MartialArtsfan wrote,
"Shonie Carter may fight in MMA, as Kimura, Maeda and Mas Oyama did. Still, all these fighters 100% traditional martial artists"
Excerpted from Kimura's autobiography "My Judo" link can be found here.
http://www.judoinfo.com/kimura2.htm
In those days, there was a black boxer named T. He was a big man weighing about 100kg, and has won a pro title. He was the best boxer in the US Marine Corps. "I am no match to you in judo, but in boxing, you will never beat me." He boasted. One day I practiced boxing with him. Since I was trained in Karate, I thought "Even though I cannot kick as in karate, it is similar to karate. So, I would be OK." But the result was miserable. I took blows after blows. In a few minutes, my head started to "ring", and got knocked down. I also took a lot of body blows, and I was completely groggy. It was not even to be called a match since I closed my eyes even when his glove lightly passed in front of my eyes. This boxing practice was like a fight between an adult and a child. I covered my aching head and body, and thought, "If I did not know this type of fighting in addition to judo, I would not be able to defend myself from a danger."
Kimura definitely understood the necessity of cross training his traditional martial arts experience with other arts.