Masahiko Kimura

In the Korean film about Rikidozan released in 2004, Kimura is portrayed by Masakatsu Funaki but his surname is written Imura rather than Kimura.

Kimura died on April 18, 1993, after a long battle with lung cancer. He was 75 years old.

On December 8, 1963, while partying in a Tokyo nightclub, Rikidōzan was stabbed with a urine-soaked blade by gangster Katsushi Murata who belonged to the ninkyō dantai Sumiyoshi-ikka. He died a week later of peritonitis on December 15. Kimura's participation in the incident was suspected, as he is quoted in his autobiography as saying: "I could not forgive his treachery. That night, I received a phone call informing me that several ten yakuza are on their way to Tokyo to kill Rikidozan." However, Japanese author Toshiya Masuda would release in 2011 the book Why Kimura Didn't Kill Rikidozan, in which this theory is dismissed.

Kimura went to Brazil again in 1959 to conduct his last professional wrestling tour, and he was challenged by Waldemar Santana to a "real" (not choreographed) submission match. Santana, a champion in jiu-jitsu and capoeira managed by Carlson Gracie, was 27 years old, 6 feet tall, and weighed 205 lb, 40 lbs more than Masahiko, and had knocked out Hélio Gracie in a fight lasting more than three hours. Carlson and Santana declared not to be afraid of Kimura, which Kimura answered by letting the press witness his trainings at Academia Cinelândia, where he allowed partners to try to choke him and smiled while they failed. The Gracie side proposed a grappling match followed by a rematch under vale tudo rules ten days later, with Kimura accepting both. It was also suggested a match against Carlson, but the latter declined due to a hand injury.

In the early 1950s, Kimura founded Kokusai Pro Wrestling Association. He was also invited by Rikidōzan to compete as a professional wrestler in his Japan Pro Wrestling Association. They performed both as tag team partners and as opponents, but Kimura was not marketed or publicized as much as Rikidōzan. The Rikidōzan vs. Kimura match for the Japanese Professional Wrestling Heavyweight title was the first high-profile match, but, according to Kimura, it didn't go as planned, being one of the earliest examples of a shoot in modern professional wrestling.

In 1949, after touring for Hawaii, Kimura and his troupe formed by judoka Toshio Yamaguchi and Yukio Kato went to Brazil after an invitation by the Sao Paulo Shimbun. There they were challenged by Hélio Gracie of the Gracie Jiu Jitsu. Gracie proposed a match under what would be known as the "Gracie Rules", in which throws and pins would not count towards victory, with only submission or loss of consciousness. This played against judo rules in which pins and throws can award someone a victory, but they accepted nonetheless. Kato was the first to accept the challenge, drawing with Hélio Gracie in their match at the Maracana stadium. However, he lost to Gracie by gi choke in the rematch at the Ibirapuera in Sao Paulo. Hélio proposed to continue with the challenge, and Yamaguchi appointed himself the next to fight. Kimura, however, volunteered to fight in his place. The bout between Gracie and Kimura took place again in the Maracana stadium, before an audience of 20,000 people, including president of Brazil Getúlio Vargas. The expectation was such that, according to a source, Kimura had been warned by the Japanese embassy that he would not be welcomed back in Japan if he lost the match. Kimura was received in the arena with raw eggs and insults by the Brazilian crowds, and the Gracie challengers brought a coffin to symbolize Kimura would be dead, just like they had done with Kato. At the start of the match, Hélio tried to throw him down with osoto gari and ouchi gari, but Kimura blocked them and scored multiple throws by ouchi gari, harai goshi, uchi mata and ippon seoi nage. However, Helio Gracie was able to perform ukemi thanks to the soft mat used in competitions, so Kimura couldn't subdue him by throwing alone. The judoka started planning a way to win between throw and throw, and at the second round he took the fight to the ground, pinning Gracie with kuzure-kami-shiho-gatame. After a number of holds by the Japanese, including kesa-gatame, sankaku-jime and do-jime, the Brazilian looked unable to breathe under Kimura, but he persevered until he tried to switch position by pushing with his arm. At that moment, Kimura seized the limb and executed gyaku-ude-garami. Hélio did not surrender, and Kimura rotated the arm until it broke. As Gracie still refused to give up, Masahiko twisted the arm further and broke it again. Finally, when the judoka was about to twist it a third time, Gracie's corner threw the towel, and Kimura was declared winner. A crowd of Japanese came and tossed Kimura high in celebration, while doctors treated Hélio's arm. As a tribute to Kimura's victory, the armlock technique he used to defeat Gracie has since been commonly referred to as the Kimura lock, or simply the Kimura, in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and, more recently, mixed martial arts circles.

Kimura's remarkable success can in part be attributed to his fanatical training regimen, managed by his teacher, Tatsukuma Ushijima. Kimura reportedly lost only four judo matches in his lifetime, all occurring in 1935. He considered quitting judo after those losses, but through the encouragement of friends he began training again. He consistently practiced the leg throw osoto gari (large outer reap) against a tree. Daily randori or sparring sessions at Tokyo Police and Kodokan dōjōs resulted in numerous opponents suffering from concussions and losing consciousness. Many opponents asked Kimura not to use his osoto gari.

At the height of his career, Kimura's training involved a thousand push-ups and nine-hours practice every day. He was promoted to 7th dan at age 30, a rank that was frozen after disputes with Kodokan over becoming a professional wrestler, refusing to return the All Japan Judo Championship flag, and issuing dan ranks while in Brazil.

Masahiko Kimura (木村 政彦, Kimura Masahiko, September 10, 1917 – April 18, 1993) was a Japanese judoka and professional wrestler who is widely considered one of the greatest judoka of all time. He won the All-Japan Judo Championships three times in a row for the first time in history and had never lost a judo match from 1936 to 1950. An author said," In the history of judo, no one is the strongest before Kimura and no one is the strongest after Kimura." He has often been described as the strongest judoka in history. In submission grappling, the reverse ude-garami arm lock is often called the "Kimura", due to his famous victory over Brazilian jiu-jitsu founder Hélio Gracie. In the Japanese professional wrestling world, he is known for the controversial match he had with Rikidōzan.

Kimura was born on September 10, 1917, in Kumamoto, Japan. Masahiko Kimura began training Judo at age of 9 and was promoted to yondan (4th dan) at the age of 15 after six years of Judo. He had defeated six opponents (who were all 3rd and 4th dan) in a row. In 1935 at age 18 he became the youngest ever godan (5th degree black belt) when he defeated eight consecutive opponents at Kodokan (headquarters for the main governing body of Judo).