Karl Gotch

Karel Istaz (August 3, 1924 – July 28, 2007), best known by his ring name Karl Gotch, was a Belgian-American professional wrestler, amateur wrestler, catch wrestler, and trainer.

He represented Belgium at the 1948 Summer Olympics in both freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling.

In Japan, Gotch is known as the "God of Wrestling" due to his influence on Japanese professional wrestling.

He significantly influenced the development of modern mixed martial arts (MMA).

His students established pioneering MMA promotions and training schools to transmit Gotch's training.

These include Shooto and Pancrase (both of which predate the UFC), RINGS, and PRIDE, one of the most popular MMA promotions in history.

He was given the ringname "Gotch" by Ohio promoter Al Haft in honor of American wrestler Frank Gotch.

Istaz was born in Antwerp, Belgium to a Hungarian father and German mother.

He grew up in Antwerp, on the waterfront.

He learned Greco-Roman wrestling in his early years and from the beginning he was a very well known sportsman.

He wrestled in "The Hippodroom", a notable sports center in Antwerp, where amateur bouts like boxing matches, savate matches and wrestling matches were fought.

Istaz excelled in amateur wrestling and experienced a major breakthrough in his career by competing as Karel Istaz for Belgium in the 1948 Olympics in both freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling.

Gotch also trained in pehlwani, an Indian style of wrestling.

This training led to Istaz's regime of calisthenic bodyweight exercise, which were used by Indian wrestlers to build leg endurance and strength, such as the bridge, Hindu squats, and Hindu press ups.

Gotch's philosophy was later passed on to several of his students.

Istaz's professional wrestling career began after training at Riley's Gym (later dubbed "The Snake Pit"), run by the renowned catch wrestler Billy Riley.

He debuted in the 1950, wrestling throughout Europe under the ring name Karl Krauser, and winning various titles including the German Heavyweight Championship and the European Championship.

In the late 1950s, Istaz moved to the United States, and began wrestling as Karl Gotch.

In the United States, Gotch's wrestling style and lack of showmanship held him back, and he did not experience any great popularity at the time.

During the 1960s, Gotch continued to travel.

In 1961, he won the American Wrestling Alliance (Ohio) World Heavyweight Championship.

Gotch held the belt for two years before dropping the title to Lou Thesz, one of the few American wrestlers he respected because of the similarities of their styles (the two also share a German/Hungarian heritage).

In 1962, Gotch was involved in a backstage altercation with the then-NWA World Heavyweight Champion "Nature Boy" Buddy Rogers, in which Rogers was injured.

The incident alienated Gotch from American promoters, and he began looking for work in Japan.

He wrestled in Australia as Karl Krauser, and in 1965 he defeated Spiros Arion to win the International Wrestling Alliance's Heavyweight Championship.

He had also begun working in Japan, where he became very popular due to his amateur wrestling style.

He returned to the United States for a stint in the 1970s, with a brief run in the World Wide Wrestling Federation from August 1971 to February 1972.

Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, Gotch worked as both the booker and trainer for NJPW.

He trained several wrestlers in Japan, including Hideki Suzuki, Hiro Matsuda, Satoru Sayama, Osamu Kido, Barry Darsow, Minoru Suzuki, Tatsumi Fujinami, Akira Maeda, and Yoshiaki Fujiwara.

Istaz was married to Ella, and had a daughter, Janine.

They resided in Florida until his death.

Karl Gotch became known as a "God" (神様, Kami-sama) in Japan.

Gotch's wrestling style, alongside fellow hooker Lou Thesz, had a big impact on Inoki, who adopted and popularized his submission-based style.

On December 6, 1971, he teamed with Rene Goulet to win the WWWF World Tag Team Championship from the inaugural champions, Luke Graham and Tarzan Tyler, in two straight falls of a best-two-out-of-three-falls match in Madison Square Garden.

They lost the championship on February 1, 1972, to Baron Mikel Scicluna and King Curtis.

He wrestled in the main event of the very first show held by New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) on March 6, 1972, defeating Antonio Inoki.

His final match occurred on January 1, 1982, when he pinned Yoshiaki Fujiwara with the German suplex.

Some of Istaz's trainees founded the Universal Wrestling Federation in Japan in 1984, which showcased the shoot-style of professional wrestling.

The success of UWF and similar promotions influenced Japanese wrestling in subsequent decades, and changed the style of matches in NJPW and All Japan Pro Wrestling.

Gotch also influenced the development of mixed martial arts (MMA) through his students including Antonio Inoki, Satoru Sayama, Minoru Suzuki, Masakatsu Funaki, Akira Maeda, and Nobuhiko Takada.