Rickson Gracie: Choke [DVD]

Rickson Gracie "Choke" is more than just a fight video - it captures the anxiety, preparation, and visceral intensity behind the competitors as they prepare for competition. View at the Ultimate Fighting Championship with a much deeper background.The video captures the preparation for, and competition in Vale Tudo Japan 1995, a mixed martial arts competition where almost anything goes. ("Vale Tudo" is Portuguese for "Anything Goes", but the rules are not quite that extreme.)The video takes an in depth look at 3 of the participants.1 - Todd Hays is an all around gifted athlete, with a background in kickboxing. His mixture and fear are apparent as he attempts to use this event to pay for his Olympic bobsleading dreams.2 - Koichiro Kimura is a Japanese amateur shootfighting champion, who wants nothing more than to test himself against the best. You get to meet his parents, who are affraid he'll die in the ring.3 - Rickson Gracie is the defending champion, as well as the best of the famous Gracie family. It's no suprise that he gets the lion's share of the publicity.In addition to the gritty reality of the fighting, you're introduced to some humorous back scene footage: Rickson's desire for a belt in addition to a trophy brings some chuckles, as does his last minute desire to hit the restroom. A near blind Yuki Nakai is both valiant and funny when he screams, "Rickson, I'm coming for you!"If you're looking for a technique video, this is not it. If you're looking for 2 hours of fighting from the best guys out there today, again this is not the video. If you're looking to understand the mind of the fighter, in the context of the ring, this is the only DVD out there. I was rivited from start to finish.

The film centers on the 1995 Vale Tudo World Fighting Championships in Tokyo. We see snapshots of the lives of three of the competitors -- Rickson Gracie (the defending champion), Todd Hays (an American kickboxer) and Koichiro Kimura. Although for fans of NHB (no hold barred) fighting the tournament itself is fun to watch, I think many viewers will appreciate this background. If you're a fan of MMA (mixed martial arts), you've probably seen lots of the action. But knowing a bit about what these competitors are like as himan beings, why they are there (there are some surprises on both points), gives context to the whole event and makes it much more engaging.The tournament itself features eight (8) fighters in a single elimination tournament. In addition to seeing the fights, we also see competitors back in the locker room, where the tension is palpable. The fights themselves are engaging. Fans of MMA will see that the sport has evolved, and these fighters show they have been students of the very early contests, but they are not as well-rounded as the fighters of today.If you have more than a casual interest in MMA, you will enjoy this film. If you are just looking for bloody brawls, get a tape of knockouts.

Awesome DVD thank you

This documentary covers the preparation of Rickson Gracie for the Vale Tudo tournament held in Japan. It contained some good interviews with him and with the other top competitors. Of course Rickson won the tournament, and all his wins were via the rear naked choke. I am assuming this is why the documentary is called Choke.I wish Rickson Gracie would have competed in the UFC. After Royce Gracie, we wish some new Gracie's would participate and continue their family's legacy. The difference today is that most competitors know Jiu Jitsu quite well. If the Gracies improve their stand up fighting, they will be unmatched in the UFC.

This movie is an excellent, and far more realistic view, of no-holds-barrred fighting. The movie follows the life of Rickson Gracie (pronounced Hickson), and his training and philosophy for fighting. In short, the viewers are given a glimpse into a man, who could probably be classified as the most complete fighter in the world, laughing and enjoying the company of his family and friends.Then, after learning about Rickson and his training regiment, the producers of this film track the training and philosophy of other men who are scheduled to fight Rickson in a winner-take-all tournament in Japan. They all have different motives, different things that they are putting on the line, different styles, but only one man will come out on top.This is a must see for fight fans and for people who enjoy good documentaries.

I bought this DVD some time back because Rickson Gracie is just awesome, one of my idols after the UFC made Gracie Jiu jitsu a household name among martial artists. Although this DVD is a documentary and does not have full fights, it's still good DVD to have for all martial artists, and Gracie fans. See how Rickson trains and prepares himself, and his thoughts before and during the tournament. I think it's a must have DVD because it shows one of the greatest in his prime. And you can also see how other fighers feels about fighting Rickson.

This is an excellent DVD! Much better than I expected it to be. The production quality is excellent. The story gives a lot of insight into Rickson Gracie's approach to training; some insights that I didn't have before depsite the fact that I am familiar with Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. There were also insights into the backgrounds, motivations, and training approaches of the other fighters as well. I thoroughly enjoyed watching the DVD and will likely watch it several times over.

This video is very good from a couple of different view points. It shows the human side of the fighters and the reasons why they have chosen to fight. It shows the families and the concerns and support they have for the fighters. This video also shows how different styles of martial arts stack up to each other. In particular you can see how Rickson Gracie and Brazilian Jujitsu completely dominate the tournament. This is a very good video and I would recomend it to all martial artist.