Bart Vale
Sunrise, Florida
954-746-0202
www.shootfighting.com

World champion shootfighter Bart Vale is one of the pioneers of mixed

martial arts in the United States. Vale began his training in kenpo karate in

Miami in 1970 with the Al Tracy organization, where he holds a 9th degree

black belt. Also trained with Ed Parker Sr. receiving his 4th Black, and receiving

his 1st Black from William KS Chow.

After competing as a kickboxer, Vale began training in grappling

and freestyle fighting under Masami Soranaka and Yoshiaki Fujiwara of the

Japan‑based Universal Wrestling Federation in the mid‑1980s.

Vale coined the term "shootfighting" to describe this new mixed martial

arts style which combined kickboxing with shooting, or legitimate wrestling,

and co‑founded the International Shootfighting Association to help promote

the sport. One of the first foreigners to compete in Japan, Vale became the

first American to win a world shootfighting championship in 1992. He has

competed in shootfighting, kickboxing and no‑holds‑barred matches in Japan,

the United States and Russia for the UWF, Fujiwara Gumi, Rings, K‑1 and

Extreme Fighting and also promoted the first professional shootfighting

matches held outside of Japan.

One of the only martial artists ever featured in Sports Illustrated,

Vale has also been the subject of magazine articles in Men's Fitness and

Muscle & Fitness as well as appearing on MTV and CNN. The author of the book,

Shootfighting: The Ultimate Martial Art, he has appeared in several movies

including Invastion USA. His Miami‑based organization, the ISFA, has over 40

affiliated gyms and martial arts schools around the world to help promote the

sport of shootfighting.