Talk about it here.

This was awesome. Kanehara makes a surprisingly great showing against Han and there are some amazing things being done here. I also love the overhead camera view because it’s really the best way to film the details behind some of these holds. This is not really a striking encounter at all. Both guys stay on the mat until the last couple of minutes, which makes Kanehara’s ability to hang with Han doubly impressive. I like whatever the hold is where he’s mounting him, along with him seeming to have the answer to Han’s usual seamless counters. Han grabs Kanehara’s ankle for dear life and won’t let go, even with Kanehara trying every counter he can out of it. Kanehara is not as graceful as Han (very few are), so a few things he does look slightly awkward, but in a way that works within the match too. Kanehara threw some really hard slaps at Han to take him off his feet. Han just casually slides into an amazing ankle/half crab position face first on the mat, which earns him a submission. Wonderful display from both guys.

Another great match. Han was just a master here. Loved his vicious arm takedowns in the beginning. There's this great spot where Han temporarily breaks his clasp while defending against an arm bar to move his left arm to the other side of Kanehara's leg to counter out of it. There's another particularly great spot where Han beautifully counters out of a knee bar leading into a great struggle over an arm bar. Ending minutes are cool where Kanehara tries to transition it into striking but Han keeps trying to take it to the mat, ending with Han countering a kick into an ankle lock for the win. Kanehara looked good here but Han showed why he's an all time great on the mat.

Kanehara --- > Shibata --- > Dave Meltzer

 

Two guys that Dave Meltzer loves but I could do without and be just fine.

 

By January 1999, even Volk Han matches were trying to be more realistic, to fit with the legit shoots of RINGS and the increasing “realness” of the works. For Tsuyoshi Kohsaka, Kiyoshi Tamura, and even Yoshihisa Yamamoto, this isn’t a problem, but for a guy with as many awesome mat high spots as Han, it can create a quality drop, especially considering the high quality output from 1995-1998.

 

In the early to mid-90’s, Han was able to take almost all the Japanese, most Russians, and some European kickboxers and produce their career match. But as Han’s age kept creeping towards 40 and RINGS continued their slow evolution from all works to no works, something had to give.

 

This match is an example of something giving. It certainly isn’t bad. But it also isn’t great. This is disappointing since I’m not sure there has been another wrestler in history who produced such high quality almost every time out. Volk Han – meet Barry Bonds. They aren’t able to go through a lot of points, something Han specialized at doing extremely well and very logically within the psychology of the RINGS style. Kanehara is okay on the mat and is a decent striker, but it was very clear Han was guiding him through anything that wasn’t elementary.

 

Kanehara has a chance to redeem himself in March when he goes against Tamura in a match that I am fairly certain I have never seen (“if you haven’t heard it, it’s new to you, if you have, shut up and listen anyway” as the Don and Mike sweeper says). But this and the two Sakuraba matches from Kingdom tell me it will be a solid, if completely unspectacular match.

 

Edit: Also agree with Loss on the top down camera. It's excellent and really helped give the mat work another perspective.

Gotta agree with Tim Cooke here. This had some nice moments but Han looked Fujiwara slow at time. He still had some great submissions and I loved the finish but he wasn't as crisp as he was in 95. Kanehara was fine but kinda bland. Good match.

I loved this match and the use of reach that Han utilized to his vantage. Whenever he was in a compromising position, he used that to regain the advantage and it was awesome to see how Kanehara dealt with that. Han does a great job of making the opponent look dangerous while still feeling like the aggressor throughout the match. ****

Time is catching up with Volk Han here. He's still good, but not the force he was. I didn't buy Kanehara as any kind of threat to him. He didn't have the physicality or the charisma, so it just felt like a workout for the Russian.

Volk, even when mostly dominating, still knows when to throw in a few hope spots for his overmatched opponent, as he as per routine takes a shot and goes down, teasing a KO. That's about as close as Kanehara gets, though. Fun match--better RINGS matches to be sure, but Han was showing his adaptability here as he makes this look more realistic than some of his other dominant carry-jobs that look like exhibitions.

There’s some things in wrestling that I just enjoy, and one of those things is really good shoot-style like this match. RINGS is known as being a pretty great fed for the kind of shoot that I enjoy; the ultra-serious mechanics coupled with piecemeal physical narratives to elevate the matches. Volk Han, the old Soviet cowboy, faces a spry little buzzsaw in Kanehara here, and it’s a great style and strategy clash right away. Han has the power and snap advantage, but Kanehara is more athletic, quicker, and a little bit better at striking. What this leads to is a lot of mind games from Han, baiting Kanehara to fall into traps on the mat where Volk can utilize his advantages. Sometimes, the young man bites and Volk gets to stretch him out. Sometimes, he gets angry and punches Volk in the mouth. It’s a constantly swinging pendulum of momentum that culminates in the wily veteran sneakily applying a submission on the ground out of nowhere and grabbing the victory. A tremendous little slice of athletic shoot.

GREAT

I agree with CheapPop, this was a really interesting match that showed Volk Han's more strategic side. His match with Grom Zaza a few months later is another great example of this. We saw this side of Volk Han in his shoots against Nogueira and Hinkle, so it makes sense we see that here in a more grounded RINGS match. Neither use rope breaks that much as they sort of try to out-grapple each other with some nice wrestling and counterwork. Kanehara appears to be sharper at first, but Volk Han's experience comes into play and he catches Kanehara with one of his trademark SAMBO takedowns for the kneebar finish. A nice taste of Volk Han in a different, more realistic setting. ****1/2