Kyoji Horiguchi was 16 when his shin snapped at karate practice. The style of karate Horiguchi studied at the time prohibited low kicks, but an ashi barai—a leg trip—was totally legal.
“I tried to go for one of those, and I aimed for the inner calf area,” recalled the Japanese mauler, who turned 30 in October. “When my leg landed in my opponent’s inner thigh area, it just split in half. My coach saw me squat down and he yelled at me, ‘Kyoji, what are you sitting down for? Get back in the game.’ I stood back up once, but I couldn’t continue.