IV - Mitsuyo Maeda, Count Koma

-Mitsuyo Maeda was born in 1878, in the village of Funazawa, in the city of Hirosaki, Japan. He started training Sumo in his teens and also trained a traditional Ju-Jutsu style (Hongaku Kokki Ryu), of which very little is known. -Maeda began his career at the Kodokan in 1895, being part of the second generation of black belts of the Kano school. He was trained directly by Tsunejiro Tomita and Sakujiro Yokayama, both direct students of Jigoro Kano. Even though he was small, Maeda stood out due to his great strength and sharp technique, being excellent, both in projections and on the ground. -At the end of 1904, sent by Jigoro Kano, Maeda goes to the US with the mission to spread the Kodokan method. He travels with Tomita and later with other Kodokan representatives (Satake, Ono, Ito and others). Between 1907 and 1914 Maeda travels to several countries in Central America, South America, Europe and Mexico. In these places he participates in fights against local fighters, challenging and being challenged to fight in the rules of Ju-Jutsu, Greco-Roman Wrestling, Catch as catch can and Vale-Tudo. -He also ends up training other modalities such as Catch as catch can, Boxing, Savate and even Capoeira, becoming an even more complete fighter. “I am now proposing the use of fingerless rubber boxing gloves ...I really believe that Judo practitioners need to practice (traumatic striking techniques and submissions in special conditions] ... I would also like to think of another form of Judo, adding boxing and French kickboxing to Japanese Judo. I wanted to place ads for Count Koma-style of judo in the Hibiya neighborhood (Tokyo). ” Mitsuyo Maeda. -In these trips around the world, Maeda made public presentations and challenges offering money to anyone who defeated him. -In Spain he gets the nickname Count Koma. The word Koma comes from Komaru, which in Japanese means "confusion". Maeda adopts that stage name. -In 1914 he arrives in Santos. From there he goes to Porto Alegre with a troupe of Japanese fighters that start touring the country, making demonstrations and participating in challenges. Between 1914 and 1917 they pass the states of Rio Grande do Sul, São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Minas Gerais, Bahia, Pernambuco, Maranhão, Amazonas and Pará. -In the Maeda troupe there were famous fighters, such as Satake, Okura, Shimitsu and Sadakazu “Raku” Uyenishi. The latter would have studied at Handa Dojo together with Mataemon Tanabe, who was subject of the previous episode. Around 1915 Maeda and the other Japanese fighters go to the north of the country, passing through Manaus and Belém, continuing to present demonstrations and accept challenges from boxers, capoeiristas, wrestlers... -At that time Koma meets Gastão Gracie, who was an entrepreneur and partner of the "American Circus". This circus promoted, among other things, challenges between fighters of different styles. In the events promoted by Gastão Gracie, Maeda and Satake participated, facing boxers, wrestlers and capoeira fighters.  - Around 1917, due to his affinity with his manager Gastão Gracie, Maeda starts teaching Carlos, Oswaldo and Gastão Gracie Junior. At this point, two theories arise. The first alleges that Maeda taught only the ancient Kodokan Judo to the Gracie brothers. The second theory is that the Japanese would have taught a more heterogeneous style, based on what he had learned traveling the world through his experiences in Wrestling, Boxing, Savate (French boxing) and even Capoeira. Later, Carlos Gracie passed on the teachings from Maeda and also methods developed by himself to his other brothers (George and Hélio). -Carlos, George, Oswaldo, Gastão and Hélio would take Jiu-Jítsu to another level, adapting, perfecting and writing their names in history as the founders of a new martial art called “Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu”.