Yoshihiro Akiyama and Yushin Okami Training at Xtreme Couture

by Anton Tabuena on Oct 30, 2009 6:26 PM EDT Comment 18 comments

Promoted from the FanPosts by Kid Nate.

Japanese Superstars, Yoshihiro "Sexyama" Akiyama and Yushin Okami are in the states and they've decided to train at Xtreme Couture for a month. The duo spoke about the experience:

Okami: Well let me start off by saying that I enjoy the fact that the athletes are tall, big, and perfect for my size. In Japan, the athletes are not all sized like the athletes here at Couture’s. In Japan we practice for about 3 hours but at Couture’s we train for about 1hr and half. I seem to like the fact that short, hard practices are better.

Akiyama: I would have to agree with Yushin. I like how the practices aren’t long but short hard workouts. At this point I love it. The fighters are welcoming and friendly and as for the trainers, they are all awesome. I have a hard time communicating due to my language barrier but I feel it’s beneficial for my fight career because I am able to look at their body language, learn the language and train hard.

Well this is the first time I have been training in the states. It’s such a great experience for me. I want to absorb all the things I learn from Xtreme Couture and take it home with me... I plan on training here for a month then go back to Japan so I can work out a schedule to come back down for my next fight.

Yushin Okami is coming off a loss to Chael Sonnen at UFC 104, while Yoshihiro Akiyama is preparing for a middleweight match up against Wanderlei Silva that will happen "maybe January? Sometime early next year." Okami also mentioned that his next fight might be on March or April.

HT: Xtreme Couture

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Okami's Sig.

weoweoweo .deviantart .com -- @antontabuena

by Anton Tabuena on Oct 30, 2009 4:46 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

just curious if akiyama signed in korean or japanese

by CC11 on Oct 30, 2009 5:51 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

He signed in whichever language was sexier.

by Pennywise on Oct 30, 2009 6:48 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs

weoweoweo .deviantart .com -- @antontabuena

by Anton Tabuena on Oct 30, 2009 6:52 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

of course
silly me

by CC11 on Oct 30, 2009 6:56 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I’m pretty sure Japanese is really his first language, I think he speaks Korean fairly well but I came across an article from 2008 about a Korean television show on his attempts to learn Hangul (the Korean script).

by WanderleiNoooooo! on Oct 31, 2009 12:36 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Stoked to here that Okami is training at XC. This can only improve him in the positive especially against wrestlers. Bring the ‘Thunder’ Okami.

by pRoXiMo on Oct 30, 2009 5:31 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

what? no one is going to comment about sexyama looking at body language?

weoweoweo .deviantart .com -- @antontabuena

by Anton Tabuena on Oct 30, 2009 6:14 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I guess Okami has finished ruminating.

http://www.mmanews.com/ufc/Yushin-Okami-Calls-Loss-To-Chael-Sonnen-An-Utter-Defeat.html

by casey manrique on Oct 30, 2009 6:40 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

In Japan, I inevitably face a shortage of training partners and I often find myself on the offensive during training. Though I try to improve and diversify my training routine, I probably hit the ceiling at some point. I have the option of uprooting myself and training overseas… if I continue to train in Japan, I feel that I will end up becoming complacent, so I want to go back to square one and challenge myself. I feel that there is a need for me to train with training partners who are bigger than me.

weoweoweo .deviantart .com -- @antontabuena

by Anton Tabuena on Oct 30, 2009 6:45 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs