title: Louise of the Netherlands

texts:
<mask> of the Netherlands (Wilhelmina Frederika Alexandrine <mask>; 5 August 1828 – 30 March 1871) was Queen of Sweden and Norway as the wife of King Charles XV & IV. Youth
Princess <mask> was born on 5 August 1828 in The Hague. Her father was Prince Frederick of the Netherlands, the second child of King William I of the Netherlands and Wilhelmina of Prussia. Her mother <mask> was the eighth child of King Frederick William III of Prussia and <mask> of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. Her education was to large extent entrusted to her Belgian governess Victoire Wauthier, and she studied French, German, English, Russian and piano. In 1849, <mask> was selected as a suitable spouse for Crown Prince Charles, the son of King Oscar I of Sweden and Norway and Josephine of Leuchtenberg. The marriage was arranged after the negotiations to arrange a marriage between Charles and her cousin Princess <mask> of Prussia had failed.King Oscar I of Sweden wished to secure royal family connections between the new Bernadotte dynasty and the old royal dynasties of Europe, and a Protestant princess was also seen as a necessary queen of the Protestant Sweden-Norway after two Catholic predecessors. <mask> fulfilled these credentials, and a great dowry was expected from the rich House of Orange-Nassau. Cabinet secretary L Manderström was sent to inspect her, and diplomatically let it be known in his report that <mask> had an excellent education and a good character but that she was not attractive. In August 1849, a meeting was arranged between <mask> and Charles in the Hague. Reportedly, <mask> fell in love with Charles and felt an immediate attraction, while Charles in contrast was disappointed in her appearance. Charles, however, was convinced to agree to the marriage by the King. The engagement was officially declared in February 1850.The expectations of her great fortune was debated in Sweden, both in the parliament during the discussions about the allowance, and in the radical press, who suggested that the monarch would now be able to finance the construction of the Swedish rail road net by himself. In reality, however, her dowry turned out to be very small. During the engagement, <mask> studied the Swedish language and history; she never learnt Norwegian, however. Because the Dutch government had supported the marriage, she did not have to renounce her rights to the Dutch throne upon her marriage. Crown princess

<mask> left Germany by a Swedish boat from Travemünde and arrived to Sweden with her parents and sister Marie, who were present at her wedding. Princess <mask> and Crown Prince Charles married at Storkyrkan in Stockholm on 19 June 1850. She was given Countess Elisabet Piper as her hovmästarinna (senior lady-in-waiting) and Ottiliana Sparre and Ulrika Sprengsporten as maids-of-honor.After the wedding, her father-in-law the King took her on a tour through Sweden to introduce her to the country. The relationship between <mask> and Charles was unhappy. The couple had dissimilar personalities, with <mask> being introverted, shy and with a preference for a simple life, and Charles extraverted and with a love for parties and social life. <mask> was reportedly unhappily in love with Charles, who found her unattractive and was unfaithful to her, which pained her considerably. From 1852 until 1860, Charles had a relationship with Josephine Sparre, maid of honor to <mask>, which caused a scandal. Sparre was described as so dominant that the Crown Princess and her maid of honor was said to have changed places with each other and <mask> being the lady-in-waiting to Josephine Sparre rather than the other way around. Fritz von Dardel described Sparre: "The lady in question is a great favorite of the Crown Prince as well as with the Crown Princess, and she governs them both entirely in everything about their daily life.Gifted with an unusual talent to please and make herself indispensable, she has managed to capture the Crown Prince to a strange degree." <mask> was given sympathy and Charles was considered to be treating her with neglect. A known episode which attracted attention took place at the birthday garden party of <mask> at Drottningholm Palace in 1857, when the Crown Prince proposed a toast to his "secret love" with both <mask> and Josephine Sparre present. This caused a scene, and his brother, Prince Oscar, reprimanded him indirectly by asking his own spouse, <mask> of Nassau, to toast with him. This scene caused <mask> to burst into tears and suffer a nervous attack. <mask> bore two children; Princess <mask> in 1851, and Prince Carl Oscar in 1852. Due to complications that arose at the birth of Prince Carl Oscar, <mask> was unable to have any more children.In 1854, her 2-year-old son, Carl Oscar, died of pneumonia. As the Salic law prevailed at that time in Sweden (having been introduced by the constitution of 1809), <mask>'s daughter was not eligible to ascend the throne. Charles was very chagrined and disappointed because this meant that his progeny would not be the next monarch of Sweden; his heir would be his brother Oscar. <mask> offered Charles a divorce so he could remarry and produce a male heir, but he declined the offer. Crown Princess <mask> was not considered a social success, and her timid and shy nature was not appreciated in society because of her official position. Between 1857 and 1859, Crown Prince Charles was named regent during the incapacity of his father, and she took over the representational duties of first lady from her mother-in-law. During her spouse's reign as prince regent, she was described in the well-known court chronicle of Fritz von Dardel:
"A more lovable and talented woman would have entirely recreated the atmosphere in this circle and also exerted a good influence upon the Prince, who, of a good nature, easily let himself be led by those he likes, especially women.Although good, dutiful and not one to plot, the crown princess lacks higher qualities. She is a good housewife but thinks only of her husband, herself and those closest to her and she has not the good influence on him which her good character gives her the right to have. Because of her inborn shyness, she lacks the courage to meddle in his affairs, and her only wish is to gain his love. With one word; she seems not mature enough for her great task". Queen

<mask> became Queen of Sweden and Norway at the death of her father-in-law on 8 July 1859. She was the first queen of the union of Sweden-Norway to be crowned in both Sweden and Norway, as Norway had refused to crown her two predecessors because they were Catholics. <mask> was crowned Queen of Sweden in Stockholm on 3 May 1860 and Queen of Norway in Trondheim on 5 August 1860.She was the first queen to be crowned in Norway since the Middle Ages. <mask> was very celebrated in Norway during her stay there. <mask> exerted no influence upon state affairs whatsoever, nor did she show any ambition to do so. The fact that she did not meddle in politics was seen as a good role model and was favorably compared to previous queens who had, such as her predecessor, Queen Josephine, and this view is described in a contemporary encyclopedia from 1864: "At last, the two kingdoms can rejoice in the blessing of again having a Queen, who does not proceed the governmental power with her own thoughts, but calmly observes the natural process through King and legitimate authority. Loved by the Swedish people, she has enough opportunity for her noble wish to occupy herself in charity". She did not lack political views, however: she disliked the parliamentary reform of 1865, and she did not share the anti-German view of Charles. <mask> preferred to use her royal position for philanthropy, which was also expected of a female member of the royalty and upper class.<mask> was interested in music and history, and took piano lessons from the Swedish pianist Adolf Fredrik Lindblad. She translated work from English and Dutch into Swedish, which she sold for charitable purposes. <mask> and her daughter were students of Nancy Edberg, the pioneer of swimming for women: swimming was initially not regarded as being entirely proper for females, but when the Queen and her daughter Princess <mask> supported it by attending the lessons from 1862, swimming quickly became fashionable and accepted for women. <mask> employed Sweden's first female dentist, Rosalie Fougelberg, as her official personal dentist in 1867. Among her own personal friends was Aurore von Haxthausen, who was her maid of honor her entire time as queen, as well as Countess Stefanie Hamilton, who served as her Mistress of the Robes in 1859–60: the correspondence of <mask> and Stefanie Hamilton is preserved. She also kept in contact with her family and her old governess by correspondence. Queen <mask> preferred a quiet and anonymous family life and preferred to avoid ceremonial and representational duties whenever she could, some times by pretending to be ill. King Charles, however, did not like to appear without her at formal occasions and occasionally forced her to be present.On one occasion, he is known to have said to her that she would have to attend, otherwise: "The old women might think there is something wrong with you!" In 1866, for example, Charles made her open the General Industrial Exposition of Stockholm (1866) in his place. King Charles XV loved parties and masquerades, and his court life at Ulriksdal Palace was compared that at Versailles and was in some circles considered to shame the name of the monarchy, expressed by the vicar <mask> Bruun in 1881: "It still causes as shiver that the highest power of the church was placed in the hands of this degenerated King, who has filled the whole nation with talk of his debauched life." <mask> was given an important part to play in his court life as the Queen, and upon the death of Queen Dowager Desirée, who had occupied the Queen's wing in the Stockholm Royal Palace until her death in 1860, Charles redecorated it for <mask> and had a luxurious Venetian Mirror hall made to her reception room, which was much talked about (it was later removed by his successor). Her court was headed by Wilhelmina Bonde almost her entire tenure as queen. Reportedly, <mask> suffered from her spouse's adultery and did her best to compete with her rivals and entertain him, and her mother-in-law advised her to remove and marry away her maids of honor when Charles became attracted to them. Charles had a relationship with Hanna Styrell from 1860 until 1869 and with Wilhelmine Schröder from 1869 until his death, except from his more temporary relationships.Charles was very fond of their daughter; however, <mask> was worried that he treated their daughter too much like a son at a time  when gender roles were considered extremely important, allowing her more freedom than what was considered to be suitable for a female at that time. <mask> suffered from bad health. On at least one occasion, during a boat trip on Mälaren, she suffered some kind of a fit (possibly an epileptic seizure from contemporary descriptions), which was interpreted to have been a hysterical reaction to her husband's neglect. The court gathered to conceal her from public view, and the King quickly took her below deck. In this issue, it is reported that: "Lovisa could at any time faint and in connection to this, she could have what is called nerve- or cramp-attacks". In 1864, during a visit to court by a former lover of Charles, Josephine Sparre, Fritz von Dardel noted: "Initially the Queen is said to have felt worried for this visit; one evening, Her Majesty was about to have convulsions in the billiard hall, but this they attempted to conceal by claiming that it was caused by her chamberlain Liljenkrantz, who was supposed to have pushed her accidentally with his billiard pole..."

In 1870, Queen <mask> visited the Netherlands to be present at the death bed of her mother. Upon her return to Stockholm, Charles XV fell sick and she nursed him.Exhausted, she contracted pneumonia during a walk by carriage. On her death bed, she had long conversations with her family, which have been described as dramatic. Her daughter claimed: "It was as if mother exposed her entire life to us". <mask> asked Charles to forgive her everything in which she could have failed him, to which he responded by accusing himself, after which both he and his mother Josephine reportedly fainted because they were so moved. <mask> died on 30 March 1871. Issue
Louisa and Charles had two children together:
 Princess <mask> (31 October 1851 – 20 March 1926), later Queen of Denmark
 Prince Carl Oscar, Duke of Södermanland (14 December 1852 – 13 March 1854), who died in infancy

Ancestry

Notes and references

 Svenskt biografiskt handlexikon (1906), Lovisa. Nationalencyklopedin, Lovisa
 Christer Engstrand and Ingmar Andersson.Historiska Personer: Lovisa av Nederländerna. Retrieved 3 October  2004. Lars Elgklou (1978). Bernadotte. Historien – eller historier – om en familj.. Stockholm: Askild & Kärnekull Förlag AB. http://www.historici.nl/Onderzoek/Projecten/DVN/lemmata/data/LouisevanOranjeNassau

Further reading

<mask> 1859
Norwegian royal consorts
Nobility from The Hague
1828 births
1871 deaths
Burials at Riddarholmen Church
House of Orange-Nassau
Princesses of Orange-Nassau
Crown Princesses of Sweden
Crown Princesses of Norway

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title: Ellen Organ

type: original

texts:
<mask> (August 24, 1903 – February 2, 1908), known as Little Nellie of Holy God,  was an Irish child, venerated by some in the Roman Catholic Church for her precocious spiritual awareness and alleged mystical life. Particularly dedicated to the Eucharist, the story of her life inspired Pope Pius X to admit young children to Holy Communion. In 1910, Pope Pius X issued the decree Quam singulari, which lowered the age of Holy Communion for children from 12 years to around 7. Early life

She was born in Waterford City, Ireland, the daughter of <mask> and Mary Ahern: she was the youngest of four children. While baptised <mask>, she was always called Nellie. Her father had been a laborer but earning very little; he had joined the army in 1897. In 1905 he was transferred to Spike Island, an island fort situated in Cork harbour.Here, while the family hoped for better times, <mask>'s mother Mary fell ill, and for over a year she struggled to raise her family as her health declined. In January 1907 she died of tuberculosis. With four children all under the age of nine, William found it impossible to raise them and maintain his job. A helpful neighbour helped from time to time, but he was beginning to feel the strain. Meanwhile, <mask>, already a delicate child, was displaying signs of disability: it seems a serious fall as a baby had left its mark. Her spine had become crooked, her hips and back, out of joint, caused her constant pain and as she grew up she became unable to sit up straight. William finally realised he could not care for the children himself and, in May 1907, he put each of his four children into care.<mask> and her sister Mary were sent first to a hospital run by the Sisters of Mercy – the two girls were found to be suffering from Whooping Cough. Then later they went to Saint Finbarr's Industrial School in Sunday's Well in Cork City, administered by the Good Shepherd Sisters. Life in the orphanage

<mask> lived for eight months under the care of the Good Shepherd Sisters. She spent most of her time in the infirmary. Her religious experiences
She loved to visit the chapel which she called the House of Holy God, and she was fascinated by the statues and images on display, and in particular by the Stations of the Cross. When told the story of the suffering and death of Jesus she burst into tears. It is claimed that she developed a mysterious awareness of the Blessed Sacrament.One story relates how she knew a member of staff had not been to Mass that day, even though the young woman said she had. You did not get Holy God today the child said. This episode and others like it led some Catholics to believe that she had what is referred to as the mystical gift of "discernment". Meanwhile, she began to claim to have visions. She related how she saw Christ – usually as a little child like herself – and the Virgin Mary. On a number of occasions she claimed to have seen the Infant of Prague dancing for her. Her already precocious faith was growing, and those who came to know her testified to her holiness.She so impressed the sisters they began to entertain the possibility of recommending the child for the sacrament of confirmation. Contacting the local bishop, he agreed, and she was confirmed on October 8, 1907. First Communion
The child soon began to ask to receive Holy Communion. At first the sisters hesitated – she was too young for that sacrament. Wondering if she understood what the Eucharist was, they observed her at prayer in the chapel and saw that she was captivated by the tabernacle, which she usually referred to as the lock-up. <mask> had been born in the army barracks, where the prison was called the lock-up. Upon seeing the Eucharist in the tabernacle, she regarded Jesus as the prisoner in the lockup.During Mass when her carers came back from Communion, the child would ask them to kiss her so she could somehow share in their Communion. According to the rules of the Roman Catholic Church no child could receive Communion before a certain age. A four-year-old child was thought to be at least six years too young. The sisters spoke with a Jesuit priest who ministered to the community, and while he was hesitant, he decided to come to speak to the child. After spending some time with her he came to the conclusion that she had reached the age of reason, albeit at an extraordinarily young age. He brought the matter to the bishop's attention who, after thinking about it for a short while, consented, and <mask> made her First Communion on December 6, 1907. Last months

Between December 1907 and February 1908, <mask>'s health declined.She was in constant pain. Given the times, there was little that could be done. The sisters tried to make her as comfortable as possible. Various visitors, including the Bishop of Cork, noticed her fortitude and her intense prayer life. She was constantly happy. At this stage tuberculosis had set in and she was suffering from caries, making it difficult and painful for her to eat. The mouth disease caused a horrible odour which her caregivers treated with disinfectant.She did not complain of the pain this caused her as she instead, holding the crucifix in her small hands, contemplated the pain that Christ endured during the crucifixion, stating, Poor Holy God. Poor Holy God. It was noted by the sisters and nurses that after she began receiving Holy Communion, the smell completely disappeared. All she wanted at this stage was to receive Communion. She was also aware that she was going to die soon, and this did not trouble her: it made her happy – in fact she was looking forward to it. Death

After some four years of life, <mask> died on February 2, 1908. Witnesses said she appeared to see something at the foot of her bed which caused her to smile and her eyes to well with tears.She followed that something with her eyes, looking overhead, when she died. She was buried in Saint Joseph's Cemetery in the city of Cork. When, a year later, In 1909 her body was exhumed, it appeared unchanged from the day of her burial, with her limbs flexible and her dress and Communion veil like new. Her grave in the public cemetery attracted visitors from all over Ireland, as a result of which authorisation was given for her remains to be transferred to the cemetery of the Good Shepherd Sisters. Influence
<mask>'s life story caused her to become known as Little Nellie of Holy God and her fame spread throughout Ireland and beyond, even reaching Pope Pius X in Rome. Her life would prove providential for him. He had been considering lowering the age for the reception of the Eucharist.When he heard of Nellie, he took it as a sign and issued his decree Quam singulari, admitting children to Communion at the age of seven. Numerous books have been written about her, including a major study in French by the friar Bernard des Ronces: Nellie, la petite Violette du Saint Sacrement, morte en odeur de sainteté à l'âge de 4 ans et 5 mois, a book that, according to Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange, "aroused wonder and delight in Pope Pius X". Despite devotion to her over the years, the Catholic Church has not yet opened a cause for her canonisation. Pope Pius X, having read Bernard des Ronces' book, was considering opening a Cause, but his death in 1914 prevented any further development. Her young age had been considered a major factor in not proclaiming her a saint. References

Bibliography
 Authentic Sources compiled in The Life of Little Nellie of Holy God, Tan Books, Rockford, Illinois, 2007. "<mask>", in Ann Ball, Young Faces of Holiness, Our Sunday Visitor Publishing, 2004, p. 45-52.Maire Cotter, Little Nellie of Holy God - A Lily Aflame - On the Life of Nellie <mask>, 1956, 67 pages. Bernard Des Ronces, Nellie, la petite violette du Saint-Sacrement, Maison du Bon Pasteur, Paris, 1908, 240 pages. Sister Mary Dominic, R.G.S., Little Nellie of Holy God Tan Books, 2006. Leo Madigan. 'Miniature: Nellie <mask> 1903–1908. The Definitive Biography.' Fatima-Ophel Books.2011. 318 pages. Leo Madigan, Princesses of the Kingdom: Jacinta Marto and Nellie <mask>, Kolbe Publications, Cork, 2001
 <mask> Collins Saucier, Ellen, My Joy, Xulon Press, 2008, 140 pages. External links
 Abandoned Ireland
 Little Nellies House | Spike Island

1903 births
1908 deaths
Irish Roman Catholics
Wonderworkers
Irish Christian mystics

masks:
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Sarah Ellen


title: Kazushi Sakuraba

texts:
is a Japanese professional wrestler, mixed martial artist and submission wrestler, currently signed to Rizin Fighting Federation and Pro Wrestling Noah, where he is one-half of the former GHC Tag Team Champions with Takashi Sugiura. He has also competed in traditional puroresu for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) and shoot-style competition for UWFi and Kingdom Pro Wrestling (KPW). He has fought in MMA competition in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, Pride Fighting Championships, Hero's and Dream. He is known as the "Gracie Hunter" or the "Gracie Killer" due to his wins over four members of the famed Gracie family: Royler Gracie, Renzo Gracie, Ryan Gracie, and Royce Gracie. <mask> is famous for beating 13 champions of different top MMA organizations; opponents who were often many weight-classes above him. Known for his excellent skills in catch wrestling and unorthodox fighting style, he is considered to be one of the greatest mixed martial art fighters of all time, and also holds notable victories over 7 UFC champions, 3 Pancrase Champions, a DREAM champion, a King of the Cage champion and Battlecade Extreme Fighting champion; former Welterweight Champion Carlos Newton, two former Light heavyweight champions Vitor Belfort and Quinton Jackson, former Heavyweight Champion Kevin Randleman, 3-time UFC Tournament champion Royce Gracie, former Superfight champion and King of Pancrase Ken Shamrock, former  King of Pancrase Masakatsu Funaki, DREAM Super Hulk Tournament Champion Ikuhisa Minowa, former King of the Cage Light Heavyweight champion Vernon White, and former Battlecade Extreme Fighting champion Marcus Silveira. He is also the first of only two Japanese champions in UFC history.<mask>'s Pride fights routinely draw more than  viewers in Japan. <mask> is the founder of the submission wrestling promotion Quintet, where he has competed since 2018. Background
<mask> became a fan of Japanese professional wrestling on his childhood thanks to the Tiger Mask manga, with the eponymous New Japan Pro-Wrestling wrestler Tiger Mask being his favorite. After being convinced against dropping out of high school to pursue professional wrestling, <mask> began a career in amateur wrestling at the age of 15, hoping to gain a useful background to achieve his childhood dream. A high school stand-out, he finished as high as second in the nation before joining the freestyle wrestling squad of Chuo University, a team which had counted Olympic gold medalists Shozo Sasahara and Osamu Watanabe amongst its ranks. He won the East Japan Freshman championship in his first year and served as their team captain thereafter. In his senior year, he finished fourth place in the All-Japan tournament.Amongst his notable wins was one over future Olympic bronze medalist Takuya Ota. Upon graduating from college, <mask> initially thought about remaining with Chuo University as a coach. However, at the last minute, he decided to continue his road to professional wrestling. Professional wrestling
Having weighed  for most of his amateur wrestling career, <mask> was encouraged by his peers to gain weight, as it would be difficult to compete as a smaller fighter in pro wrestling. After working to gain the weight needed to compete, he never wanted to lose it anymore, something that would be reflected in his MMA career. Finding himself attracted by the shoot wrestling movement, which had been by his childhood idol Sayama, <mask> considered joining the mixed martial arts organization Pancrase, but he ultimately chose the promotion Union of Wrestling Forces International, a professional wrestling league that was nonetheless known for its highly technical and realistic-looking bouts. Union of Wrestling Forces International (1993–1996)
His time in the UWF-i would prove to be a formative experience for <mask>.He received his initial instruction in both grappling and striking under main trainer Yoji Anjo, later honing his catch wrestling skills under the tutelage of Billy Robinson. He also trained in muay thai under master Bovy Chowaikung, the main UWF-i striking teacher. Those disciplines would serve as the base of the unorthodox game that would later lead him to success in the Pride Fighting Championships. Over time he became one of Takada's four main trainees, along with Kiyoshi Tamura, Yoshihiro Takayama and Masahito Kakihara. In spite of his amateur pedigree, <mask> was forced to work his way up from the bottom of the UWFi's rung, as it is traditional in puroresu. <mask> lost his debut on August 13, 1993 to Steve Nelson and went winless through his rookie year with the league. It is also popularly alleged that under the eye of Kiyoshi Tamura, he was made to perfectly perform menial chores about the dojo.Still undeterred, <mask> steadily built a working knowledge of submission holds upon his freestyle wrestling base until his efforts were at last rewarded with a win over Mark Silver in October 1994. Though his record remained below .500, <mask> continued to edge his way closer to mid-card status through the rest of the year. Then, in 1995, the UWFi began an interpromotional feud with New Japan Pro-Wrestling. The vast majority of UWF-i workers came out on the losing end of the booking to the larger and more mainstream promotion and <mask> was no exception. He was defeated in high-profile bouts to Tokimitsu Ishizawa, Koji Kanemoto and Shinjiro Otani, bringing <mask> a new level of exposure to the public. The ring psychology and technical prowess he displayed in the bouts also impressed the management of the UWF-i enough that he was finally pushed towards main event status. New Japan's dominance in the feud injured the marketability of the UWFi promotion, which had pressed the perception that their athletes boasted legitimate skill in real fighting.In a bid to regain credibility, Yoji Anjo travelled to California to perform a dojo challenge on Rickson Gracie, only to be swiftly and brutally defeated before the assembled Japanese press that had followed him there. With the UWFi's formerly fearsome reputation in tatters, its attendance numbers swiftly decreased, with the federation closing its doors once and for all in December 1996. In their final show it was <mask> who at long last headlined, defeating Anjoh by submission. Kingdom Pro Wrestling (1997–1998)
Following the close of the UWFi, Nobuhiko Takada, the most popular of the UWFi workers amongst the mainstream public founded Kingdom Pro Wrestling, taking in <mask> and the majority of his fellow UWFi alumni. In the vein of its predecessor, Kingdom was primarily a league devoted to shoot-style realistic-looking works. Having by now established his ability, <mask> was this time booked as a main-eventer from the outset. However, unlike the UWFi, Kingdom struggled from the beginning to draw substantial crowds.Mixed martial arts was growing in popularity, and the dominance of the Gracie family and their fellow Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioners over the field and more specifically over professional wrestlers, left the Japanese public ever more unconvinced as to the fighting ability of Kingdom's stable of athletes. New Japan Pro-Wrestling (2012–2016)

On August 12, 2012, <mask>, alongside Katsuyori Shibata, started appearing in New Japan Pro-Wrestling. It was <mask>'s first work for the company since 1995, and the first ever as a free agent instead of a representative from another promotion. <mask> and Shibata wrestled their first match on September 23, defeating Hiromu Takahashi and Wataru Inoue in a tag team match. <mask> and Shibata, collectively dubbed Laughter7, continued their winning ways at the following two pay-per-views, King of Pro-Wrestling on October 8 and Power Struggle on November 11, both times defeating the team of Togi Makabe and Wataru Inoue. Also at Power Struggle, Shinsuke Nakamura nominated <mask> as the next challenger for his IWGP Intercontinental Championship. On December 2, <mask> won his first exchange with Nakamura, when Laughter7 defeated Nakamura and Tomohiro Ishii in a tag team match to remain undefeated since their return.On January 4, 2013, at Wrestle Kingdom 7 in Tokyo Dome, <mask> suffered his first defeat since his return to professional wrestling, when he unsuccessfully challenged Shinsuke Nakamura for the IWGP Intercontinental Championship. <mask> and Shibata returned to their winning ways at the following pay-per-view, The New Beginning on February 10, where they defeated Hirooki Goto and Wataru Inoue in a tag team match. On April 7 at Invasion Attack, <mask> and Shibata suffered their first tag team loss, when they were defeated by Hirooki Goto and Yuji Nagata via referee stoppage, when <mask> injured his right elbow, after taking a belly-to-back suplex from Nagata, and unable to continue the match. New Japan later announced that <mask> would be sidelined for two to three months. <mask> wrestled his return match on July 20, defeating Yuji Nagata via submission. On September 8, <mask> and Shibata took part in the Wrestle-1 promotion's inaugural event, defeating Masakatsu Funaki and Masayuki Kono in a tag team match. <mask> continued his rivalry with Yuji Nagata at the September 29 Destruction pay-per-view, where he and Shibata defeated Nagata and Manabu Nakanishi with <mask> pinning his rival for the win.On October 14, <mask> was defeated by Nagata in a singles rematch between the two. Following the match, <mask> and Nagata came together to accept a challenge issued by Daniel and Rolles Gracie On January 4, 2014, at Wrestle Kingdom 8 in Tokyo Dome, <mask> and Nagata defeated the Gracies via disqualification, after Nagata was choked out with a gi. A rematch between the two teams took place on February 11 at The New Beginning in Osaka and saw Rolles submit <mask> for the win. <mask> suffered another loss against the Gracies on May 3 at Wrestling Dontaku 2014, where he teamed with Shinsuke Nakamura. On May 25 at Back to the Yokohama Arena, <mask> ended the Gracies' win streak by defeating Rolles in a singles match. <mask> then started a new rivalry with Minoru Suzuki, while also forming a partnership with Toru Yano, who was also involved in his own rivalry with Suzuki's Suzuki-gun stable. The partnership led to <mask> becoming an associate of Yano and Nakamura's Chaos stable, eventually becoming a full-time member.The rivalry between <mask> and Suzuki culminated in a match on January 4, 2015, at Wrestle Kingdom 9 in Tokyo Dome, where <mask> was defeated. On April 5 at Invasion Attack 2015, <mask> submitted Katsuyori Shibata in a tag team match, where he and Yano defeated Shibata and Hiroshi Tanahashi, igniting a rivalry between the former Laughter7 partners. The two faced off on July 5 at Dominion 7.5 in Osaka-jo Hall in a match, where Shibata was victorious. Pro Wrestling Noah (2019–present)

After wrestling sporadically for independent promotions for a few years, <mask> returned to wrestling full-time for Pro Wrestling Noah, aligning himself with the Sugiura-gun faction headed by Takashi Sugiura. On 30 August 2020 <mask> and Sugiura defeated AXIZ (Go Shiozaki and Katsuhiko Nakajima) for the vacant GHC Tag Team Championship, <mask>'s first ever pro-wrestling title. In September <mask> entered the annual N1-Victory tournament as a singles competitor, finishing on 4 points with 2 wins and 3 losses. As of 22 November <mask> and Sugiura have successfully defended the GHC tag titles on two occasions.Mixed martial arts
Though sources often cite <mask>'s match with Kimo Leopoldo on July 14, 1996 as his first experience with mixed martial arts, there is debate about whether it was a shoot or a worked match. <mask> himself has stated that he doesn't remember it. However, his first contact with MMA can be traced to his different style fight at 26 June 1996 against Dutch kickboxer Rene Rooze, which was won by <mask> via ankle hold. Ultimate Fighting Championship
In an attempt to gain attention for the embattled Kingdom Pro Wrestling league, Hiromitsu Kanehara and Yoji Anjoh signed on to compete in the Ultimate Fighting Championship's Ultimate Japan tournament. Kanehara was injured in his training for the tournament, and <mask> wound up as his late-hour substitute. The tournament was intended for heavyweights, but <mask> who weighed 183 pounds (middleweight by modern standards), was nearly twenty pounds beneath the UFC's 200 pound designation for the weight class. Having reported himself as 203 pounds (Light heavyweight by modern standards) in order to gain entry, <mask> was paired off against the 240 pound Brazilian jiu-jitsu blackbelt and former Extreme Fighting champion, Marcus Silveira.The match saw the two grapplers exchanging leglocks without any decisive movement. Following a barrage of light blows by Silveira, <mask> dropped for a low single leg takedown, but referee John McCarthy stopped the fight before <mask> could complete it, believing he had been knocked out by the punches. A loud protest followed from the crowd and an angry <mask> attempted unsuccessfully to take the microphone and address the Japanese audience. However, after reviewing tape, McCarthy changed his decision to a no-contest. As Tank Abbott, who had earlier defeated Anjoh, had dropped from the tournament due to an injured hand, it was ruled that <mask> and Silveira faced off once more that night in what would be the championship bout of the tournament. Silveira opened their second match taking Sakuraba's back, which the Japanese wrestler answered by attempting to apply a Kimura lock. After freeing his arm, Silveira capitalized on another Kimura attempt by Saku to try to twist it into an armbar from his guard, only for the Japanese to escape to his knees.Silveira then tried his own Kimura, but at that moment <mask> reversed it in the same way and locked the armbar, making the Brazilian submit. Afterwards, in the post-fight interview, <mask> famously stated, . With the victory <mask> remains one of the last UFC tournament champions to date. With Nobuhiko Takada having left Kingdom to challenge Rickson Gracie in an event called Pride Fighting Championships, the still struggling promotion capitalized on <mask>'s newly found popularity establishing him as Kingdom's top talent. He embarked

masks: Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba


title: Kazushi Sakuraba

texts:
 on a winning streak against several foreign mixed martial arts competitors including Paul Herrera, Rene Rooze, Mark Hall and Orlando Weit. However, Kingdom continued to flounder and finally folded in March 1998. Pride Fighting Championships

Pride 2 through 8
Entering the Pride Fighting Championships on the heels of a defeat of stablemate Nobuhiko Takada at the hands of Rickson Gracie in the organization's initial event, <mask> was paired off against Vernon White, then a veteran of 32 bouts in Pancrase who also boasted a 20-pound weight advantage.Showcasing a balance of wrestling and submission prowess, <mask> came after White with constant takedowns and unceasing submission attempts. White held <mask> off for the first two rounds, but was ultimately submitted by armbar towards the end of the third round. Next, in Pride 3,  <mask> was matched against Ultimate Fighting Championship veteran Carlos Newton. Though relatively new to mixed martial arts, Newton had recently disposed of the reigning Shooto light heavyweight champion Erik Paulson with a swift armbar victory and already developed a reputation as a talented grappler. Accordingly, the match was a back and forth grappling affair between the two fighters. At the second round, after several exchanges on the mat, Newton looked to capture <mask>'s back, but the Japanese trapped him in a rolling kneebar and finished him. Eager to capitalize on <mask>'s shoot wrestling prowess to reverse the perception that Japanese professional wrestlers were inferior to Brazilian combatants (in part perpetuated by his teammates' own defeats), <mask>'s next three bouts were scheduled against Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belts Vitor Belfort, Allan Goes and luta livre black belt Ebenezer Fontes Braga.In a trend that would continue through <mask>'s Pride career, each opponent occupied a spot near the top of the 205-pound class at the time of their meeting with him and held a weight advantage of around 20 pounds. <mask>'s match against Goes would be an instrumental point in his fighting's style evolution, pitted against an opponent with a strong defensive guard. Through the bout, <mask> attempted several moves to bypass the stationary Goes's defense, including leglocks, dives and kicks to the legs, but he also would have to defend, as Goes was relentless in his upkicks and submission counterattacks. <mask> was threatened by a rear naked choke several times, and in turn he almost finished Allan as well with an armbar, but none of it came to fruition. Due to the absence of judges in Pride's ruleset at the time, the match was ruled a draw. <mask>, always humble, stated "I fight his style, not mine. I think I lost the fight", although Goes, a Carlson Gracie protege, would similarly state in a later interview "I've been training my whole life on the ground, and to me, [<mask>] was the best guy I ever faced on the ground".Belfort would be a different matchup, as his boxing prowess was known aside from his great grappling credentials. However, despite several big flurries by the Brazilian to open the match, <mask> went unscathed and took Belfort down, proceeding to land ground and pound. As Belfort would not leave the mat through the match, in part due to a broken hand in one of his own combos, <mask> deployed his improved strategy and punished Vitor with leg kicks and jumping stomps to the head, as well as landing unanswered striking combinations every time Belfort was called up by the referee. At the end, as Pride had just implemented the judges system, <mask> was awarded his first decision victory unanimously. Unlike the previous two matches, <mask> faced in Braga a consistently aggressive opponent, with the luta livre practitioner landing effective muay thai knees and kicks until <mask> put him down. The Japanese wrestler continued his signature guard assault, but also outstruck Braga in his last standing segment before taking him down again and lock an armbar for the tap out. "The Gracie Hunter"
After defeating Anthony Macias at Pride 7, <mask> was matched against Royler Gracie, who had previously conquered <mask>'s stablemate Yuhi Sano.It marked the largest weight advantage <mask> has enjoyed in his career to date (being around 30 pounds heavier than Royler). Royler, unable to score a takedown or strike effectively from a standing position, remained on the ground in an effort to bait <mask> into a grappling-oriented contest, while <mask>, standing, landed punishing kicks to Royler's legs, thighs and head. Eventually, with less than two minutes remaining, <mask> finally engaged Royler on the ground and instantly caught him in a Kimura lock. As <mask> wrenched on the submission, the referee intervened with 1 minute and 44 seconds remaining on the clock, ending the contest and awarding <mask> the win by TKO. <mask>'s victory over Royler constituted the first loss by a Gracie in professional fighting in several decades and as such, sent ripples of shock and controversy through the mixed martial arts community. Some protested that the victory was tainted due to the fact that Royler (although placed in a debilitating submission hold) never conceded defeat and was little time away from the final bell when the bout was stopped. It is worth noting that the last Japanese athlete to defeat a Gracie prior to <mask>'s win against Royler, legendary judoka Masahiko Kimura, had used the very same technique <mask> utilized to beat Royler.That time, the recipient had been Royler's father, Hélio Gracie, who had, like Royler, also refused to submit but likewise lost. Pride 2000 Grand Prix

While the Japanese fight media rejoiced and elevated <mask> to superstar status, the Gracie family took great umbrage over the incident, feeling that they had been cheated by Pride. Despite <mask> challenging Royler's older brother Rickson Gracie after the match, it was his younger brother and former UFC Champion Royce Gracie who, compelled to set the record straight and re-assert the dominance of his family, returned to the sport of mixed martial arts in 2000 and entered the 16-Man Pride Grand Prix alongside <mask> and several other top fighters of the era. Placed on the same side of the bracket, a special set of rules were requested by the Gracies in the event of a Sakuraba-Royce match, including no referee stoppages and no time-limits, the fight ending only in the event of a submission or knock-out (something prohibited in modern MMA because of the widely adopted Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts limiting matches to 25 minutes overall, 5 x 5 minute rounds). In his first fight of the 2000 Pride tournament <mask> once again found himself matched up against a heavier opponent, this time the well-regarded 205 pound fighter, former King of Pancrase Guy Mezger. After a closely fought 15 minutes the judges requested an overtime round, and the fight ended in controversy when Mezger's coach Ken Shamrock forced his fighter back to the locker room claiming that no additional rounds were agreed upon in the contract. <mask> ended up winning the match by forfeit.Meanwhile, Royce defeated Nobuhiko Takada by unanimous decision and thus set the stage for their much anticipated showdown. In the tournament quarterfinals Royce and <mask> battled for an hour and a half (six 15 minute rounds). Gracie opened the fight aggressively, raining punches from <mask>'s back while the Japanese fighter worked an armlock from standing, but <mask> kept calm, knowing Royce had no knockout power and expecting him to waste his energy; he even came to the point of smiling to the cameras during the attack. Towards the end of the round, <mask> nearly ended the match with a kneebar, while Gracie came back with a guillotine choke at the second, but <mask> again joked to show he was out of danger by simulating to pull down Royce's gi pants. <mask> switched to attack at the third round, dominating the stand up and making Royce lie repeatedly on the ground to avoid him. As the confrontation stretched on, the Gracie's own no time-limit rules began to work against Royce as <mask>'s wrestling skills and balance nullified Royce's ability to score a takedown and—in some instances—even pull guard. Even Royce's ever-present jiu-jitsu gi became a weapon for the wrestler to use against him as <mask> used it to help him control Gracie on the instances the fight did come to the ground.However, with <mask>'s control of the takedown, these instances of ground warfare became increasingly sporadic. After <mask> landed a long series of punishing leg kicks at the fifth and sixth rounds, Royce's brother, Rorion threw in the towel. Exhausted from his battle with Royce, <mask> surprised many when he emerged from the locker room for the tournament semi-finals. His opponent, Igor Vovchanchyn, outweighed him by close to sixty pounds (<mask> had come into the bout with Royce lighter than usual, at 176 pounds) and was considered to be the top heavyweight striker of the day. <mask> surprised many by taking Vovchanchyn down and nearly finishing him with an armbar. <mask> was actually leading the fight past the 10-minute mark, but near the end Igor was able to reverse a takedown and draw the first round even with ground strikes. After the first round was declared a draw <mask>'s corner threw in the towel before the beginning of overtime, primarily due to fatigue.Pride 10 through 15
Following the Grand Prix, <mask> was christened the "Gracie Hunter" by the Japanese sports media. Keeping in tow with his new nickname, <mask> sandwiched a swift victory via achilles lock against Shannon Ritch between fights against brothers Renzo Gracie and Ryan Gracie. In contrast to Royler and Royce, Renzo and Ryan were products of Carlson Gracie's approach to jiu-jitsu, which placed a stronger emphasis on combat-ready skills and training without a gi. At the time of his bout with <mask>, Renzo's only loss in 10 bouts was a closely contested decision to <mask>'s former UWFi stablemate and rival, Kiyoshi Tamura while Maurice Smith, Oleg Taktarov and Abu Dhabi champion Sanae Kikuta numbered amongst his victims. Renzo's stylistic differences from his cousins were in evidence from the outset of his contest against <mask>, as he pressed the pace of the bout with a variety of kicks and punches, although few connected. <mask> responded in kind, and the striking seemed to go to a stalemate. Throwing his wrestling into the equation, <mask> timed a number of double and single leg takedowns against Renzo's flurries from where he alternately attempted to cartwheel past Gracie's guard, malign his legs with kicks from the standing position and even attack with a baseball slide.However, Renzo's defensive skills from bottom nullified the entire gamut of <mask>'s offensive attempts, and after using an entry derived from the De la Riva guard, he took the wrestler's back, pressing him against the turnbuckle as mere seconds remained in the battle. With time ticking away, <mask> locked in a kimura from the back and spun around, flipping Renzo to the canvas even as he wrenched his arm behind his back. Like Royler and Helio before him, Renzo refused to submit to the hold despite his elbow being snapped prior to hitting the ground and, even as the referee stopped the contest due to the injury, which awarded victory to <mask>. Renzo took the microphone and, before the 35,000 fans assembled at the Seibu Dome, stated that <mask> was "the Japanese version of the Gracie family". Renzo has since referred to the bout as his proudest moment in mixed martial arts. Similarly, years later Gracie called <mask> "his hero" and remembered their match as "one of the biggest lessons he learned in his life". Commentator Stephen Quadros stated too: "if any fans still doubted the abilities of <mask> Sakuraba in MMA competition, they are now silent."Ryan Gracie, who had fought on the same card and emerged victorious, jumped into the ring issued a challenge to <mask>, which was accepted. Vitor Belfort also demanded a rematch, although <mask> had stated not to be interested in rematches due to his interest in facing Frank Shamrock, Tito Ortiz and Dan Henderson. The fight between <mask> and Ryan was scheduled to happen at Pride 12. Due to a shoulder injury, the fight was limited to a single 10-minute round, where Ryan's spirited efforts were generally stymied and controlled by <mask>, who noticeably avoided attacks on his younger opponent's injured arm. Despite it, <mask> later argued in an interview that he believed Ryan would have been faking the entire injury in order to catch him off guard. Nonetheless, the Japanese threw some of his usual antics during the match, at some points delivering chops to Ryan's rear while controlling him. Following the win against Ryan, <mask> was slated to battle Pancrase veteran Bas Rutten, but the latter declined and was replaced by Brazilian muay thai specialist Wanderlei Silva.<mask> was a heavy favorite to win, but he was fighting through a significant weight disadvantage. The bout was also contested under Pride's new rules, which allowed kicks and knees to the head of a downed opponent, a change that greatly benefitted Wanderlei. During the match, a <mask> willing to trade strikes managed to knock Wanderlei down with a right hook, but the Brazilian recovered and dropped the wrestler with a barrage of punches and kicks. As <mask> turtled while attempted a takedown, Silva delivered multiple knees to his head and ultimately finished him off with kicks to the face. It marked <mask>'s second defeat in mixed martial arts and his first loss in the 205-pound division. <mask> then shocked the audience further by giving Silva his belt with Saku engraved on it. Wanderlei then stated that he would willingly give <mask> a rematch if <mask> wanted one, which the Japanese accepted.After sitting out the next Pride to recuperate, <mask> found himself across the ring from Quinton Jackson, a former collegiate wrestler who had compiled a record of 10–1 on the American circuit. At the sound of the bell, <mask> immediately took the bigger man to the canvas with a low single-leg takedown. However, Jackson's superior size and enormous physical strength allowed him to muscle out of <mask>'s submission attempts.

masks: Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Kazushi Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Kazushi Sakuraba Sakuraba Kazushi Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Kazushi Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Kazushi Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Kazushi Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba


title: Kazushi Sakuraba

texts:
 After locking his legs around Jackson for a triangle choke, <mask> found himself hefted into the air and repeatedly slammed to the canvas in the way of a powerbomb. Later, he attempted an armbar against Jackson, only for the Tennessee native to again lift him up and this time attempt to drop him from the ring. His expression unchanging through the course of Jackson's assault, <mask> continued to flow from one lock to another. Eventually, he took the back of an exhausted Jackson and submitted him with his first rear naked choke victory.The contest was a launchpad for Jackson's career, leading to a long-term contract with Pride where he eventually became regarded as a top middleweight competitor, and later, a UFC champion. Title bout with Silva, losing streak
The Jackson bout also re-established <mask>'s proficiency in dealing with larger opponents and placed him back in line for another shot at Wanderlei Silva in Pride's next event, this time to decide Pride's inaugural 205-pound champion. Usually prone to humorous entrances, it was a somber and focused <mask> that came down the aisle for his rematch with Silva. As with Jackson, <mask> was able to score an early takedown in the bout, where he then worked from Silva's guard. After several minutes searching for a leglock, he finally found one when Silva attempted to escape to his feet. <mask> started to control the fight, avoiding Silva's strikes and threatening him with clinches and takedown attempts. Halfway through the round, the Japanese locked on a tight guillotine choke, but was countered by a wild slam from Wanderlei which ended up breaking his collar bone.The wrestler managed to end the round with submission attempts from the bottom, but not willing to let him go on so hampered, his corner threw in the towel between rounds. <mask> took time off to let his shoulder heal, also briefly training basic Brazilian jiu-jitsu with Sergio Penha at Takada Dojo. He then returned against heavyweight kickboxer Mirko Cro Cop. <mask> was proposed a special ruleset of no strikes on the ground as part of the "K-1 vs Pride theme", but he rejected the offer, not wanting any special rule for him. Ironically, although he managed to take Cro Cop down through hard kicks, <mask> would end losing the match while exchanging strikes on Mirko's guard when an upkick from the kickboxer broke his orbital bone. Finally assenting to place him in competition against fighters of his own weight class, Pride management put him against French jiu-jitsu champion Gilles Arsene in a bout <mask> dominated and then against Rickson Gracie protege Antônio Schembri. With a win over Schembri, it was speculated that <mask> might be then groomed for a championship fight in a new weight division for fighters of his size.<mask> controlled the fight initially, landing plenty of hits and breaking Antônio's nose, but when he was going for one of his trademark Mongolian chops, Schembri stunned him with a series of knee strikes (controversially preceded by an illegal headbutt), winning by TKO. After the defeat to Schembri, <mask> expressed desire to gain weight and move up to the heavyweight division, hoping to fight either Bob Sapp or PRIDE Heavyweight Champion Fedor Emelianenko. However, nothing of this was realized, and instead <mask> faced Wanderlei Silva for the third time at Pride Total Elimination. The bout reminisced their first encounter, as <mask> flashed again a comical entrance and traded strikes with Silva in his own field of specialty. The Japanese utilized a strategy of faking takedowns and attacking with uppercuts, followed by a real takedown attempt which Silva blocked with knees to the head. <mask> escaped and kept trading hits, but despite his best efforts to match his opponent's striking acumen, Wanderlei knocked him out with a jab-cross combination. After the fight, there was talk of <mask> planning to retire, but nothing came from it.Those defeats seemed to mark a turning point in <mask>'s career; though he was unbeaten in his first nine Pride bouts, he thereafter split his next six matches. He had a notable victory over Kevin Randleman, a former UFC Heavyweight Champion, widely remembered due to his ring entrance as Mario, a pun intended to reflect the Japanese media referring to Randleman as Donkey Kong. In the match itself, Randleman was fast in showing his wrestling accolades at taking down <mask>, but the Japanese countered by setting submissions from every available position, until the American made a mistake and was caught in an armbar in the third round. At Pride Shockwave 2003, <mask> would face Antônio Rogério Nogueira, brother to the famous Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira. The Brazilian, having promised to knock out the Japanese, opened the match lunging at him with punches, but <mask> answered in kind and opened a cut on Nogueira's eye which almost stopped the bout. The action resumed, both men battled for several minutes, with Rogério gaining the upper hand in striking and <mask> in wrestling, allowing him to get in Nogueira's guard and inflict significant damage again. During the second round, Nogueira managed to  catch <mask> in a triangle choke/armbar combo, but the Japanese escaped the hold and sought his own submission, to no effect.Finally, the third round saw Nogueira taking over with punches and knees, exchanging strikes with <mask> almost until the last minute, and ultimately winning the decision. Pride 2005 Middleweight Grand Prix
After a quick TKO victory over decorated judoka Yoon Dong-Sik in the opening round, <mask> suffered a particularly devastating yet controversial loss against Ricardo Arona in the quarterfinal of the tournament in June 2005. Although <mask> put Arona on his back and seemed to put to work his signature jumping stomps, the heavier and stronger Arona soon overpowered him, landing a series of brutal knees to the head, as well as hard soccer kicks to the face. The Brazilian's toenail accidentally slashed open the skin over <mask>'s left eye, which Ricardo then capitalized on by squeezing the cut and digging his finger into it in order to force the doctor stoppage. The Japanese tried to keep on, but Arona hit another flurry of knees to the head, and ended the fight landing soccer kick after soccer kick, rendering <mask>'s face severely swollen and bloody. Arona won by unanimous decision. Following the loss, Pride president Sakakibara suggested <mask> might move down in weight to compete in their newly formed 183-pound division.However, instead of moving down in weight, <mask> began training at Chute Boxe Academy in Brazil alongside his one-time rival Wanderlei Silva. The move had also a symbolic value, as Chute Boxe was at the time in a rivalry with Arona's Brazilian Top Team. Post Grand Prix
Upon completion of his training, he made his return to the ring to engage in yet another contest at the 205-pound limit, this time against fellow shoot wrestler Ken Shamrock. Three minutes into the bout, <mask> struck through Shamrock's guard with a left hand. Shamrock staggered back and ultimately fell into the ropes, his head hanging out of the ring and his back turned to <mask>. <mask> rushed in to follow up but before any meaningful offense could be launched, the fight was halted by referee Yuji Shimada. Shamrock got up following the KO and protested vigorously.Opinions were mixed regarding the KO's legitimacy, though Ken's adopted brother and rival, Frank, stated to believe the stoppage was justified: "He got clocked. He went down. According to the rules, he was no longer defending himself and that's the end of the fight." Prior to Pride's Shockwave 2005 New Year's Eve event, <mask> strongly petitioned for a match against fellow shoot wrestler and professional wrestling proponent, Kiyoshi Tamura, even going so far as to publicly request a bout with Tamura. However, with Tamura refusing to face him, <mask> recommended another shoot wrestler, Ikuhisa Minowa, who referred to himself as a "real pro wrestler." <mask> did not request the match due to any grudge against Minowa, but rather because he believed that he and Minowa would put on a fight worthy of the Shockwave event. The bout was a competitive one, with <mask> choosing to fight from the bottom and using both men's submission attempts to force scrambles.After long minutes pinned under <mask>, Minowa escaped and took his back, but <mask> applied a Kimura lock which, although Minowa would not tap to it, nonetheless prompted the referee to halt the contest. The victory marked his final bout under the Pride banner; it also marked one of the few times he was matched against an opponent of his own size from the 183-pound division and his first bout against a Japanese fighter. Hero's
On 3 May 2006, <mask> surprisingly appeared with Hero's head Akira Maeda at a Hero's event wearing his street clothes (yellow shirt and blue jeans) and a pro wrestling mask in the style of one of his childhood heroes, Tiger Mask. He did not reveal himself, but it was apparent that it was a masked <mask> and that he signed with K-1 and FEG. A day later, <mask> appeared at a FEG press conference to announce he would fight in Hero's. His defection to Hero's was a culmination of several signs that suggested he was leaving Pride. It was reported that Sakuraba left Takada Dojo (run by Pride's general manager, Nobuhiko Takada), and conspicuously was not entered into Pride's 2006 Open Weight Grand Prix Tournament.Hero's Light Heavyweight Tournament
<mask> was then scheduled to compete in Hero's Light Heavyweight Tournament. His first opponent was the 16–5 Lithuanian Kęstutis Smirnovas. <mask> opened the fight striking aggressively, even flooring Smirnovas with a kick, but as he was coming in to follow up he was caught and knocked down to his knees and hands. <mask> then turned over, sliding beneath the bottom rope, and Smirnovas unleashed repeated blows to his head. As <mask> seemed at this point unable to defend himself, when the referee stepped between the two fighters it seemed likely he was moving to put an end to the contest. However, instead of halting the battle, the referee re-positioned the fighters from underneath the bottom rope into the ring and resumed the bout. Though the restarting of fighters who have found themselves near or outside the ropes is common practice, it was nonetheless controversial.Following the restart, Smirnovas picked up where he'd left off and proceed to pound a turtled <mask>, but the Japanese managed to escape to his feet and land a sharp combination, staggering Smirnovas and bloodying his face. Having turned the tide of the match, <mask> began dominating the Lithuanian on the striking segments until Smirnovas dropped to the ground to escape the assault. <mask> then accomplished an armbar, forcing his opponent to give up. Initially there were some doubts as to whether <mask> would be able to make it into the next round of the Hero's tournament based on the severity of the damage he endured against Smirnovas. However, <mask> reported that a follow-up CAT scan had found no irregularities and was then slated to face one-time Olympic judoka, Yoshihiro Akiyama in the tournament's semi-finals on October 9 in what K-1 hoped would be a high revenue match-up. The winner of that bout was to face the victor between Melvin Manhoef and Shungo Oyama to determine a tournament champion. However, during a hard sparring session for the upcoming bout Sakuraba began vomiting and fainted.After being rushed to the hospital he was diagnosed with vertebrobasilar damage that restricted blood circulation to the head and neck area. The doctors determined the damage was caused from years of untreated head injuries dating back to his college years. K-1 Dynamite!!! In spite of this revelation, rather than being granted a break to recover and possibly undergo surgery <mask> scheduled to return to action on December 31, 2006 against Yoshihiro Akiyama at K-1 Dynamite!!. During the bout, <mask> was hit with several punches and he rushed to get the takedown, but in doing so he slipped from Akiyama's body. As the sequence repeated itself over and over while <mask> took punishment, he opted to drop to his back and attempt a kneebar from there, but his grip on the judoka inexplicably failed again. Having <mask> trapped against the ropes and struggling for his submission, Akiyama was free to attack with ground and pound for the referee stoppage.Words were exchanged between <mask> and referee Yoshinori Umeki prior to the stop, which was brought on by the sounding of a bell at the behest of Akira Maeda, the event coordinator, the referee separating the fighters following the bell rather than initiating the stop himself. Afterwards, the usually soft-spoken <mask> surprised many with complaints that Akiyama's body had been greased. The referee in charge subsequently checked Akiyama's body and gave indication to ringside officials that he had not found anything unusual. In the aftermath of the fight the controversy escalated drastically and new accusations of weighed gloves also surfaced. To deal with the growing controversy, K-1 launched an investigation to look into the accusations against Akiyama. Although Akiyama's gloves were found to be regulation, video-tape revealed Akiyama administering a lotion to his skin. Akiyama—who attested he was simply treating his dry skin—was found to have been "negligent" and disqualified.The fight was subsequently declared a no-contest and Akiyama's purse was withheld. A press conference followed, wherein Akiyama—now heavily maligned by the Japanese sports media—offered a public apology. Although <mask> wore a shirt into the ring against Akiyama which read "K Sakuraba: End of Service", his experience against Akiyama apparently changed his plans regarding retirement and at Heros 8 he submitted the winless Yurij Kiseliov by armbar. Following that win, he would next share the mixed martial arts ring with his fellow shoot wrestler and UWFi alum, Kiyoshi Tamura. Once again donning the guise of his childhood hero, Tiger Mask, as he had to signal his exodus from Pride Fighting Championships to Heros, <mask> this time wore the mask to mark the occasion of his return to Pride at their final DSE

masks: Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Kazushi Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Kazushi Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Kazushi Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Kazushi Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Kazushi Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba


title: Kazushi Sakuraba

texts:
 promoted show, Kamikaze. Before the assembled crowd at the Saitama Super Arena—Pride's most frequented venue—<mask> and Tamura publicly voiced their willingness to meet in a Pride ring, before shaking hands and embracing. A bout between Tamura and <mask> had been one of Pride's most frequently promised match-ups, one that had never been delivered upon in spite of several efforts to put it together.On 2 June 2007, <mask> rematched Royce Gracie in K-1 Dynamite!! USA. While <mask> knocked Gracie to the canvas in the opening seconds, the bout itself was fought at a relatively slow pace, with <mask> scoring multiple takedowns and Gracie scoring a number of flailing kicks to the legs and face from the bottom, as well as standing knee strikes to <mask>'s injured and bandaged knee. The Japanese wrestler also besieged Gracie on the ground, finishing the bout having taken the back of Gracie and searching for an armbar. Royce won by unanimous decision, which many viewers and MMA sites disputed immediately on the feeling that <mask> won the fight. Sherdog scored it 29–28 in favor of the Japanese fighter. Moreover, Gracie tested positive for steroids after the bout.<mask> versus Funaki
<mask> returned to the ring on 17 September 2007 at K-1 Hero's 10 against former NJPW pro wrestler Katsuyori Shibata. Prior to the bout, Shibata's trainer, Masakatsu Funaki had challenged <mask> on the basis that their styles would make for an entertaining contest. Shibata came out striking aggressively, but was soon taken to the canvas by <mask>'s trademark single leg. Shibata unleashed a torrent of blows off his back, but the more experienced <mask> responded with strikes of his own before transitioning into an armbar and finishing the bout. Following his victory, <mask> praised the fighting spirit of Shibata and accepted Funaki's challenge. Much like <mask>, Funaki was trained in shoot wrestling and emerged into the world of mixed martial arts on the heels of a career in the UWF (the direct predecessor of Sakuraba's UWF International). Both men also held in common a past history of submission wins over world-class opposition and recognition as two of the top Japanese mixed martial artists to date.Appropriately, their bout took place in the main event of K-1's year end Dynamite!! show, which garners more TV viewers each year than any other televised mixed martial arts event in Japan. The two fighters exchanged colourful entrances at the arena, <mask>'s featuring him and baseball player Tsuyoshi Shimoyanagi dressed in identical fighting gears and Ultraman masks. Once in the match, <mask> was able to sneak in a double leg takedown after Funaki committed heavily to a missed right cross. Funaki closed guard around <mask> before opening it up to spin for a kneebar, and for a moment Funaki appeared to secure <mask>'s leg, but he was thwarted by a combination of <mask>'s submission acumen and their position against the ring ropes. <mask> then maneuvered to Funaki's back, only for the Pancrase founder to roll back into the guard position. Breaking away momentarily from the grappling contest, <mask> stood up and began to assault Funaki's legs with a series of kicks, which Funaki answered with an upkick of his own, cutting <mask>'s eye.<mask> then returned himself to the ground, where Funaki immediately attempted to sweep him, but <mask> blocked the attempt and secured a Kimura lock or double wristlock, eventually forcing Funaki to submit. After the match, event producer Sadaharu Tanikawa spoke about a possible matchup between <mask> and Rickson Gracie the next year, which the former approved. However, nothing came from it. Dream
In 2008, it was announced that <mask> <mask> would compete in the Middleweight Grand Prix of the new MMA promotion, Dream. On 29 April 2008, <mask> defeated Andrews Nakahara in the main event at Dream 2: Middle Weight Grandprix 2008 1st Round. However, he was knocked out (and thus eliminated from the tournament) by Melvin Manhoef in the main event of Dream 4: Middle Weight Grandprix 2008 2nd Round. During the match, <mask> suffered an ulnar fracture of the left forearm, which was caused by a kick from Manhoef.Finally it was announced that Kiyoshi Tamura and <mask> <mask> were set to fight at the K-1 Dynamite!! 2008 event on December 31. The fight featured <mask> fighting mostly from his back, attempting armbars, kneebars and triangle chokes from his guard while Tamura defended them and applied ground and pound. At the end of the first round, <mask> appeared to have an armbar locked in, but the bell sounded before he could extend the arm. Tamura held on at the second, controlling much of the action and consistently kicking <mask>'s injured legs; he was taken down in the final minute by <mask>, who immediately launched a barrage of punches, only for the bell to end his attacks again. Ultimately, Tamura was awarded a unanimous decision. After his return to Dream, <mask> defeated boxer turned mixed martial artist Rubin Williams at Dream 11, before facing Croatian Zelg Galesic on Dream 12.<mask> took Galesic to the ground via single leg takedown and he immediately transitioned to a leg lock. Galesic tried to defend himself against the submission by raining punches on <mask>. <mask> absorbed the punches and held on to Galesic's leg until he successfully made the Croatian tap out due to a kneebar. On May 29 he faced Ralek Gracie, at the Saitama Super Arena in Dream 14. It would be the sixth time <mask> faced a Gracie, albeit this time with a deep age difference, given the Japanese (41) and the Brazilian (24)'s respective ages. During the match, the wrestler performed significantly against the young Gracie, but the latter kept dominating, evidencing a training specialized to counter <mask>'s style. There was controversy towards the end of the fight, as <mask> seemed to have secured a kimura, only to the referee to pause the match to pull up Ralek's pants.The pause allowed the Brazilian to come back with an armbar, which <mask> escaped to meet a unanimous decision win for Gracie. On September 25, at Dream 16, <mask> lost to Jason "Mayhem" Miller via arm triangle choke. <mask> fought for the Dream Welterweight Championship against current champion Marius Zaromskis at Dynamite!! 2010 in December 2010. The fight ended in doctor stoppage, <mask>'s ear was partially ripped off. <mask> fought against undefeated Brazilian jiu-jitsu Black Belt Yan Cabral at Dream 17, losing via head arm triangle. This was <mask>'s 6th loss in his last 8 fights.Rizin Fighting Federation
On October 8, 2015, new Japanese mixed martial arts promotion Rizin Fighting Federation announced at a press conference that <mask> would face fellow Japanese fighter and grappler Shinya Aoki on the December 29, 2015. This was <mask>'s first fight after taking four years away from the sport. <mask> lost the fight via TKO at 5:56 in the first round, after being taken down and receiving ground and pound. Submission grappling

Metamoris
On November 22, 2014, <mask> fought Renzo Gracie in a grappling match in Metamoris V. Renzo played defensive closed guard earlier in the match, with the two exchanging guillotine choke attempts, but he eventually flipped <mask> over and pinned him. However, <mask> resisted all of his submission attempts, and with 90 seconds left he scrambled and tried to lock a Kimura, which was unsuccessful. The fight ended in a draw. Rizin
On October 15, 2017, <mask> fought former UFC champion Frank Shamrock at RIZIN fighting world grand Prix 2017 Autumn: Aki Jin event in Fukuoka, Japan for a grappling exhibition march at 84 kg division.The match ended with a draw decision. Quintet
In April 2018, <mask> announced the formation of a submission wrestling promotion named Quintet (grappling). Based on five-man teams, it is fought under a kachi-nuki-shiai tournament format similar to Nanatei Judo. He competed in the inaugural event, but his team was eliminated in the semi-final round. Fighting style
<mask> became known for a unique, unorthodox fighting style which has been described as creative and compared to "throwing all we'd thought we'd learned about martial arts on its head." He employed moves and techniques from professional wrestling, among them spinning sole kicks, jumping stomps, Mongolian chops and baseball slides. He also used cartwheels to pass guard and several kinds of confusing, often comical tricks to gain advantage over his opponent.However, his main strength was his rounded set of abilities developed from shoot-style wrestling, which included a grinding striking learned from muay thai and a brilliant catch wrestling submission expertise. He submitted important grapplers of his time like Royler Gracie, Renzo Gracie and Masakatsu Funaki by using his signature double top wrist lock, a technique he opened both from standing and on the ground. Though he wasn't afraid of giving his back to his opponent in order to secure it, <mask> would also use the technique as a positional weapon, threatening with it to control his adversary. Renzo Gracie praised his ability to play against his opponent's weaknesses, Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira commended his technical skill, and Mark Kerr called him the world's best technician of his era. Personal life
<mask> is married and has a son. He is an atheist. He has never cared much about diet and admits to drinking alcohol and being a smoker.Regarding the notable differences in weight between himself and his opponents throughout his career, as well as the banning of IV's for rehydration (and potential PED usage), <mask> has stated through an interpreter that "it doesn't matter if they [the opponent] use a pill or medicine to get bigger or smaller, I just train hard, eat healthy, fight at my weight and try my best to beat them. For me it doesn't matter if they use drugs, but I would not use it. I'm sure it's bad if they use it to win." About his proneness to fight outside his weight class, <mask> declared "the more impossible the fights got, the more willing to accept them I became". Although he once desired to fight him, he later cited Fedor Emelianenko as the only fighter he ever refused to fight. In June 2021, <mask> was a torch bearer for the 2020 Summer Olympics. Championships and accomplishments

Amateur wrestling
 National championship runner-up (high school)
 East Japan freshman championship
 All Japan collegiate wrestling championships (fourth place)

Mixed martial arts
 Pride Fighting Championships
 2000 Pride Openweight Grand Prix semi-finalist
 Longest fight in Pride FC history – Pride Grand Prix 2000 Finals (90:00)
 First man to defeat Royce Gracie in MMA history
 First Japanese Athlete to defeat a Gracie since Helio Gracie's 1951 loss to Masahiko Kimura.Tied with Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira for the most submission wins (11) in Pride FC history
 Ultimate Fighting Championship
 UFC Hall of Fame (Pioneer wing, class of 2017)
 UFC Japan Heavyweight Tournament winner
 First Japanese champion in UFC history
 Sherdog
 Mixed Martial Arts Hall of Fame
 Wrestling Observer Newsletter
 Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame (Class of 2004)
 2001 Best Box Office Draw
 2001 Feud of the Year (vs. Wanderlei Silva)
 2000 Best Shootfighter
 2000 Best Shoot Match  (vs. Royce Gracie)
 Tokyo Sports
 Most Valuable Player (2000)
 Outstanding Performance (1999)

Professional wrestling
 Kingdom
 Kingdom One Million Yen Tournament (1997)
Nikkan Sports
Outstanding Performance Award (1999)
Wrestler of the Year (2000)
Pro Wrestling Illustrated
Ranked No. 238 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2017
Pro Wrestling Noah
GHC Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Takashi Sugiura
 Tokyo Sports
 Best Tag Team Award (2020) – with Takashi Sugiura

Mixed martial arts record

|-
| Loss
| align=center| 26–17–1 (2)
| Shinya Aoki
| TKO (corner stoppage)
| Rizin FF SARABA
|
| align=center|1
| align=center|5:56
| Saitama, Japan
|
|-
| Loss
| align=center| 26–16–1 (2)
| Yan Cabral
| Submission (arm-triangle choke)
| Dream 17
|
| align=center| 2
| align=center| 2:42
| Saitama, Saitama, Japan
|
|-
| Loss
| align=center| 26–15–1 (2)
| Marius Žaromskis
| TKO (doctor stoppage)
| Dynamite!! 2010
|
| align=center| 1
| align=center| 2:16
| Saitama, Saitama, Japan
|
|-
| Loss
| align=center| 26–14–1 (2)
| Jason Miller
| Submission (arm-triangle choke)
| Dream 16
|
| align=center| 1
| align=center| 2:09
| Nagoya, Aichi, Japan
|
|-
| Loss
| align=center| 26–13–1 (2)
| Ralek Gracie
| Decision (unanimous)
| Dream 14
|
| align=center| 3
| align=center| 5:00
| Saitama, Saitama, Japan
|
|-
| Win
| align=center| 26–12–1 (2)
| Zelg Galešić
| Submission (kneebar)
| Dream 12
|
| align=center| 1
| align=center| 1:40
| Osaka, Osaka, Japan
|
|-
| Win
| align=center| 25–12–1 (2)
| Rubin Williams
| Submission (kimura)
| Dream 11
|
| align=center| 1
| align=center| 2:53
| Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan
|
|-
| Loss
| align=center| 24–12–1 (2)
| Kiyoshi Tamura
| Decision (unanimous)
| Fields Dynamite!! 2008
|
| align=center| 2
| align=center| 5:00
| Saitama, Saitama, Japan
|
|-
| Loss
| align=center| 24–11–1 (2)
| Melvin Manhoef
| KO (punches)
| Dream 4: Middleweight Grand Prix 2008 Second Round
|
| align=center| 1
| align=center| 1:30
| Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan
|
|-
| Win
| align=center| 24–10–1 (2)
| Andrews Nakahara
| Submission (neck crank)
| Dream 2: Middleweight Grand Prix 2008 First Round
|
| align=center| 1
| align=center| 8:20
| Saitama, Saitama, Japan
|
|-
| Win
| align=center| 23–10–1 (2)
| Masakatsu Funaki
| Submission (kimura)
| K-1 PREMIUM 2007 Dynamite!! |
| align=center| 1
| align=center| 6:25
| Osaka, Osaka, Japan
|
|-
| Win
| align=center| 22–10–1 (2)
| Katsuyori Shibata
| Submission (armbar)
| Hero's 10
|
| align=center| 1
| align=center| 6:20
| Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan
|
|-
| Loss
| align=center|  (2)
| Royce Gracie
| Decision (unanimous)
| Dynamite!! USA
|
| align=center| 3
| align=center| 5:00
| Los Angeles, California United States
|
|-
| Win
| align=center| 21–9–1 (2)
| Yurij Kiselov
| Submission (triangle armbar)
| Hero's 8
|
| align=center| 1
| align=center| 1:26
| Nagoya, Aichi, Japan
|
|-
| NC
| align=center| 20–9–1 (2)
| Yoshihiro Akiyama
| NC (overturned)
| K-1 PREMIUM 2006

masks: Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Kazushi Kazushi Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Kazushi Sakuraba Sakuraba Kazushi Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Kazushi Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Kazushi Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba Sakuraba


title: Alan A. Brown

texts:
<mask><mask> (born <mask>, March 20, 1928 – March 22, 2010) was a Hungarian professor of Economics. He founded the international honor society in Economics, Omicron Delta Epsilon (ODE), while he was a student at City College of New York (CCNY) in 1955. The society now has 600 chapters worldwide. <mask> arrived in the U.S. in 1949 at age 21, having survived the Nazi Holocaust as the sole survivor of his family (except for three scattered cousins), without money or knowledge of English. Early life

<mask> was born <mask>—commonly known as "Bandi"—to middle-class parents, Erna Kallós Braun and Sándor Braun in Miskolc, Hungary, on March 20, 1928. According to the Jewish custom, he was named for his uncle <mask>, who died before he was born.<mask>'s grave was one of the very few graves that exist in <mask>'s family. The Holocaust, which took many other lives in his family, did not allow for proper burial of one's kind. The Holocaust
A day before <mask>'s 16th birthday, the German Nazis came to Miskolc. In his , <mask> states, "On June 6, 1944, D-Day with the German defeat rapidly approaching, our ghetto in Miskolc was liquidated." Jewish men lined up in front of a Hungarian bilingual guard (which he called a kapo, derived from the German word for "head," although he was perhaps "a Schwab or Volksdeutsche, that is, an ethnic German that lived in Hungary for a long time"). The Schwab sat at a table and took roll call, categorizing males. Unknown to the men, their age determined whether they'd live or die, with the cut-off being age 18.The Schwab most likely knew that to be 16 years old was more dangerous for him than if he were deported as an 18-year-old in Hungarian forced labor. As a monolingual German Nazi closely scrutinized the interactions, the Schwab quizzed <mask>, next in line – "Age?" <mask> replied his true age: "16." For an unknown reason, the Schwab countered "18." <mask>, baffled, corrected him: "16." This went on a few times until the Schwab said in Hungarian, "Do I have to teach you how to lie?" Thus, <mask>'s first miracle: his life was saved for the first time in his years during and after the Holocaust.<mask> survived six Nazi labor camps - first in Hungary, and then in Austria, where the treatment was more brutal, and where he contracted typhus and tuberculosis, which eventually killed his father. <mask>'s life was saved by a righteous gentile, Frau Rosa Schreiber (née Freismuth), in whose name a scholarship award was established at the University of Windsor, from which <mask> retired in 1994. <mask> was fortunate to encounter Frau Schreiber, who ran a general store on the outskirts of his final labor camp. Schreiber risked her life, sneaking small amounts of food and medicine to <mask> so that he and his father might overcome the typhus and tuberculosis that was endemic in the labor camp. Sadly, these diseases overcame <mask>'s father, who died in his son's arms the day after the Russian soldiers liberated the labor camp. Although the exact date is unknown, <mask>'s family observes this day as the second day of Passover, and this is almost 65 years to the day that <mask> died in the arms of his wife and daughter, March 22, 2010. In 1961, <mask> and his wife Barbara located Frau Schreiber.They reconnected with her in 1995 and through a series of events, ensured her rightful place as a righteous gentile in Yad Vashem. Yad VaShem requires verification by three individuals of a person's righteous behavior. It was not until <mask> visited Rosa in 1995 that he found proof of her having been viewed as a righteous individual by the mayor of the community of Neuhaus, near Jennersdorf, where she saved <mask>'s life and tried to save his father. The document <mask> found stated that Rosa "expressed her disgust and outrage at the terrorist actions of the NSDAP/AO. She greatly helped the Jewish and gentile slave laborers with food and medicine." It is dated February 22, 1946. Marriage to Barbara Delson, December 26, 1955

<mask> met Barbara Delson at City College of New York, which they both attended.Barbara grew up in a small but strong Jewish community in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. <mask>'s first major "test" was after he had been in the U.S. for five years – taking his naturalization. After the exam, Barbara renamed her fiancé. From this time on, he would be <mask> <mask>. His last name was changed to eliminate the German referent, to assimilate, and to retain the accurate pronunciation of his name. Education

<mask> graduated CCNY with a B.A. summa cum laude, with Phi Beta Kappa in his junior year, and first in his class (in a class of 2000 students) in 1957.He went on to graduate with a Ph.D. from Harvard Graduate School in Economics in 1966. <mask>'s dissertation advisors were <mask> Bergson when he was Director of the Harvard Russian Research Center and Gottfried von Haberler, who worked on the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). <mask> went on to a long academic career: he became a full professor with tenure in 1971, just before moving to the University of Windsor, Ontario and he retired in 1994. Beginning of Omicron Delta Epsilon
ODE began by <mask> developing an honor society, Omicron Chi Epsilon (OCE) as an undergraduate. He subsequently learned of the existence of another honor society in economics, Omicron Delta Gamma, founded in 1915 by John R. Commons, University of Wisconsin and Frank Taussig, Harvard University, which, while older and formally larger (more chapters) than Omicron Chi Epsilon, was less active than the younger OCE. <mask> was the prime mover to facilitate a merger in 1963 between the two societies, renamed Omicron Delta Epsilon (ODE), adding "International" to its non-Greek name. At that point, ODE really took off.Accomplishments

Dr. <mask> was fluent in four languages. He co-authored and co-edited eight books in economics and over 50 articles, and organized a number of international conferences, as well as having founded and served as national president of ODE, the national honor society for Economics. Among his many awards were the Woodrow Wilson Fellowship, Earhart Fellowship and Ford Foundation Fellowship. He received an Outstanding Teacher Award, University of Southern California and also at the University of Windsor. <mask>'s special interest was Centrally Planned Economy in Eastern Europe. Holocaust Education

Close to the time that <mask> retired as a Professor at the University of Windsor in 1994, a young man came into his office. He asked, "Dr. <mask>, would you write a letter saying that I never disrupted your class?"<mask> said, "Well, you never disrupted my class – I know that because I don't remember you! But what is this about?" The student revealed that he was a Holocaust denier and unlike the U.S. where "freedom of speech" reigns, denying the Holocaust was met with punishment, and in the case of the university, expulsion. <mask> agreed that he would write the letter for the young man on the condition that he accompany <mask> to the Detroit Holocaust Memorial Center. <mask> never saw the student again, but <mask> realized the imminent need for him to speak publicly about his experiences. Long reticent about his personal history, in the early 1990s he became concerned about the Holocaust denial movement. As he said later in his 1995 speech in Windsor, "As a survivor, I … have to remember and tell others that democracy in the Weimar Republic did not prevent the rise of Hitler.… As a survivor, I also have to remember and tell others that genocide did not stop with the liberation of the camps 50 years ago." In retirement, <mask> devoted many hours to lecturing on the Holocaust at elementary school and colleges through the Detroit Holocaust Memorial Center, The Holocaust Center Boston North and Facing History and Ourselves. References

External links
 , The Holocaust Center Boston North
Obituary in The Boston Globe, April 12, 2010
 Obituary in The American Gathering of Jewish Holocaust Survivors and their Descendants (pdf)
 Obituary in Harvard (Alumni) Magazine, July–August 2010 (pdf)
 Tribute in The American Economist, journal of Omicron Delta Epsilon (ODE), the international honor society in Economics, Fall 2010 (pdf)

1928 births
2010 deaths
20th-century Hungarian people
American economists
Hungarian economists
City College of New York alumni
Harvard University faculty
University of Windsor faculty
Hungarian Jews
American people of Hungarian-Jewish descent
People from Miskolc
Nazi-era ghetto inmates
Jewish concentration camp survivors
Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni

masks:
Alan A
. Brown
Andor Braun
Brown
Alan Brown
Andor Braun
Andor
Andor
Alan
Alan
Alan
Alan
Alan
Alan
Alan
Alan Brown
Alan
Brown
Brown
Alan
Alan
Alan
Alan
Alan
Alan
Alan
Alan
Alan Brown
Alan
Alan Andrew
Brown
Alan Brown
Alan
Abram
Alan Brown
Alan Brown
Alan
Brown
Brown
Alan
Brown
Alan
Alan
Alan
Alan
Alan
Alan


title: Darío Castrillón Hoyos

texts:
<mask> (4 July 1929 – 18 May 2018) was a Colombian cardinal of the Catholic Church. He was Prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy from 1996 to 2006 and President of the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei from 2000 until his retirement in 2009. He was made a cardinal in 1998. Early life
Born in Medellín, Colombia, <mask> attended the seminaries in Antioquia and Santa Rosa de Osos before studying at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome. He was ordained to the priesthood by Archbishop Alfonso Carinci on 26 October 1952. He obtained a doctorate in canon law and specialization in religious sociology, political economics, and ethical economics from the Gregorian. <mask> also studied at the Sociology Faculty of the University of Louvain in Belgium.Upon returning to Colombia, he served as a curate for two rural parishes in Yarumal from 1954 to 1971. He then served as director of Cursillos, of the national pastoral program, and of the Legion of Mary. After becoming an official in the diocesan curia of Santa Rosa de Osos, Castrillón was made director of radiophonic schools. In 1959 he became the diocesan delegate of Catholic Action, and also worked as ecclesiastical assistant to the Catholic Workers Youth. He did catechetical and curial work before serving as general secretary of the Colombian Episcopal Conference. Bishop
On 2 June 1971, <mask> <mask> was appointed Coadjutor Bishop of Pereira and Titular Bishop of Villa Regis by Pope Paul VI. He received his episcopal consecration on 18 July from Archbishop Angelo Palmas, with Archbishop Aníbal Muñoz Duque and Bishop Baltasar Álvarez Restrepo serving as co-consecrators.<mask> <mask> succeeded Alvarez Restrepo as Bishop of Pereira on 1 July 1976. While Bishop of Pereira, <mask> <mask> was reported to have walked the streets at night to help feed abandoned children. While many Latin American bishops refused to accept contributions from suspected drug lords, <mask> <mask> accepted donations for his diocesan charities, arguing that by accepting the funds, they would be diverted from funding crime and instead used to help the poor. He said that when accepting such donations, he had warned the donors personally that their donations "would not save their souls". <mask> <mask> once disguised himself as a milkman to gain access to the home of drug lord Pablo Escobar, and after revealing himself, the bishop persuaded Escobar to confess his sins. <mask> <mask> also served as Secretary General (1983–1987) and President (1987–1991) of the Latin American Episcopal Conference, where he opposed liberation theology, which many of his colleagues supported. <mask> <mask> was made Archbishop of Bucaramanga on 16 December 1991.He remained in that post until 15 June 1996, when he became Pro-Prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy in the Roman Curia. Cardinal

John Paul II created him Cardinal-Deacon of SS. Nome di Maria al Foro Traiano in the consistory of 21 February 1998. Two days later, on 23 February, <mask> <mask> was given the title Prefect of the Congregation for Clergy. On 26 October of that same year he served as papal envoy to the signing of the peace accord between Peru and Ecuador to settle their border dispute. On 14 April 2000, he replaced Angelo Felici as President of the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei, the office that handles the Holy See's relations with traditionalist groups such as the Society of St. Pius X.

Castrillón was appointed Grand Prior of the Constantinian Order of St George by Infante Carlos, Duke of Calabria on 27 February 2004. Following the death of John Paul II, Castrillón participated in the 2005 papal conclave and was himself considered papabile, a possible successor to the papacy.Pope Benedict XVI confirmed him as Prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy and President of the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei. On 31 October 2006, <mask> resigned as head of the Congregation for the Clergy. On 13 September 2007 Castrillón served as a spokesperson for Pope Benedict's motu proprio, Summorum Pontificum. On 23 February 2007, Castrillón became Protodeacon, the senior Cardinal-Deacon, which he remained until 1 March 2008, when he was elevated to Cardinal-Priest. Retirement
<mask> retired on 8 July 2009. On the same day, Pope Benedict issued the document Ecclesiae Unitatem, which attached the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, making that Congregation's prefect the president of the Commission ex officio. In January 2009, while <mask> still headed the Pontifical Commission, Pope Benedict lifted the excommunications several bishops of the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX), including Richard Williamson, who was later identified a Holocaust denier.In September Bishop Anders Arborelius of Stockholm alleged that the Holy See had prior knowledge of Williamson's extreme views, and his view was confirmed by the papal nuncio to Sweden Archbishop Emil Paul Tscherrig who said he had warned the Vatican. Castrillón said that it was a "calumny" to suggest he had been aware of William's views. He said that if anyone in the Vatican should have known about the matter, it was Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, Prefect of the Congregation of Bishops, who had responsibility for overseeing Williamson. Handling of sexual abuse cases
In 2002, <mask> expressed his disapproval of the zero-tolerance policy of the U.S. bishops with respect to cases of sexual abuse. He said the bishops ignored such "fundamental principles of the Church" as forgiveness and conversion. In 2001, Castrillón congratulated French bishop Pierre Pican, Bishop of Bayeux, France, for not notifying the police about a priest who had engaged in sexual abuse of minors. The priest was later sentenced to 18 years in jail.Bishop Pican himself received a suspended three-month jail sentence for not denouncing the priest. In the letter <mask> described the relationship between a bishop and his priests as "not professional but a sacramental relationship which forges very special bonds of spiritual paternity" and continued "The bishop has other means of acting ... but a bishop cannot be required to make the denunciation himself. In all civilised legal systems it is acknowledged that close relations have the possibility of not testifying against a direct relative." When <mask>'s letter to Pican became public in 2010, Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi said it showed how important it was to centralize handling of Catholic sex abuse cases by clerics under the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith." In 1997, <mask> and the bishops of Ireland were at odds over the proper treatment of priests accused of sexual abuse. Castrillón expressed reservations about proposals discussed by the bishops. While indicating that his Congregation was still studying the question, <mask> wrote that some of the Irish bishops' proposals "appear contrary to canonical discipline", which could lead to actions being overturned if an appeal were made to a higher level.Castrillón mentioned the proposed policy of mandatory reporting to the civil authorities. According to a 2011 RTÉ documentary, <mask> told the Irish bishops in 1999 to be "fathers to your priests, not policemen". The documentary's depiction of resistance the Irish bishops experienced from Castrillón put them in a more favorable light at a time when they, and especially Archbishop Desmond Connell, were the target of savage criticism. Castrillón's Congregation for Clergy and the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, then headed by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, later Pope Benedict XVI, were also at odds. In 2001, Ratzinger persuaded Pope John Paul II to make it mandatory to report all complaints of clerical sexual abuse to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. References

External links

 Biography at catholic-pages.com
 Biography at catholic-hierarchy.org

1929 births
2018 deaths
Free University of Colombia faculty
Colombian cardinals
People from Medellín
Protodeacons
Prefects of the Congregation for the Clergy
Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei
Colombian Roman Catholics
Cardinals created by Pope John Paul II
20th-century Roman Catholics
21st-century Roman Catholics
Pontifical Gregorian University alumni
Roman Catholic archbishops of Bucaramanga
Roman Catholic bishops of Pereira

masks:
Darío del Niño Jesús Castrillón Hoyos
Castrillón Hoyos
Castrillón Hoyos
Castrillón
Hoyos
Castrillón
Hoyos
Castrillón
Hoyos
Castrillón
Hoyos
Castrillón
Hoyos
Castrillón
Hoyos
Castrillón
Hoyos
Castrillón
Hoyos
Castrillón
Castrillón
Castrillón
Castrillón
Castrillón
Castrillón
Castrillón
Castrillón
Castrillón