Disabled wrestlers enter the ring in Japan

A wrestling club made up of mostly disabled fighters is the focus of a new documentary. The director, Heath Cozens, hopes it will challenge people's perceptions of what is right and wrong when it comes to disability.

In downtown Tokyo inside a traditional town hall, a paraplegic man throws his head forward to headbutt another. Both of their legs are tied together and, lying on the floor of the ring, they wrestle until the bell signals the end of the round.

The next fight is introduced and Shintaro "Sambo" Yano, a 46-year-old man with cerebral palsy slowly enters the ring.

His opponent is Yukinori "Antithesis" Kitajima, Shintaro's long-running wrestling arch nemesis. But Kitajima isn't disabled, and is noticeably stronger than Shintaro.

"He's the Hitler of disabled care," shouts the female announcer as she introduces Kitajima. Then the fight begins.

Heath Cozens, a video journalist and documentary maker has been watching the wrestlers go head-to-head for more than five years. He felt uncomfortable when he first attended a fight night and saw the violent scenes of disabled people being pummelled to bleeding point.

"I was so shocked I almost wanted to laugh," he says, "then I felt bad about wanting to laugh at disabled people, so I felt ashamed. I just couldn't figure out if this was exploitation, entertainment or true equality."

Initially he felt it was an abusive situation, especially when he realised that non-disabled people were pitched against disabled opponents who are physically much weaker than them. He even considered making an expose, but after approaching the wrestlers and beginning to film with them, his views changed, and his new documentary emerged.

Named after the wrestling group, the film Doglegs follows five members of the Tokyo league as they confront their disabilities and personal lives - both in the wrestling ring and out. For Cozens it was a chance to show the realities of their lives, and the stark contrast of their experiences in and out of the ring. "These are people who experience extreme prejudice in most areas of their lives," he says, "but Doglegs gives them an escape from that."

At the heart of the film is Shintaro - the star of the wrestling group. He started Doglegs 20 years ago, after a fight with another disabled man over the affections of a woman made him realise how much they had both enjoyed the competition and physicality of the brawl.

Along with Kitajima - his life-long friend and wrestling partner - Doglegs was created as just this, a place for disabled people to go and have fun, away from the prejudices of their day-to-day.

Since then it has grown and is now made up of 40 wrestlers. Hundreds of people turn up to watch their fights and the crowds mostly consist of other disabled people and their carers. It is a real community, Cozens says, and disability is at the heart of it.

The group includes people with a number of different disabilities, from multiple sclerosis to mental illness, and all are given their time to prove themselves in the ring.

Yuki Nakajima has severe depression and is currently undergoing treatment for cancer. He often weeps openly when making the walk to the ring as alter ego "Hopeless Goro". Out of the ring he is close to the other members of the group. They joke about each other's disabilities and perceived hardships, poking fun of the way each other looks, or the struggles they may endure.

"It's like when I told you guys I first had cancer," Nakajima says, "Shintaro looked up and said 'pass the beer'... It was great. It was so Doglegs."
Outside the ring Nakajima has a job as the carer for another wrestler Ooga "L'Amant" Ohga who has cerebral palsy. For most of the day Ohga has to stay in his small flat, since his disability and alcoholism is causing serious ill-health.

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