Bart Vale

Bart Vale (born May 4, 1957) is an American former kickboxer, mixed martial artist and professional wrestler. He is known for his "old school" American martial arts look, consisting of a mustache, mullet and American flag trunks. Vale began his martial arts training in kenpo in 1970 and later traveled to Japan, where he competed in shoot-style professional wrestling. During his time in Japan, he studied several other martial arts and combined them with shoot wrestling to develop his own hybrid fighting system, which he called "shootfighting". He subsequently co-founded the International Shootfighting Association and promoted shootfighting events in the United States. Vale competed in early Mixed martial arts (MMA) competition and in K-1 Kickboxing. In 2006, Black Belt magazine named him its Full-Contact Fighter of the Year and part of its Hall of Fame.

Bart Vale (born May 4, 1957) is an American former kickboxer, mixed martial artist and professional wrestler. He is known for his "old school" American martial arts look, consisting of a mustache, mullet and American flag trunks. Vale began his martial arts training in kenpo in 1970 and later traveled to Japan, where he competed in shoot-style professional wrestling. During his time in Japan, he studied several other martial arts and combined them with shoot wrestling to develop his own hybrid fighting system, which he called "shootfighting". He subsequently co-founded the International Shootfighting Association and promoted shootfighting events in the United States. Vale competed in early Mixed martial arts (MMA) competition and in K-1 Kickboxing. In 2006, Black Belt magazine named him its Full-Contact Fighter of the Year and part of its Hall of Fame. ==Career== Bart Vale began his martial arts training in 1970 with kenpo. He later traveled to Japan where he was a professional wrestler in the Pro Wrestling Fujiwara Gumi (a shoot-style organization, promoting pro wrestling matches with realistic grappling and striking) champion for close to three years. He was trained by Joe Malenko. In Japan, he also studied a number of other styles and used his training in martial arts, including kenpo, kickboxing, jujutsu and Muay Thai, and shoot wrestling to create a hybrid martial art that combined striking and grappling, naming it "shootfighting", term frequently used in Japan to describe legitimate shoot-style wrestling fighting. Back on the United States, he founded the "Tigers & Dragon Karate Gym" to teach his martial arts, including shootfighting. He co-founded the International Shootfighting Association and, by 1992¹, Shootfighting events involving Vale's students were being held in Miami as part of a Pro Wrestling Fujiwara Gumi show, and Vale promoted the "Shootfighting World Championships". Vale also received American media exposure before the UFC's first event, including a feature on MTV and later profiles in Sports Illustrated. Vale began participating in events for Fighting Network Rings (a shoot-style professional wrestling organization by then) in March 1993. He appeared in five matches for Rings, four of which took place during the organization's pro wrestling period. Rings began promoting mixed martial arts bouts rather than shoot-style works in 1995. Back in the United States, Vale started competing in early MMA, at the time called NHB, representing shootfighting. In events, he was introduced as "the man who beat Ken Shamrock", in reference to a pro wrestling bout that occurred in Pro Wrestling Fujiwara Gumi on May 15, 1992. In October 1995, Vale competed in the World Combat Championships. In the first round of the tournament he defeated Mike Bitonio via first-round submission. Fighting at 260 lbs, Vale outweighed Bitonio by 45 lbs. Vale was to face Renzo Gracie in the semifinals, but wasn't able to continue due to head lacerations. He had two further MMA bouts, in which he lost to Kazunari Murakami and Dan Severn. He also competed in the K-1 kickboxing promotion twice. In 1996, he was invited into the 1996 K-1 World Grand Prix and was defeated by Andy Hug. His next bout, against Nobuaki Kakuda in 1998, also ended in defeat. In 2006, Black Belt magazine named Vale its "Full-Contact Fighter of the Year", being inducted to its Hall of Fame and recognized as an MMA pioneer. ==Kickboxing record== |- | | Loss | Nobuaki Kakuda |K-1 Japan '98 Kamikaze |Tokyo, Japan |TKO (doctor stoppage) |align="center"|1 |align="center"|2:09 |0-2 | |- | | Loss | Andy Hug |K-1 Grand Prix '96 Opening Battle |Yokohama, Japan |TKO (3 knockdowns) |align="center"|1 |align="center"|2:24 |0-1 | |- |- | colspan=10 | Legend: ==Mixed martial arts record== |- | Loss |align=center| 1–2 |Dan Severn |TKO (doctor stoppage) |CFA 1: Collision at the Crossroads | |align=center|2 |align=center|0:36 |Corinth, Mississippi, United States | |- | Loss |align=center| 1–1 |Kazunari Murakami |TKO (punches) |Extreme Fighting 3 | |align=center|1 |align=center|4:37 |Tulsa, Oklahoma, United States | |- | Win |align=center| 1–0 |Mike Bitonio |Submission (arm-triangle choke) |World Combat Championship 1: First Strike | |align=center|1 |align=center|7:10 |Charlotte, North Carolina, United States | ==See also== Shootfighting Shoot wrestling Mixed martial arts ==References== ==External links== Official K-1 profile YouTube

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