Kendo Kashin

Kashin in January 2022

###

Minamitsugaru, Aomori, Japan

**Tokimitsu Ishizawa** (石澤 常光, *Ishizawa Tokimitsu*, born August 5, 1968), is a Japanese professional wrestler and former mixed martial artist, better known by the ring name **Kendo Kashin** (ケンドー・カシン, *Kendō Kashin*), where he currently works for Pro Wrestling NOAH (NOAH) as a freelancer.

Ishizawa began his career as a professional wrestler in 1992, joining the New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) dojo, and worked as a "Young Lion" over the following four years, before being repacked as "Kendo Kashin" (ケンドー・カシン, *Kendō Kashin*).

In July 1996, Kashin was sent to the Austrian Catch Wrestling Association (CWA) promotion to further his wrestling training and gain international experience, a tradition with NJPW "Young Lions". Kashin returned to NJPW in May 1997. His shoot style taught by Kazuo Yamazaki allowed him to quickly rose up the ranks of the Junior Heavyweight division, holding the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship and the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship, while also winning the 1999 Best of the Super Juniors.

In August 2000, Ishizawa ventured into the mixed martial arts world and fought under his real name, where he defeated Gracie Jiu Jitsu fighter Ryan Gracie in PRIDE Fighting Championship. In July 2001, Kashin returned to NJPW winning the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship for the second time, before moving to to rival promotion All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), where he established himself as the Junior ace winning the World Junior Heavyweight Championship, until he left AJPW to become a freelancer in 2004. After a three-year hiatus, Kashin returned to professional wrestling in 2007, making occasional appearances as a freelancer for various promotions. In 2020, Kashin began working for Pro Wrestling NOAH, joining the Sugiura-gun stable.

## Professional Wrestling career

### New Japan Pro Wrestling (1992–1996)

Ishizawa was an outstanding Amateur wrestling star of Waseda University before being scouted and initiated into the New Japan Pro Wrestling promotion on September 21, 1992, wrestling against Tiger Mask. During the rivalry between NJPW and UWFi, he was taught the shoot style by Kazuo Yamazaki, to which enable him to make various appearances for Pro Wrestling Fujiwara Gumi. After defeating Yuji Nagata to win the 1996 Young Lion Cup, he left on a learning excursion to Austria's Catch Wrestling Association (CWA) promotion, where he was repackaged as "Kendo Kashin", working under a mask.

### Return from excursion (1997–2002)

He returned to New Japan as Kashin in May 1997 at the Osaka Dome, facing his mentor, Kazuo Yamazaki in a losing effort. Kendo Kashin quickly rose up the ranks of the Junior Heavyweight division, utilizing a cross armbreaker and other armbar techniques to quickly submit opponents. In August 1998, Kashin teamed with Dr. Wagner Jr. to compete for the newly created IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship, losing in the tournament final to Shinjiro Otani and Tatsuhito Takaiwa. When Dr. Wagner Jr. returned to Japan in 1999, Kashin and Wagner won the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship on January 4 on NJPW's Wrestling World 1999 in the Tokyo Dome. The reign with the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship ended after 96 days, with two successful defenses, before losing the belts to The Great Sasuke and Jushin Thunder Liger on April 10, 1999. After defeating Koji Kanemoto to win the 1999 Best of the Super Juniors, he defeated Kanemoto again in August of that year to capture the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship for the first time.

In August 2000, Ishizawa ventured into the mixed martial arts world and fought under his real name and without the mask in PRIDE 10. He lost his match with Ryan Gracie by TKO in little more than two minutes. However, it is said that he was forced to fight in the PRIDE's ring by Antonio Inoki, the owner of NJPW at the time, without enough time to train for mixed martial arts fighting. Continuing to suffer many losses, Kashin took several months off from New Japan to train. In July 2001, Ishizawa challenged Ryan for a rematch at PRIDE 15. This time, he TKO'd Ryan in under 5 minutes, which would advance his wrestling career more than ever. That same month, he returned to New Japan as Kendo Kashin and won the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship for the second time by defeating Masayuki Naruse in just 26 seconds.

### All Japan Pro Wrestling (2002–2004)

Kashin would make a shocking move in January 2002 when, while he was still champion, he followed fellow New Japan stars Keiji Mutoh and Satoshi Kojima to rival promotion All Japan Pro Wrestling. Kendo Kashin debuted in AJPW on February 24 defeating Kazushi Miyamoto. In March, Kashin renamed himself to "Blue-K", after joining the Roughly Obsess & Destroy stable, before leaving in April, working under the Kendo Kashin name again. He quickly established himself as the Junior ace, submitting Masanobu Fuchi to win the vacant World Junior Heavyweight Championship on April 13. In September, Kashin and Robbie Brookside took part in the 2002 World's Strongest Junior Tag League. After finishing the tournament with a record of three wins and one loss, Kashin and Brookside advanced to the finals of the tournament, where they were defeated by Jimmy Yang and Kaz Hayashi. In February 2004, Kashin vacated the World Junior Heavyweight Championship, after not defending it for four months. On June 16, 2004, Kashin and Yuji Nagata defeated Kaz Hayashi and Satoshi Kojima to win the World Tag Team Championship. Six months later, Kashin left All Japan to become a freelancer, taking one of the two World Tag Team Championship belts with him, with Nagata taking the other. The championship was later declared vacant by AJPW. However, he kept the actual physical belt for himself, something which AJPW sued him for in August, 2005. Kashin's tag partner, Yuji Nagata, gave one of those belts back to AJPW soon after it was declared vacant, when they requested it.

### Independent Circuit (2004–2005)

After leaving All Japan Pro Wrestling, Ishizawa began wrestling primarily in European Wrestling Promotion in Germany. He wrestled in Japan for various promotions such as the Pro Wrestling NOAH and Riki Pro Wrestling's. On April 2, 2005, Kashin competed under a mask as **Dragon Soldier B** in Ring of Honor's *Best of the American Super Juniors Tournament*. Despite not being American, he was booked to win and wrestled three matches, but performed poorly, prompting a "Don't come back" chant from the ROH fans. Kashin never returned to ROH.

### Third return to NJPW (2005)

He returned to NJPW on April 2, 2005 in the 2005 New Japan Cup, losing in the semifinals to Manabu Nakanishi, with whom he formed a team at the following month to fight for the IWGP Tag Team Championship, losing to then-champions Hiroshi Tanahashi and Shinsuke Nakamura. In August, Kashin took part in the 2005 G1 Climax, finishing the tournament with a record of two wins, four losses and a draw, failling to advance to the semifinals. In his last match for the promotion on October 8, as part of Team JAPAN, he and Manabu Nakanishi faced Charlie Haas and Mark Jindrak in a winning effort.

### Freelancer (2007–2021)

After a long hiatus from wrestling, Kashin returned on December 20, 2007 at the Inoki Genome Federation's show in Tokyo and faced off against Kurt Angle for IGF's version of the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship in a losing effort. Kendo returned to the ring for IGF in 2012.

In March 2014, Kashin returned to All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), announcing his participation in the 2014 Champion Carnival. He finished the tournament with two wins, two losses and a draw. In November, Kashin made his debut for DDT Pro-Wrestling (DDT), facing Yasu Urano in a losing effort. On October 25, 2015, Kashin challenged Antonio Honda to a title match for the DDT Extreme Division Championship, before giving him a pumpkin mask. Honda put on the mask and accepted the challenge. Kashin then grabbed the DDT Extreme Division Championshi pbelt and handed it over to a fan in the front row. In a backstage interview, Kashin proposed a UWF Rules match to their title match, but with pinfalls also allowed. On November 28, Kashin defeated Honda in a UWF Rules match to win the DDT Extreme Division Championship. He lost the title to Super Sasadango Machine on March 21, 2016 in a Ultimate Royal Barbed Wire PowerPoint No Power Blast PWF Rules match.

In October 2017, Kashin formed an alliance with fellow IGF and NJPW alumni Kazuyuki Fujita, with Nosawa Rongai also aligning himself with the pair. They began a feud with Atsushi Onita during the lead up to Onita's retirement match in Korakuen Hall, where the three lost to Onita, KAI and Shingo Takagi on October 31. In early 2018, the trio invaded All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) for a short lived run, starting a feud with Suwama's Evolution stable. In their only official match in the promotion, they defeated Suwama, Hikaru Sato and Yusuke Okada by referee's decision on March 25.

### Pro Wrestling Noah (2020–present)

On May 10, 2020, Nosawa Rongai teased that Kashin would be joining Sugiura-gun, but Takashi Sugiura was having enough of Rongai, bringing wrestlers to the stable without his consent. However, on June 10, Kashin was revealed as the new members of the stable, teaming with Kaz Hayashi and Nosawa Rongai to face Full Throttle (Atsushi Kotoge, Hajime Ohara, and Seiki Yoshioka) in a winning effort.

On February 12, 2021, at Destination, after Kenoh successfully defended the GHC National Championship, during a backstage interview, Kashin challenged him to a title match. Afterwards, usually after Kenoh's matches, a unknown masked wrestler began attacking him claiming to be a member of Sugiura-gun and was sent by Kashin. On February 24, following an eight-man tag team match between KONGOH and Sugiura-gun, Kenoh kept attacking Kashin after their match, as a retaliation for sending masked wrestler to attack him. On March 3, during a press conference, Kenoh received a mysterious gift, which was revealed to be a impersonator of Kashin inside. Afterwards, Kenoh was attacked by a masked wrestler sent by Kashin, who had previously claimed to be Kashin Sugiura-gun stablemate Kazushi Sakuraba. On March 7 at Great Voyage in Yokohama, Kashin unsuccessfully challenged Kenoh for the GHC National Championship. In August, Kashin's Sugiura-gun stablemate Kazunari Murakami was forced to miss the 2021 N-1 Victory due to a left sciatic nerve injury, leading to a match between him and King Tany to decide Marukami's replacement. At their match, on August 15, Kashin faced Taiguchi in a double count out, leading the match to be restarted and Kashin defeating Tany to qualify for the tournament. In the N-1 Victory, Kashin finished last in his block with a record of one win and two losses, failing to advance to the semifinals of the tournament. On April 16, 2023, at Green Journey in Sendai, Sugiura-gun disbanded.

## In wrestling

* **Finishing moves**
	+ Cross armbreaker, sometimes while flying to an opponent sitting on the top turnbuckle
* **Signature moves**
	+ Double wristlock
	+ European uppercut
	+ Frankensteiner, sometimes from the top rope
	+ Fujiwara armbar
	+ *KV Kneelock* (Rolling cradle transitioned into a figure four leglock)
	+ Various illegal attacks
	+ Vertical suplex
	+ Victory roll
* **Nicknames**
	+ "Akuma Kamen" (Japanese for "Devil Mask")
* **Entrance themes**
	+ "Cubisme" (NJPW; 1993-1997)
	+ "Sky Walk" (NJPW; 1997-2001)
	+ **"Sky Walk (Problem Remix)"** (NJPW / AJPW / Freelance; 2001–present)

### Wrestlers trained

* American Balloon
* Hartley Jackson
* Principe Orion
* Dru Onyx

## Championships and accomplishments

* **All Japan Pro Wrestling**
	+ World Junior Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
	+ World Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Yuji Nagata
	+ All Asia Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Nosawa Rongai
	+ January 3 Korakuen Hall Junior Heavyweight Battle Royal (2003)
* **Catch Wrestling Association**
	+ CWA Junior Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
* **Dramatic Dream Team**
	+ DDT Extreme Division Championship (1 time)
* **European Wrestling Promotion**
	+ EWP Intercontinental Championship (1 time)
	+ EWP Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Toru Yano
* **New Japan Pro Wrestling**
	+ IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship (2 times)
	+ IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Dr. Wagner Jr.
	+ Best of the Super Juniors (1999)
	+ Young Lion Cup (1996)
* **Pro Wrestling Illustrated**
	+ PWI ranked him #**22** of the 500 best singles wrestlers of the PWI 500 in 2002
	+ PWI ranked him #**351** of the 500 best singles wrestlers during the PWI Years in 2003
* **Ring of Honor**
	+ Best of American Super Juniors (2005)

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Profile at Puroresu Central . Puroresu Central. Retrieved on 2015-09-03.
2. ↑ 「はぐれＩＧＦ軍団」初の揃い踏みも…カシンがＦＭＷを告訴？  (in Japanese). *Tokyo Sports* (2016-05-02). Retrieved on 2016-05-02.
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Entourage « Kendo Kashin « Wrestlers Database « CAGEMATCH - The Internet Wrestling Database . Retrieved on 2016-05-12.
4. ↑ Archived copy . Archived from the original on 2011-01-03. Retrieved on 2015-04-09.
5. ↑ Kendo Kashin « Wrestlers Database « CAGEMATCH - The Internet Wrestling Database . Retrieved on 2016-05-12.
6. ↑ Royal Duncan & Gary Will (2000). "Japan; Top of the Super Junior Heavyweight Champions", *Wrestling Title Histories*. Archeus Communications, 375. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
7. ↑ Royal Duncan & Gary Will (2000). "Japan: New Japan Young Lions Cup Tournament Champions", *Wrestling Title Histories*. Archeus Communications, 375. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
8. ↑ Kendo Kashin « Wrestlers Database « CAGEMATCH - The Internet Wrestling Database . Retrieved on 2016-05-12.