Wrestlers With and Without Disabilities Fight in ‘Rough, Rude, Rule-Breaking’ League

The term “disability” is a purposefully loose distinction in Doglegs — competitors live with conditions ranging from cerebral palsy to an intellectual disability to a mental illness, and they sometimes fight each other with little to no restrictions. The league holds matches that regularly draw between 200 and 300 spectators, about half of whom live with disabilities themselves.

Heath Cozens, a filmmaker from Wellington, New Zealand, recently created a captivating documentary (trailer below) about the unconventional wrestling league. “Doglegs” centers on five of the league’s most prominent members, interweaving their personal stories with their performances on the mat. As the league’s 20th anniversary approaches, Shintaro, Doglegs’ star fighter, prepares for the fight of a lifetime: a match against “Antithesis” Kitajima, Shintaro’s able-bodied mentor and nemesis of the past two decades.

The Mighty got in touch with Cozens to learn more about the inspiration behind the documentary, what it’s like to witness a match and what he hopes people will learn from the fascinating world of Doglegs wrestling.

Can you explain what Doglegs wrestling is?

Doglegs is a nonprofit league of able-bodied and disabled wrestlers in Tokyo who fight each other in the name of smashing stereotypes. It started almost 25 years ago as a kind of break away group — there was a feeling amongst the founding members at the time that the disabled community was condescended toward and was kind of suffocating. They felt they weren’t really able to express themselves the way they wanted to, so they formed this league as an act of defiance, really. They wanted to get out there and be rough, rude and break the rules. It was sort of an outlet for frustration.

When it started, people really felt like they were starting some kind of revolution. A lot of it was based in shock value; they wanted to shock people out of their sort of calcified thinking. The wrestlers want people who see their matches to leave entertained, but they also want to leave people with a lot to think about at the end of each match. Since it was originally founded, it has become less of a political force and more a way for individuals to explore.

Wow. So the able-bodied wrestlers and wrestlers with disabilities fight each other?

They certainly do, yes. There are four different classes: people who cannot sit up and fight lying on their backs, people who can kneel, people who can stand and then an open class, which is a mix up of everything. If an able-bodied wrestler is going up against a wrestler with a disability, though, that wrestler might be restrained somehow. For example, if they have a person who is able-bodied going against a person with cerebral palsy, the able-bodied person might have his limbs tied up. But not always. It’s up to the wrestlers.

What was it like to witness your first Doglegs wrestling match?

It was a roller coaster. I was pretty shocked. It starts out with the heaviest class, people on their backs. Sometimes those people can do little more than just lie there. But then you start to focus in and see the moves they’re pulling. You pick your favorite, you start rooting for them. It casts a spell on you. Then the next match will come on, which is meant to be more humorous. You feel weird, you think, ‘Wait, should I be laughing?’ Then you realize — they want you to laugh. It’s part of it.