The martial art of "Taido" - acrobatic and dynamic its moves are unique.

The dramatic visual impact of the sport has been shared widely on social media.

"Have a taste of capitulation."

In recent years, "Taido"'s popularity has soared and it's even been featured in a major fighting game.

"Submit to me."

"Taido" is also expanding internationally as a competitive sport, with branch organizations in 11 different countries.

One discipline, "jissen," sees competitors score points, fighting one-on-one.

Another discipline, "hokei," requires the performance of prescribed moves.

"Taido"'s flamboyant techniques are almost cinematic in nature and the sport continues to attract an increasing number of practitioners.

We speak to two world-class "Taido" experts

who help us uncover the intricacies of this fascinating martial art and booming competitive sport.

"Taido" begins with a bow.

But only one hand is placed on the mat so that the other hand free to deal with any unexpected developments.

In Japanese martial arts, there's a reason behind every movement.

Today, we're going to take a deeper look at the art of "Taido" together with a four-time "Taido" World Champion!

Let's say hello to Nakano Tetsuji!

- Thanks for having me.
- Wow, that was wonderful. That was acrobatic.

Thank you.

This is Nakano Tetsuji.

A "Taido" legend who has been at the top of the sport for two decades.

He's a four-time consecutive winner of the "hokei" competition at the World Championships, held once every four years.

He currently runs his own "Taido dojo," training the next generation.

He also promotes the sport via his YouTube channel.

"Taido" is really exciting to watch, so what aspects of the art make it so special?

The beauty of "Taido" lies in its five categories of movement.

While it looks spectacular, the essence of the sport is to extend small movements,

moving with efficiency rather than grandeur.

Once you understand that, attack and defense come naturally.

But why does "Taido" look so different to other martial arts?

To answer that, we need to go back to the origins of the sport.

The word "Taido" is composed of two characters: "tai," meaning "body" and "do," meaning "way."

The name encompasses the goals of the practitioner: strength and mastery of physical movement.

"Taido" was founded by Shukumine Seiken.

It's based on the art of "te," a precursor to "karate."

By adding various new elements, Shukumine formalized his techniques as "Taido" in 1965.

"Taido" is designed to emphasize skill in body movement and control.

A unique feature, is that rather than using your hands and feet to protect yourself,

you work to avoid your opponent's attacks altogether, while simultaneously launching attacks of your own.

As such, many "Taido" techniques are a seamless combination of attack and defense.

Shukumine Seiken classified all "Taido" techniques into five major categories.

"Sengi" refers to a lateral spinning that generates energy.

"Ungi" incorporates vertical jumping.

"Nengi" refers to twisting moves executed from the ground.

"Tengi" refers to gymnastic, somersaulting moves.

And finally, "Hengi."

This is when a practitioner places their hands on the floor to support a kick.

A deeper understanding of hengi reveals the significance behind "Taido"'s dynamic techniques.

One notable hengi technique is the "manji-geri."

No other martial art has a move like this.

Firstly, I'd like to show you the "manji-geri."

In most martial arts, a roundhouse kick is performed like this,

but the "Taido" version is the "manji-geri." And we do it like this.

To perform the "manji-geri," the competitor leans toward the ground to avoid attacks to the face and upper body.

This means your body completely avoids your opponent's attacks.

Like that.

You kick out at your opponent from below.

"It's too fast to see what you did."

Moving slowly, it's impossible to simultaneously avoid your opponent's attack while striking back.

So, swift body motion is key.

You must move your hip joints, your legs, and the rest of your body at the same speed as your arms.

Everything needs to move at the speed of a punch.

So, what does someone see when faced with a "manji-geri?"

In most martial arts, you duck and weave and your opponent goes for your face to punch back.

With "Taido," when they go for the face, you kick like this...

In boxing and other combative sports, attacks come from the position the opponent has moved into.

However, with the "manji-geri," a strike comes from the opposite direction, making the attack hard to predict.

Another "hengi" is the "ebi-geri."

An extremely unusual movement, it requires the attacker to turn their back on their opponent.

It's one of the most powerful "Taido" techniques.

Nakano demonstrates a series of kicks to compare their power.

This is a roundhouse kick.

And this is a "manji-geri."

For the "ebi-geri," you use your rear leg, which is very powerful. Like this.

That's the difference.

The ebi-geri is powerful enough to dent the kick pad.

But why does this unusual movement generate such force?

We use our back and rear leg muscles to stand, so they're muscles that get trained naturally.

People say that a backwards kick from a horse is dangerous, right? It's like that.

With the "ebi-geri," all the power of the back muscles and the rear leg muscles is concentrated into a single point on the heel.

To maximize impact, the attacker must straighten themselves to the moment of strike.

With the "ebi-geri," if you bend your body too much, you'll collapse at the time of impact,

so you need to keep your head and leg in a single straight line.

For example, if someone runs into you with a stick held out straight in front of them, it'll hurt, since the stick is rigid.

So, becoming rigid in a single moment is vital.

Techniques that focus energy into a concentrated area generate maximum impact.

"Taido" has been featured in a recent fighting game.

The movements of one of the characters, Reina, are based on a motion capture of Nakano's "Taido" techniques.

In the game, the "ebi-geri" is a high-level move.

"That was rather amusing. Next!"

Next up, let's meet a "Taido" World Champion, who's still at the top of his game at the age of 49.

We traveled to a "dojo" on the outskirts of Tokyo to meet the reigning "Taido" world champion.

Here, students of all ages are busy training.

This is Kaneko Tomokazu's "dojo," and he likes to keep things relaxed and friendly.

A legend of the sport, he has won a total of nine world championship gold medals.

He was 49 when he was crowned world champion in 2023.

This achievement was made not in the "hokei" event, but in the one-on-one "jissen" category.

In simulated combat, he dominated his opponents.

As "Taido" doesn't have any weight classes, he beat many heavier competitors on the path to his world championship victory.

Still a force to be reckoned with, Kaneko believes the secret to his strength lies in his footwork.

This is otherwise known as "unsoku."

"Unsoku" is the most important element.

You can't go straight into a technique, you must hold a good position, step back, find an angle, and transition into it.

"Taido"'s footwork is unlike any other fighting sport.

A competitor moves forwards and backwards, left and right, constantly changing their stance and switching their forward hand and foot.

Kaneko has worked for years to perfect his "unsoku" skills.

His swift footwork allows him to move rapidly across the mat,

even at the age of 49, linking together three or four irregular attacks.

You must practice your footwork and be able to launch an attack from either direction,

because if you have a bias towards one side, your opponent will read you.

Kaneko's style of combat is to close in on his opponents with swift footwork,

before launching a consecutive series of attacks that leaves them without time to think or respond.

His speed of attack is one reason he's remained at the top for so long.

Kaneko Tomokazu recently appeared in the All Japan Championships.

We went to watch the veteran champion and the younger athletes who are hoping to follow in his footsteps.

The All Japan "Taido" Championships were held in December 2023.

Nakano Tetsuji was one of the judges.

- "It's nearly competition time!"
- It's good to see everyone doing their best.

The annual All Japan Championships is the pinnacle of the "Taido" calendar in Japan.

Practitioners from across the country train hard in anticipation.

This is the team "hokei" competition where beauty of form wins the day.

Team members jump and spin in perfect synchronicity.

The "tenkai" competition sees one competitor fight a simulated battle against five opponents,

incorporating many of "Taido"'s most eye-catching techniques.

The "jissen" competition pits competitors against each other over 2 minutes.

A perfectly executed technique scores an "ippon," which ends the match.

Less than perfect techniques score a "waza-ari" or "yuko," which count towards a point score.

In this case, the competitor with the most points at the end wins.

Attacks on the head and lower body do not score points.

Kaneko, the current World Champion, is once again a contender for the national "jissen" title.

In the qualifying rounds, the speed of his "unsoku" or footwork is impressive.

He uses this speed to quickly close in on and attack his opponents.

He rotates, but at a distance.

See how far he extends his left leg.

He quickly closes the gap on his opponent, moving in to strike.

He kicks quickly as he turns, allowing him to attack before his opponent can fight back.

Kaneko makes his way through to the final.

His opponent is Aburai Akira, a member of Japan's national team.

Aburai finished fourth at the World Championships. He's out for revenge.

Both finalists are fierce competitors.

Early on in the match, Aburai responds to Kaneko's coordinated attack sequence with a simple punch.

However, as both moves are judged to be imperfect, no points are scored.

Kaneko looks to attack quickly.

Aburai, wary of his opponent's speed, keeps his distance.

Aburai seems as if he's about to attack, but he's actually holding back.

He's tricky to deal with, and is good at provoking and putting pressure on his opponent.

30 seconds into the match.

Aburai scores with a "waza-ari."

As Aburai circles, Kaneko tries to tag him with a kick.

However, as he's too close, he cannot extend fully, resulting in a failure to score.

Kaneko is vulnerable, and Aburai is able to score a "waza-ari" with a jump and punch.

Kaneko falls behind on the scorecard.

He continues to attack, but once again fails to score.

Aburai's strategies appear to be paying off.

When Kaneko starts to strike, as he did in the qualifying round,

he launches an attack when he's still quite far from his opponent.

Aburai decides to go forward, knowing that he can't pull back any further.

While closing the distance to physically stop your opponent isn't really "Taido" at its best, it can still be effective.

- "If you want to win!"
- That's right!

The two competitors are separated only by the "waza-ari" score.

Kaneko remains on the offensive, while Aburai remains on the defensive.

There are 10 seconds left.

Aburai rides the match out, winning the title of Japan Champion.

As "Taido" World Champion, Kaneko displayed an impressive array of consecutive attacks.

While Aburai found his own unique way of winning.

The final showed the marked differences in style between these two formidable rivals.

So finally, could you tell us what you love about "Taido?"

In "Taido," it's easy to break out of the box.

You don't have to stick to a particular approach, and you can always find new ways of doing things.

There's a lot of freedom in "Taido."

With "sengi," "nengi," "ungi," "tengi" and "hengi," we have many different options.

You can even invent new techniques.

The idea isn't to knock your opponent down, but rather to move quickly,

with good "unsoku" footwork, and further develop the sport; that's what I love about "Taido."

The martial art of "Taido" is a treat to watch.

I was surprised by its acrobatic moves, but having learned the significance of these techniques,

I now realize how many layers there are to this complex martial art.

As a sport that's both entertaining and complex,

it's no wonder that a growing number of people around the world are taking an interest in "Taido."

The sight of Sumo rikishi with their topknots and kimono is an iconic symbol of the sport.

This style shows that Grand Sumo is part of traditional Japanese culture.

The cotton kimono worn in summer are called "yukata."

Fans enjoy seeing rikishi sporting their colorful and fashionable designs.

Today, I'm with the man who's well known for providing "yukata" for so many rikishi over the years.

And that is Mr. Tamura Hitoshi.

And I'm looking forward to learning so much about O-Zumo's summer kimono or "yukata" from him.

For over half a century, Mr. Tamura has provided rikishi with custom-made "yukata," as well as various other garments and accessories.

First, look at this "yukata."

It's quite big and very beautiful.

This one was made for Yokozuna Hakuho.

He wanted to stay active until Tokyo 2020.

The pattern of interlocked "tsuna," or ropes, is in the image of the Olympic Games' motif.

Only Yokozuna are allowed to use the rope pattern.

Mr. Tamura was kind enough to let me try on the "yukata."

And you know what? It was just the right size for the two of us.

As you can see, a rikishi's "yukata" is very big.

A "yukata" is made from a length of cloth, called "tanmono."

A folded "tanmono" looks compact. But, when you unroll it, it's very long.

This entire length is needed to make a "yukata" for one rikishi.

Rikishi in the top Makunouchi division are allowed to order custom-designed "tanmono."

This is former Yokozuna Kakuryu's "tanmono."

Here's Kakuryu's "shikona." Kaku-ryu... kaku means "tsuru" or crane and "ryu" is a dragon.

And Kakuryu decided to use cranes for his "yukata" this time.

Shodai is from Kumamoto Prefecture.

So, he chose "Kumamon" which is a local mascot.

Yes. People know Kumamon very well.

This one is for former Yokozuna Harumafuji.

We were asked to use a picture drawn by his daughter, who was at kindergarten at the time.

The cost of "tanmono" goes up, as the number of colors used increases and the more intricate the patterns become.

This "tanmono" with finely-drawn waves was ordered by Hakuho.

And it's the most expensive Tamura has ever handled.

Dragonfly patterns are popular with rikishi.

The dragonfly is also called "the winning insect."

It always flies forward, just like a rikishi.

So, that's why the dragonfly is a symbol of good luck for the rikishi?

You'll see something interesting when you take a closer look at a rikishi's "yukata."

Ichinojo's "yukata" bears the name of Kakuryu.

...and Terunofuji's "yukata" has Takarafuji's name.

And here's Kakuryu wearing a "yukata" with Harumafuji's name.

Why is this?

Rikishi exchange their "tanmono" with other wrestlers just like regular people give summer-time gifts.

They root for their fellow rikishi or opponents by wearing each other's "yukata."

It's an expression of their sportsmanship.

Grand Sumo's "yukata" culture is truly delightful.

Mr. Tamura taught me how to wear "yukata" properly.

First, you wrap the right side of the cloth around your body, and then the left side.

Tying the belt slightly below your belly, makes you look dignified.

Alright, so checking out Sumo rikishis' fantastic attire is another way for you to enjoy O-Zumo!