Choke

The documentary follows three men preparing for a fighting tournament. The tournament was held in Tokyo in 1995. It was called Vale Tudo Japan. There are almost no rules. It runs as a knockout on a single night. The winner fights three times within five hours. One of the three is Rickson Gracie. He comes out of the Brazilian jiu jitsu tradition. The second is the Japanese fighter Koichiro Kimura. The third is the kickboxer Todd Hays. The film does not stay in the hall but goes to the training, the houses and the families. What the men want, and what they are prepared to risk, is what it asks about. Filmed in 1995 and released in 1999, the ninety eight minute documentary also shows Hélio Gracie, an American production by Robert Raphael Goodman.