U-Kei (U系 or ユーけい, eng. ''U-Series'', ''U-Group'' or ''Class U''）is a

combat sports A combat sport, or fighting sport, is a competitive contact sport that usually involves one-on-one combat. In many combat sports, a contestant wins by scoring more points than the opponent, submitting the opponent with a hold, disabling the opp ...

related term that refers to either a

professional wrestling Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring or ...

-, martial arts- and/or

mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, inc ...

organization, programme or a sportsman with either UWF and/or

shootwrestling Shoot wrestling is a combat sport that originated in Japan's professional wrestling circuit of the 1970s. Professional wrestlers of that era attempted to use more realistic or even "full contact" moves in their matches to increase their exciteme ...

roots. The U refers to Japanese professional wrestling promotion UWF, that was active from 1984 to 1986. UWF is credited in pioneer in the "shoot-style" of pro-wrestling and has acted as genesis to modern

, in both Japan and overseas. During early days of shoot-style pro wrestling in Japan, the professional wrestling and/or mixed martial arts organizations that derived from the idea of UWF are collectively called "UWF-kei", or "U-kei" for short.証言UWF 最終章 3派分裂後の真実

List groups, promotions, gyms referred to as U-Kei

Shooto Shooto is a combat sport and mixed martial arts organization that is governed by the ''Shooto Association'' and the ''International Shooto Commission''. Shooto was originally formed in 1985, first as a particular fighting system and then in 198 ...

Pro Wrestling Fujiwara Gumi Pro Wrestling Fujiwara Group (''Purofesshonaru-resuringu Fujiwara-Gumi'', プロフェッショナルレスリング藤原組) was a shoot style professional wrestling promotion based in Tokyo, Japan, operating from 1991 to 1996. It was formed ...

Union of Wrestling Forces International Union of Professional Wrestling Force International, better known as UWF International, U-Inter, or simply UWFi, was a shoot style professional wrestling promotion in Japan from 1991 to 1996. The UWF international was the successor to the ''New ...

- better known as UWF International, U-Inter, or simply UWFi. * Fighting Network Rings - trademarked RINGS *

Pancrase Pancrase Inc. is a mixed martial arts promotion company founded in Japan in 1993 by professional wrestlers Masakatsu Funaki and Minoru Suzuki. The name was based on pankration, a fighting sport in the Ancient Olympic Games. Suzuki and Funaki pr ...

(branched from Professional Wrestling Fujiwara Gumi) *

Vale Tudo Japan is an annual mixed martial arts competition held in Japan. Originally arranged by promoter and former professional wrestler Satoru Sayama, he had previously created a hybrid martial art organization named Shooto in 1985. He arranged VTJ in 1994 w ...

(event organized by Shooto) * *

Battlarts , more commonly referred to as simply Battlarts was a professional wrestling promotion based in Koshigaya, Saitama, Japan. The promotion was formed in 1996 by Japanese wrestler Yuki Ishikawa and featured all of the wrestlers from the Fujiwara Gu ...

- Fighting Investigation Team Battlarts (格闘探偵団バトラーツ, Kakuto Tantei-dan Batoratsu)(branched from Professional Wrestling Fujiwara Gumi) *

Kingdom Kingdom commonly refers to: * A monarchy ruled by a king or queen * Kingdom (biology), a category in biological taxonomy Kingdom may also refer to: Arts and media Television * ''Kingdom'' (British TV series), a 2007 British television drama s ...

(successor to UWF International) * * C.A.C.C. Snakepit Japan (formerly U.W.F. Snakepit Japan) (successor to UWF International) * U-FILE CAMP (successor to UWF International) * ZST (successor to Rings) * Real Japan Pro Wrestling (organized by former Shooto founder) * Futen Promotion (branching from Battlarts) * Gankopuroresu (branching from UWF International and Rings) * HARDHIT (organizer is a fighter from Pancrase) * Pro-Wrestling Heat-Up Co., Ltd. (branched from UWF International and Rings) * GETTO (organizer is a former Shooto fighter) *

GLEAT Gleat (stylized as GLEAT) is a Japanese professional wrestling and mixed martial arts promotion founded in 2020 by former Pro Wrestling Noah parent company Lidet Entertainment after the acquisition of Noah and DDT Pro-Wrestling by CyberAgent. Th ...

(a rebirth of UWF) *

HOOKnSHOOT HOOKnSHOOT was a mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion based in Evansville, Indiana, United States. It was one of the earliest MMA promotions in the United States, and one of the first organisations in the United States to allow Women's MMA. Hist ...

(MMA promotion which originally ran Pancrase rules and later became affiliated with Shooto)

References

{{reflist Combat sports Mixed martial arts styles Japanese professional wrestling promotions Mixed martial arts organizations