just kept breaking all my tackle and take down attempts. I regret [that game plan] a lot."

On the cusp of a new turning point in his career despite these setbacks, the ever upbeat Osawa has bounced back and appears to have set himself on a new path. In his subsequent bout with Lima and Hata, it appeared as if the heads of the International Shooto Commission were going to do Osawa no favors by matching him up with veteran Naoya Uematsu (Pictures), and then Shooto rookie MVP Takeya Mizugaki (Pictures).

Regardless of having the tables turned by naming him the underdog in these bouts, Osawa unexpectedly smashed both of his opponents, dramatically coming back from adversity in both match-ups.

"Even if everyone is saying that I'm the underdog in a fight, I never feel that way, so what people say doesn't affect me," said Osawa, coolly brushing off the implication.

Underdog or otherwise, Osawa's penchant for rushing headlong into danger has paid dividends, as choosing to obstinately stand and bang it out with opponents -- who some have said outmatched him at the time -- has catapulted him to the top position in the Shooto World Featherweight Rankings, just under current champion Akitoshi Hokazono (Pictures).

When prompted to explain his sudden urge to come out swinging in his recent episodes, Osawa eagerly replied: "Attacking is fun. ‘Break your opponent's spirit.' In Japanese MMA, that's the most important thing, you know. My style is like, ‘Punch him. Move forward, pressure my opponent. Knock him down without getting knocked down.' You know Chuck Liddell (Pictures)? Like his style. He goes around, circles around his opponent. I want to emulate his style, but always go forward, instead. I like striking best, and I believe in my ability."

"Never give up," Osawa proclaimed in English. "When I'm fighting, even if I'm falling behind, I always believe that one shot can knock them down and out, if I could only land it."

With a hungry, self-confident grin, he adds another tidbit in English: "If I hit them, they will fall."

To further this stylistic choice, Osawa also makes particular note of training with Team Kurofune, led by JB Sport's Gym boxing coach Takeshi Yamada -- a hot commodity these days, as one of Japan's leading striking coaches in combat sports. Yamada's Team Kurofune has played host to a number of Japanese mixed martial artists lately, such as Tatsuya Kawajiri (Pictures) and Mitsuhiro Ishida (Pictures) of T-BLOOD, as well as Hidetaka Monma (Pictures), Yoshihiro Akiyama (Pictures), and many others.

"I joined JB Sports Gym -- Team Kurofune -- one year ago. It's been a great help, and I've made amazing progress. … Yamada creates the environment for us to train hard in, and we do the rest. For the first two hours we're at the gym, we do weight lifting and calisthenics," said Osawa of Yamada's routine regimen.

"He's a tough task-master, but he also does the exercises with us," he continued. "All of us fighters train hard together -- we basically share, or ‘steal' each other's techniques, improving our game. … Before joining the boxing gym, my style was focused on speed. Now, it's focused on power."

Looking to utilize this focus on power against "Louro" Marcus Galvao on May 18, Osawa is walking into a bout with all the implications of determining a No. 1 contender to current Shooto world 132-pound king, Akitoshi Hokazono (Pictures). "Louro," however, has proven to be a very effective grappler in MMA, and poses a classic style challenge to Osawa.

"I used to be good at grappling, I think," he said. "But if you can't finish a technique like a choke or whatever, you get tired and there's no damage to your opponent. With striking, though, there's at least some damage to your opponent. Grappling is high risk, I think."

With that viewpoint qualifying his approach, Osawa further comments: "Marcos Louro is a grappler, so my advantage is in striking. The fact that the fight starts standing is to my advantage."

"If we started with me lying on my back, then I might lose," he laughed. "But I've been doing a lot of striking prep and ground escapes, so if it goes to the ground, I'll just hit him. I like ground-and-pound more than submissions."

Supporting Osawa's intentions, Hideki Kadowaki (Pictures), one of Osawa's peers at Wajutsu Keishukai, said, "Both in his private life and in the ring, Osawa is on fire. My expectation of the fight is the same as everyone else's: he'll win by punch."

"I think the bout will contain mostly striking and some unexpected surprises, perhaps," mused Hadairo Suzuki. "In practice, Osawa focuses on striking with great enthusiasm, and he studies by watching a lot of fighting … the key here is going to be Osawa's punches and Louro's knee strikes."

Said Roxanne Modafferi (Pictures), resident American fighter girl in the WK camp: "Osawa has a distinctive style that I haven't seen in other fighters -- the way he strikes is different than anyone I've trained with or under. … He's a cool guy, who would box with the creator if given the chance, I think. He's going to win by his famous ‘Osawa-punch,' of course."

Be that as it may, the 30-year-old Osawa's tactical victory by way of knockout or otherwise is, of course, nowhere near guaranteed, and he acknowledges that fact. While this notion may go without saying for most, for those familiar with Shooto's ranking system and its matchmaking policies, this statement rings particularly true.

"It's important to know that in Shooto, they tend to match people of similar skills to make good fights," said Osawa. "When you have two people at roughly the same level, how do you determine who wins?"

"It's a matter of heart, spirit, passion," suggested Osawa, answering his own question with a knowing smile. "That's why I said before that ‘breaking your opponent's spirit' is so important."

Provided that Osawa is able to break Louro's will to fight, he will arguably be next in line for a shot at Hokazono's Shooto featherweight title.

"If there's a chance," started Osawa, "I'd challenge him. I hate him because he never fights, and he says he does MMA only as a hobby."

Despite this, Osawa notes that his sights are set at much loftier goals: competing outside of Japan. His endeavors to learn English from fellow professional fighter, Roxanne Modafferi (Pictures) -- in exchange for striking lessons, no less -- underscores Osawa's interest in competing abroad as a representative of Japanese MMA.

"I want to fight overseas," said Osawa, excitedly. "The USA is the Major Leagues of MMA, now. Before it was Japan, but now it's the U.S."

"Of course, I like fighting in front of all my friends in Japan. But if there's a chance to go elsewhere though, I'll go, but I'm most interested in the USA."

"I love English. I want to speak it well someday. Plus, if I get to go overseas, I want to do interviews in English."

And with that said, Kenji Osawa (Pictures) may be coming to a show near you sometime in the foreseeable future. All that stands in his way, for the moment, is Marcos Louro. As with all obstacles in the Shootor's career however, it looks as if this dangerous grappler will prove little danger to Osawa's unshakable resolve at an imminent departure for the fight world abroad.

"Osawa's strength is his boundless positive energy that comes from loving what he's doing," said Modafferi. "His motto is what's written on his t-shirt: ‘Attack passion.'"

With his abilities in the ring, as well as his catching humor and jovial nature, the West could very well benefit from having Osawa as its newest ambassador from the East -- the latest in Japan's long lineage of Shootors.

Very special thanks to Roxanne Modafferi (Pictures) for her tireless help in taking the time to translate questions and responses for this article, which would not have been possible without her.