Katsuhiro Harada Remembers Working With Wrestler Minoru Suzuki

What is common between fighting games and professional wrestling? Well, both of them rely on martial arts, and both of them entertain an audience, so it shouldn't be surprising when these worlds collide. While some professional wrestlers like Kenny Omega may spread love for the fighting games in the ring, there are always some interesting stories. 

Katsuhiro Harada shared an interesting story when the Japanese legend of professional wrestling, Minoru Suzuki, did a motion capture for King during the Tekken 3 development.

One of the most interesting facts of this story is that Minoru Suzuki invented an Arm Lock Suplex in real life, and that move was later given to Michelle and Julia. And, of course, the story when Harada asked to put him in a choke hold is also educational:

"At that time, Minoru Suzuki taught us, TEKKEN PROJECT, a lot about the physical and mental aspects of being a fighter. One day, I asked him, "Ground techniques have become popular in recent years, and I often see fighters losing consciousness due to choke holds in fights. How is it possible for a fighter with such a thick neck to fall so easily?" I asked. (At that time, MMA was still in its infancy, and the structure of jiu-jitsu techniques was not widely known to the public.) 

Minoru Suzuki told me that the best way to learn is to experience it, so I decided to experience his techniques at Namco's animation capture studio. His choke easily knocked me out as I watched the second hand on my watch. I thought I had fallen asleep for 20~30 minutes, when in fact, the clock had ticked forward only 8~10 seconds. It was an amazing experience."

Please remember that martial arts and professional wrestling are paired with risks to health and should be done in a professional environment. Do not try them at home.