Is there any difference between "Shooto" and "Shootwrestling"? If so, where can one find the rules of "Shootwrestling"?
Shooto is a modified rules MMA orginization better known for their lighter fighters. Shootfighting is basically a style of fighting thats origins differ depending on where you look or who you ask.
XP-Magus
Thanks for the replies thus far, but could anyone just clearly tell me if there is a difference between "Shooto" and "Shootwrestling"?
shooto - japanese mma organization
shootfighting - basic mma style including stiking, wrestling, submissions and ground positioning
I don't think so. Back when I was learning Shooto, the two terms were basically used interchangeably. The specific style was always referred to as either "Shooto" or "Shoot Wrestling". "Shootfighting" is a more general term.
Shootwrestling is a term coined by Yorinaga Nakamura (Sayama's, the founder of Shooto, first student back in 1984).
Nakamura came to the US in 1991 and openned the first Shooto gym outside of Japan. He used the term Shootwrestling because if is more Americanized than "Shooto".
So, in terms of "style" Shooto = Shootwrestling
In terms of sport... Shooto is the only term (of the two) used in the professional MMA world.
Why is it considered primarily a grappling style if it is a mixture of wrestling, submission, kickboxing, etc.?
--- "Why is it considered primarily a grappling style if it is a mixture of wrestling, submission, kickboxing, etc.?"
Back during its origins, there were no ground strikes... It was comprised predominantly of Sambo, Judo, Muay Thai, and Catch (so you see a good amount of grappling arts)...
In the mid 90's, the Shooto organizers added ground striking to the pro rules... So, Shooto went the opposite direction of the UFC (from Vale Tudo to todays MMA format, whereas Shooto went from more restrictive to todays MMA format - although there are still slight differences).
Anyway, I would think that the notion that Shooto is primarily a grappling art derives from the 80's when it was founded as a style, and early pro sports days before ground stikes were allowed.
Today, Shooto gyms in Japan train mostly in Thai, BJJ, boxing, and your basic no-gi submission grappling(catch?)
Bart Vale is a dumb ass for stunting shootfightings growth. After he copyrighted the term alot of shootfighters started tearing up MMA but they were calling it Submission Fighting because they couldn't use shootfighting.