Lyoto Machida Shores Up Karate's Reputation
Yet not long after karate’s commercial popularity skyrocketed, its reputation among serious martial artists was dealt a big blow. In 1993, at the first U.F.C., Royce Gracie, the tournament’s smallest competitor and a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt, cruised through the competition by quickly wrestling his opponents to the ground and choking them until they quit.
My father helped instill in me a great affection for boxing. And the single losing year I spent as a wrestler in high school was more memorable than my years on the football, lacrosse, and track teams combined.
But my first achievement in combat sports was my black belt in karate (April 1981!). And the success of Lyoto Machida, a karate AND BJJ black belt, makes me that much less embarrassed to say so.
