Mitsuyo Maeda (1878-1941) was a martial arts prodigy who
eventually became one of
the greatest fighters in the history of Judo. Maeda
originally practiced classical styles of Jiu Jitsu, eventually
entering the Kodokan to study Judo. After remaining
undefeated in Judo tournament competition, Kano sent Maeda to
the U.S.A. in 1904 to spread the message of Kodokan Judo.
Over the course of his career, Maeda fought in literally
hundreds of matches, grappling with and without the gi,
and fighting in
"mixed"
matches (that included striking and kicking, commonly
referred to as
"no-holds-barred"
fights). During his travels, Maeda fought in the United
States, Great Britain, continental Europe, Cuba, Mexico and finally
Brazil. Throughout his career as a professional fighter,
after engaging in over 1,000 free fights, Maeda retired
without ever losing a match. The culmination of Maeda's
training in classical Jiu Jitsu and especially Judo,
tempered by his extensive combat experience against all types
of challengers, resulted in a realistic, street effective
method of fighting.
Mataemon Tanabe, fourth headmaster of Fusen Ryu
THE GRACIES
M
itsuyo Maeda finally settled in Brazil and opened an
academy of
"Jiu Jitsu"
.
One of his students was a young man named Carlos Gracie.
After studying with Maeda for several years during
the 1920's, Carlos opened his own academy in 1925. Carlos
and his brothers established a solid reputation by issuing
the now famous
"Gracie Challenge"
. All challengers were welcome to come and fight with the
Gracies in no-holds-barred
(NHB) matches. The Gracie fighters emerged victorious
against fighters of all different backgrounds.
The Gracies continued to develop the strategies and
techniques they learned from Maeda, honing their skills with
the realities of real fighting.
Several members of the Gracie family began to emigrate to
the United States in the late 1980's. BJJ became world famous
in the mid 1990's when Royce Gracie won a string of
victories in the early Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)
competitions, an event pitting martial artist and fighters
of various disciplines against each other in an NHB format.
Shortly after, Royce's brother Rickson went undefeated in
similar events in Japan, and other members of the Gracie clan
were equally as successful in MMA events around the U.S.
It became quickly apparent that fighters versed only in punching
and kicking lost every time they faced a BJJ trained
opponent. At present, all fighters in open rules events
(now popularly called
"mixed martial arts"
or MMA) train in BJJ to some extent. The emergence of
the Gracies and their
particular brand of Jiu Jitsu, with its time tested and
proven effectiveness in challenge matches and MMA fights, has had a
major impact on martial arts worldwide.
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Mitsuyo Maeda
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