Martial Arts Of The World - Webs

52 Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
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Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
Brazilian jiu-jitsu is a grappling system that maintains both sport and combat
forms. The art was derived from Japanese antecedents in twentiethcentury
Brazil.
Brazilian jiu-jitsu is virtually synonymous with the Gracie family,
through whose lineage the system was passed and whose members modified
the original Japanese art into its present state. Currently, however, instructors
are not necessarily members of the Gracie family. Therefore, a distinction
exists between Brazilian jiu-jitsu in general and Gracie Jiu-jitsu (a
registered trademark).
The parent system of Brazilian jiu-jitsu is Kôdôkan Jûdô, and although
Mitsuyo Maeda was not the first jûdôka (jûdô practitioner) in
Brazil (this was a 1908 immigrant named Miura), he was certainly the first
to be influential. Therefore some background on Maeda is required.
Maeda was born in Aomori Prefecture, Japan, in November 1878. At
age 17 he moved to Tokyo where, on June 6, 1897, he joined Japan’s most
famous jûdô school, the Kôdôkan. There he was a direct student of
Kôdôkan director Sakujiro Yokoyama, a man famous for his participation
in challenge matches and fights.
By 1903 Maeda was graded fourth dan (fourth-degree black belt) in
jûdô. Since the highest rank in those days was seventh dan, this suggests
enormous talent. As a result, in 1904 he was invited to go to the United
States with Tsunejiro Tomita, jûdô founder Kanô Jigorô’s original student;
the idea was for Tomita to explain the theory of jûdô while Maeda demonstrated
its application. After arriving in the United States, however, Tomita
was publicly challenged and defeated. This embarrassed Maeda, who went
off on his own to become a professional wrestler, which in turn embarrassed
the Kôdôkan.
From 1906 to 1908, Maeda wrestled in the United States, Britain, Belgium,
and Spain, and it was in the latter country that he adopted his stage
name of Conde Koma. The name was a pun: Read one way, it meant “Count
of Combat,” while read another it meant “Count of [Economic] Troubles.”
From 1909 to 1913, Maeda wrestled in Mexico, Cuba, Costa Rica,