New martial arts sport K-1 makes its American debut in Las Vegas

Americans just love their contact sports -- the bloodier the better.

Look at the way the country turned on and paid-to-view every time former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson stepped into the boxing ring. Television shows such as "American Gladiators" are all the rage. And holiday agendas for traditional family days such as Christmas, Thanksgiving and New Year's are literally planned around football bowl games.

And K-1 USA promotors are counting on America's affinity to watch grown men and women step into a controlled environment to pound each other senseless.

On Friday, K-1, "The New Fighting Sport," makes its American debut in Las Vegas with the K-1 USA Grand Prix Tournament and Super Bout from The Mirage hotel-casino. The coveted seats ($125-$225 a pop) already sold out, while a few ($30, $50 and $75) are still available). Prime Cable will carry the fight on pay-per-view for $19.95.

K-1 USA pits two fighters who come from a variety of martial arts backgrounds -- which, for the most part, begin with the letter 'K': karate, kickboxing, kung fu, tae kwando and boxing -- against each other in a regulation-size boxing ring.

The fighters, wearing boxing gloves, ankle braces, shorts and athletic supporters, kick, hit and knee each other to win. No elbowing, head-butting or kicking or punching to the groin is allowed.

"It's the most telegenic sport out right now," says K-1 USA co-owner and producer Art Davie, the Boulder City man who brought the world Ultimate Fighting. "It's high-contact martial arts. Quite frankly, it has a tremendous audience appeal."

But don't expect the same kind of anarchist event: K-1 has the blessing of the Nevada State Athletic Commission and is wildly popular all over the world, especially in Japan, where it started.

Experts say K-1 is better than Ultimate Fighting, since K-1 fighters are true athletes who are experts in their own martial arts disciplines, and the structure of the sport is different.

"In Ultimate Fighting, you put different fighters in the octagon with no gloves, no rules, no nothing," local martial arts guru, Master Toddy (Thohsaphon Sitiwatjana) says. "The first (event) one was very successful, then after that, it was not so successful because it was violent -- too violent. People watch to see someone get killed, but all the fighters just ended up rolling around on the ground until somebody wins."

The Nevada State Athletic Commission approved K-1 in April, a move that lends an air of officiality to what some hope becomes the next big thing.

According to K-1 rules, fighters never end up on the ground unless they are knocked out. The rules don't allow for holding either. In tournament play, fighters go for three three-minute rounds. A match that ends up getting to the judges shouldn't last more than 12 to 15 minutes. With a 70 percent knock-out rate, a 15-minute bout is a bit unusual.

"Trust me, this is more exciting than any other sport right now," Toddy says. "It's non-stop action and you never know who is going to win."

Before Friday's K-1 Super Bout between K-1 Swiss champion Andy Hug and American kickboxing champion Michael LaBree, eight world-class K-1 fighters, who each hold some kind championship title, will compete in a single-elimination tournament to determine who will go to the '98 World Grand Prix in Japan.

"This isn't like boxing where everyone just wants to watch Mike Tyson knock someone's head off," booking agent Charlie Anzalone says. "It's non-stop action from the minute it starts. Every fight is a main event."

K-1 was born in 1993 when Japanese entrepreneur and top martial artist Master Ishii and Fuji TV staged the "Live UFO," a one-day tournament in which top fighters and masters of varied martial arts disciplines came together to decide once and for all which one was best. The event sold out in one hour and received an unheard-of 3.1 percent rating share on Japanese television, even though it was broadcast at 2:30 a.m.

During the match, favored fighters lost and an unknown took the title. Since then, K-1 fighting has enjoyed phenomenal success in Japan, South and Central America and parts of Europe. The 1996 K-1 Grand Prix was broadcast during Japan's prime-time hours and received an amazing 20 percent ratings share.

Last year's K-1 Grand Prix, at the 55,000-seat Tokyo Dome, sold out in a little over an hour.

After the Tokyo Dome sell-out, Ishii -- whom Anzalone described as the "Don King of Japan, only a good guy" -- began looking for an American partner to bring K-1 to the United States.

Davie says he and Ishii partnered-up because the time was right to bring K-1 to the American viewing audience.

"Things in the fighting world have been slow with Tyson out (he was suspended from boxing due to his biting of Evander Holyfield's ear during a Las Vegas bout) and we really thought the time was right," Davie says. "American fans will love the fast-moving pace, and these guys punch like the heavy weights."

The Mirage jumped at the opportunity to host the American debut in its 4,000-seat grand ballroom, where 18 other prize fights have been held since 1988.

Anzalone says that 40 million people will watch the K-1 USA Grand Prix Tournament and Super Bout on Fuji TV, with another million satellite dish owners paying-to-view in Europe and North and South America through Viewer's Choice, DirectTV and Star Communications.

Basic Training

For the last three months, LaBree has been preparing for his K-1 USA Super Bout against the 5-foot-11, 217-pound, Swedish-born Andy Hug. LaBree's five-hour-a-day workout includes running up and down mountains, pumping iron and sparring with a variety of martial artists and traditonal boxers near his home in Cable, Wis.

"I just get my heart going and my muscles working until I am in pain," the 6-foot-3, 218-pounder says. "Then, when I get into the ring and the real pain sets in, I won't even notice it."

LaBree is a former Toughman Tournament winner whose courage in the kickboxing ring became legendary in 1993 when he beat Russian champion Vladimir Kildakoff with both a broken sternum, broken fingers and both eyes nearly swollen shut during the ninth round of a kickboxing match. He is looking forward to his first official K-1 USA fight.

"In K-1, you can use all your weapons-- hands, feet, knees," he says. "And I'm going to, too. He (Hug) may have the (K-1) technique, but when all the talk is done, it comes down to war."

The beauty of K-1, experts say, is the strength of the athletes and the surprises that happen during the fights.

All of the fighters in the K-1 USA Grand Prix Tournament are more than six feet tall and weigh in at around 215 pounds. All are avid students of the martial arts and all of them want an opportunity to fight in the K-1 Grand Prix in Japan.

"You can have one guy who is the favorite, but when they get into the ring," you never know what will happen," Master Toddy says. "You can have one guy going in for a punch to the face and boom, the other one kicks him in the leg and whack, he's knocked down. You never know what is going to happen."

It's all action

In addition to all the traditional boxing moves such as jabs, right hooks, left hooks, fake rights and fake lefts, K-1 audiences will be able to see the "Crocodile Whip the Tail," in which a fighter throws himself one foot first through the air to snap around and kick an opponent's head. The move was made famous by its inventor, the late Bruce Lee, who wields it throughout most of his films.

"It's a spinning back kick," Master Toddy says.

The "Ax Kick," in which the fighter kicks his leg straight-up to the face, is another popular move in K-1. When a contender is really out for blood, they will use the puncture kick, "a very hard kick to the leg that lifts the guy right up into the air," sometimes breaking bones instantly, Master Toddy says.

"The way to tell how much skill a fighter has is to watch the hands and watch the feet," he says. "One thing is for sure: you will see two skilled fighters in that ring."

One on every corner

Karate, kung fu, tae kwando and kickboxing continue to grow in popularity in the United States. Martial arts films are enjoying a kitschy kind of popularity, and Jean Claude Van Damme continues to amaze movie fans with his Hollywood kung fu fighting.

"These guys are the real Van Dammes of the world," Anzalone says. "He's (Van Damme) just acting, but these guys will really go in there and kick ass. We have a martial arts studio on every corner; kids really look up to these guys as their icons."

Sony PlayStation, a co-sponsor of the K-1 USA Grand Prix and Super Bout, already has a K-1 game up and running.

"Women can really appreciate it (K-1) too," Toddy, who owns two kickboxing studios in Las Vegas, says, noting that more than 50 percent of his students are women who are no longer just looking for self-defense techniques and exercise. "Now they are out there competing in the ring."

Next big thing?

Master Toddy says he is confident that K-1 will catch fire with the public. "If people watch this, they are goingto like it," he says. "I'd love to see this sport grow, and with (Marc) Ratner (executive director of the Nevada State Athletic Commission) behind it, they can make it respectable."

But the American sports cognoscenti still haven't decided whether to get behind K-1.

"It's still too new," Bobby Clay, Sport Illustrated magazine's senior editor for boxing, says. "We're going to monitor it for a while, see how the public reacts. We can't predict anything, but you never know. Who could have predicted Beanie Babies would be what they are?"

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