Mitsuyo Maeda

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Mitsuyo Maeda (前田光世, Maeda Mitsuyo^?, November 18, 1878 – November 28, 1941),^[1] a Brazilian naturalized as Otávio Mitsuyo Maeda,^[2] was a Japanese judōka and prizefighter in no holds barred competitions. He was also known as Count Combat (or Conde Koma in Brazilian), a nickname he picked up in Spain during 1908. Along with Antônio Soishiro Satake (another naturalized Brazilian), he pioneered judo in Brazil, the United Kingdom, and other countries.^[1] Maeda was fundamental to the development of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu through his teaching of the Gracie family.^[3] He was also a promoter of Japanese emigration to Brazil.

Maeda won more than 2,000 professional fights in his career. His accomplishments led to him being called "The toughest man who ever lived" and is referred to as the father of Brazilian Jiu-jitsu and pro-MMA.^[4]

Contents 1 Biography 1.1 Formative years at the Kodokan 1.2 Prelude to Kodokan's expansion 1.3 Career 1.3.1 United States 1.3.2 Europe 1.3.3 Conde Koma origin 1.3.4 Cuba, Mexico, and Central America 1.3.5 Brazil 1.4 Late years 2 Influence on the creation of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu 3 Maeda's theory of Combat 4 References

[edit] Biography

Maeda was born in Funazawa Village, Hirosaki City, Aomori Prefecture, on November 18, 1878. He attended Kenritsu Itiu high school (currently Hirokou - a Hirosaki school).^[1] As a child, he was known as Hideyo.^[5]

He practiced sumo as a teenager, but lacked the ideal build for this sport. Because of that, and because of the interest generated by stories about the success of judo at contests between judo and jujutsu that were occurring at the time, he changed to judo. In 1894, at seventeen years of age, his parents sent him to Tokyo to enroll in Waseda University. He took up Kodokan judo the following year.^[1]

[edit] Formative years at the Kodokan

Upon arriving in the Kodokan, Maeda, who was 164cm tall and weighted 64kg, was confused with a delivery boy due to his country manners and demeanor. Judo's founder Kano Jigoro spotted the boy, and promptly assigned him to Tsunejiro Tomita (4th dan), who was the smallest of the teachers of the Kodokan's shiten-no, as a measure to show that in judo, size was not important.^[1] Tomita was the first Kodokan judoka and a close friend of Kano Jigoro. According to Koyassu Massao (9th dan):

“

Among the four Kodokan shiten-no, it was Tomita who received the greatest amount of teachings from Kano Jigoro sensei [...] as a fighter he wasn't so successful as Saigo, Yamashita and Yokoyama, but was exceptional in applied studies and was also fluent in the English language [...][1]

”

Although the weakest of Kodokan shinte-no, Tomita was able to defeat the great jujutsu champion of that time, Hansuke Nakamura, from the Tenjin Shinyo Ryu style.^[1]

Mitsuyo Maeda formed with Soishiro Satake the head of the second generation of Kodokan judoka which replaced the first by the beginning of the 20th century.^[6] Satake, at 175cm and 80kg, had no match in amateur sumo but admitted that he himself wasn't a match to Maeda in judo.^[6] Satake would later travel together with Maeda and settle in Manaus, Amazonas State, while Maeda kept traveling. Satake would become the founder, in 1914, of the first historically registered judo academy in Brazil. He and Maeda are considered the pioneers of judo in Brazil.^[6]

At that time, there were few graduated Kodokan judoka. Maeda and Satake were the top graduated professors at Waseda University, both sandan, along with Matsuhiro Ritaro (nidan) and six other shodan.^[7]

Kyuzo Mifune registered in the Kodokan in 1903 and attracted Maeda's attention who commented "you are strong and competent, therefore, you will certainly leave your mark in the Kodokan...". However, Mifune went to learn under Sakujiro Yokoyama. Later, already a celebrated judoka, Mifune said that Maeda's words were fundamental and a great incentive to him, as he regarded Maeda with the greatest admiration, even though Yokoyama was his sensei.^[7]

According to Mifune, in 1904 Maeda lost to Yoshitake Yoshio by Hane Goshi, after defeating three adversaries in succession, but then, in a following tsukinami-shiai defeated eight adversaries in a row, and was awarded the 4th dan (yondan). Mifune also states that Maeda was one of the biggest promoters of judo, although not through teaching judo, but, instead, by generating recognition of Judo through his many combats with contenders from other disciplines.^[7]

Maeda treated experienced and inexperienced students alike, throwing them as if in real combat. He reasoned that this behavior was a respectful measure towards his students, but it was often misunderstood and scared many youngsters, who would abandon him in favor of other professors.^[6]

[edit] Prelude to Kodokan's expansion

In 1879, Ulysses S. Grant, the former President of the United States, went to Japan. While in Tokyo, he attended a jujutsu presentation at Shibusawa Eiichi's home in Asukayama. Kano Jigoro was one of the jujutsuka present.^[8][9] By that time, jujutsu was already being mentioned in Europe and North America, and foreigners with dubious knowledge based on poor sources (obscure books and papers) capitalized on this. Judo and jujutsu were not considered separate disciplines at that time, and even many years after the formation of the Kodokan, both were often regarded as the same art. There was strong differentiation of the names in Japan by 1925,^[10] with them finally being set apart after the 1950s.^[11]

In 1903, a senior Kodokan instructor named Yoshiaki Yamashita traveled to the United States at the request of the Seattle businessman Sam Hill. In Washington, D.C., Yamashita's students included Theodore Roosevelt and other prominent Americans. At Roosevelt's request, Yamashita also taught judo at the U.S. Naval Academy.^[12] Appreciating the good publicity, the Japanese Legation in the USA asked the Kodokan to send more judo teachers to America, thereby providing continuity to Yamashita's work. Tomita reluctantly accepted the task; Maeda and Satake embraced the opportunity.^[11]

[edit] Career

[edit] United States

Tomita, Maeda and Satake sailed from Yokohama on November 16, 1904, and arrived in New York City on December 8, 1904.^[5]

Early in 1905, Tomita and Maeda gave several public demonstrations of judo. On February 17, 1905, Tomita and Maeda gave a demonstration at Princeton University. Maeda threw N.B. Tooker, a Princeton football player, while Tomita threw Samuel Feagles, the Princeton gymnasium instructor.^[13] On February 21, 1905, they gave a judo demonstration at the United States Military Academy at West Point. Tomita and Maeda performed kata -- nage-no, koshiki, ju-no, etc. At the request of the crowd, Maeda wrestled a cadet and threw him easily. Because Tomita had been the thrower in the kata, the cadets wanted to wrestle him too. Tomita threw the first (Charles Daly) without any trouble. However, Tomita twice failed to throw another football player named Tipton using tomoe-nage (stomach throw). Tomita was much smaller, so the Japanese claimed a moral victory.^[14] The Americans just laughed, and instead hired Tom Jenkins, a former world champion professional wrestler, to be the Academy wrestling coach.

The two Japanese did better at the New York Athletic Club on March 8, 1905. "Their best throw was a sort of flying cartwheel," said an article in the New York Times, describing Maeda's match with John Naething, a 200lb wrestler. "Because of the difference in methods the two men rolled about the mat like schoolboys in a rough-and-tumble fight. After fifteen minutes of wrestling, Maeda secured the first fall. Ultimately, however, Naething was awarded the match by pin fall."^[15]

On March 21, 1905, Tomita and Maeda gave a "jiu-do" demonstration at Columbia University attended by about 200 people. Following introductions, Tomita demonstrated falls and throws, then Maeda threw the university's wrestling instructor. According to the student newspaper, "Another interesting feature was the exhibition of some of the obsolete jiu jitsu tricks for defense with a fan against an opponent armed with the curved Japanese sword." Translations were provided by chemist Takamine Jokichi.^[16]

During April 1905, Tomita and Maeda started a judo club in a commercial space at 1947 Broadway in New York. Members of this club included Japanese expatriates,^[17] plus a European American woman named Wilma Berger.^[18]

On July 6, 1905, Tomita and Maeda gave a judo exhibition at the YMCA in Newport, Rhode Island.^[19] On September 30, 1905, Tomita and Maeda gave a demonstration at another YMCA, this time the one in Lockport, New York. In Lockport, the local opponent was Mason Shimer, who wrestled Tomita unsuccessfully.^[20]

On November 6, 1905, Maeda was reported visiting professional wrestler Akitaro Ono in Asheville, North Carolina;^[21] after this, Maeda was no longer routinely associated with Tomita in the US newspapers.

On December 18, 1905, Maeda was in Atlanta, Georgia, for a professional wrestling match with Sam Marburger. The contest was best of three, two falls with jackets and one without, and Maeda won the two with jackets and lost the one without. According to the Atlanta papers, Maeda listed his residence as the YMCA in Selma, Alabama.^[22]

[edit] Europe

Before traveling to Europe, Maeda and Satake went to Cuba along with Akitaro Ono and Tokugoro Ito. All of them engaged in combats. It was during this time that Maeda defeated Adobamond, the "number one" fighter in Cuba.^[23]

On February 8, 1907, Maeda and Satake arrived in Liverpool, England. Apparently this was to join up with Akitaro Ono, who had gone to London to wrestle for promoter William Bankier in London music halls.^[5] In London, Maeda paid the rent mostly by wrestling professionally. On January 1908, he participated in a tournament at the Alhambra. Maeda was runner-up in the heavyweight division, losing to Austria's Henry Irslinger.^[24] In February 1908, Maeda participated in another wrestling tournament. Again, he ended up runner-up, this time losing to Jimmy Esson.^[25][26] However, in March 1908, Maeda beat Henry Irslinger in a match that Health & Strength magazine described as "one of the squarest, straightest which have been held in England in many years."^[27] Maeda also appears to have done some wrestling in Scotland during September 1908, as several Japanese were reported giving demonstrations of judo and sumo at the Northern Games in Inverness.^[28] In between, Maeda gave judo lessons. His students included a man named W.E. Steers. Steers was very enthusiastic about his lessons, even going to Japan to earn shodan grading in 1912. In 1918, Steers was among the first non-Japanese to join the London jujutsu club known as the Budokwai, which in 1920 would join the Kodokan to become a judo club.^[29]

After the match with Henry Inslinger in March 1908, Maeda went to Belgium. He didn't like Belgium, so he soon returned to London, and in May 1908 he participated in a professional wrestling tournament at Hengler's Circus. Maeda and another Japanese, Tano Matsuda, entered as middleweights, but neither man reached the finals.^[5] During January 1909, Matsuda became notorious for losing a mixed match to the African American boxer Sam McVey.^[30]

Maeda went to Spain in June 1908. He was accompanied by Fujisake, Ono, and Hirano. While in Barcelona, Maeda had matches with Sadakazu Uyenishi and Taro Miyake.^[31] Phoebe Roberts, a Welsh woman who was advertised as the female judo champion of the world, was part of the entourage. Roberts subsequently married Hirano, and stayed in Portugal for the rest of her life.^[32]

[edit] Conde Koma origin

It was during the Iberian trip that Maeda adopted the stage name Conde Koma. There are many theories explaining its origin. It could be an allusion to Komaru, which in Japanese means "troubled," and provided an ironic reference to his always being broke.^[5]

Maeda stated in a European magazine:

“

An influential Spanish citizen, impressed with my victories, posture and demeanor, [...] gave me this title which soon spread everywhere in detriment of my real name.[33]

”

Maeda was fond of the name and started using it to promote his art thereafter.^[33]

[edit] Cuba, Mexico, and Central America

During November 1908, Maeda went to Paris, France, apparently to see his friend Akitaro Ono. From Paris, he went to Havana, arriving there on December 14, 1908, and his twice-a-day wrestling act quickly proved to be very popular.^[5]

On July 23, 1909, Maeda left Havana for Mexico City. His debut in Mexico City took place at the Virginia Fabregas Theater on July 14, 1909. This show was a private demonstration for some military cadets. Shortly afterwards, Maeda began appearing at the Principal Theater. His standing offer was 100 pesos (US $50) to anyone he could not throw, and 500 pesos (US $250) to anyone who could throw him.^[34] The Mexican Herald did not record anyone taking his money.

During September 1909, a Japanese calling himself Nobu Taka arrived in Mexico City for the purpose of challenging Maeda for what the Mexican Herald said would be the world jujutsu championship.^[35] After several months of public wrangling, Taka and Maeda met at the Colon Theater on November 16, 1909; Taka won.^[36] There was an immediate rematch, and four days later, Maeda was pronounced the champion.^[37] It was later revealed that Taka was none other than Maeda's old friend, Soishiro Satake.

In January 1910, Maeda took part in a wrestling tournament in Mexico City. During the semifinals, Maeda drew with Hjalmar Lundin.^[38] This is a different result than Lundin recalled in his 1937 memoirs.^[39]

In July 1910, Maeda returned to Cuba, where he tried to arrange matches with Frank Gotch and Jack Johnson. Of course, the Americans ignored him -- there was no money to be made wrestling him, and much money to be lost if they lost to him.^[5] On August 23, 1910, Maeda wrestled Jack Connell in Havana; the result was a draw.^[40]

During 1911, Maeda and Satake were joined in Cuba by Akitaro Ono and Tokugoro Ito. The four men were known as the Four Kings of Cuba.^[23]

The Four Kings were very popular in Cuba, and the Japanese were proud of the reputation they were bringing to judo and Japan.^[41] Consequently, on January 8, 1912, the Kodokan promoted Maeda to fifth degree black belt. There was some resistance to this decision because there were those in Japan who did not approve of his involvement in professional wrestling.^[42]

In 1913, Ito Tokugoro stayed in Cuba while Maeda and Satake went to El Salvador, Costa Rica, Honduras, Panama, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru. In El Salvador, the president was assassinated while Maeda was there, and in Panama, the Americans tried to pay him to lose; so they kept moving south. In Peru they met Laku, a Japanese jujutsuka who taught the military and invited Laku to join them. They were then joined by Okura in Chile, and by Shimitsu in Argentina. The troupe arrived in Brazil in November 14, 1914.^[43][5]

[edit] Brazil

According to a copy of Maeda's passport provided by Gotta Tsutsumi, head of Belém's Associação Paramazônica Nipako, Maeda arrived in Porto Alegre on November 14, 1914,^[44] where his first exhibition in Brazil took place.^[45] After that, one sees glimpses of Maeda and his companions throughout the country: on August 26, 1915, Maeda, Satake, Okura, Shimitsu, and Laku were at Recife; during October 1915, they were in Belém, finally arriving in Manaus on December 18, 1915. Ito Tokugoro arrived sometime later.

On December 20, 1915, the first demonstration in Belém took place at the Theatro Politheama. The O Tempo newspaper announced the event, stating that Conde Koma would show the main jiu-jitsu techniques, discriminating the prohibited ones. He would also demonstrate self-defense techniques. After that, the troupe would be accepting challenges from the crowd, and there would be the first sensational match of jiu-jitsu between Shimitsu (champion of Argentina) and Laku (Peruvian military professor).^[46]

On December 22, 1915, according to O Tempo, jiu-jitsu world champion Maeda, head of the Japanese troupe, and Satake, New York champion, performed an enthusiastic and sensational jiu-jitsu match. On the same day, Nagib Assef, an Australian Greco-Roman champion of Turkish origin, challenged Maeda. On December 24, 1915, Maeda defeated in seconds the boxer Barbadiano Adolpho Corbiniano, who became one of his disciples. On January 3, 1916 at Theatro Politheama, Maeda finally fought Nagib Assef, who was thrown off the stage and pinned into submission by arm-lock.^[46]

On January 8, 1916, Maeda, Okura, and Shimitsu boarded the SS Antony and left for Liverpool. Ito Tokugoro went to Los Angeles.^[47] Satake and Laku stayed in Manaus teaching, according to O Tempo, jiu-jitsu. After 15 years together, Maeda and Satake had finally split up.^[46][5]

Of this last trip, little is known. Maeda went from England to Portugal, Spain and France, coming back to Brazil in 1917 alone. Settling in Belém do Pará, Maeda married D. May Iris.^[46]

Maeda was still cherished by the local population and recognized as a great fighter. Maeda slowed down and only fought sporadically. Around 1918-1919, Maeda accepted a challenge from the famous Capoeirista (Capoeira fighter) Pé de Bola. Maeda allowed Pé de Bola to use a knife in the fight. The Capoeirista was 190cm tall and weighed 100kg. Maeda won the match quickly.^[48]

In 1921 Maeda founded his first judo academy in Brazil. It was called Clube Remo, and its building was a 4m x 4m shed. Later it was moved to the Fire Brigade headquarters and then to the church of N. S. de Aparecida. As of 1991, the Academy was located in the SESI and was run by Alfredo Mendes Coimbra sensei, of the third generation of Conde Koma's descendants.^[48]

On September 18, 1921, Maeda, Satake, and Okura were briefly in New York City. They were aboard the Booth Line steamship Polycarp. All three men listed their occupations as professors of "juitso".^[49]

After leaving New York, the three men went to the Caribbean, where they stayed from September to December 1921. At some point in this trip, Maeda was joined by his wife. In Havana, Satake and Maeda took part in some contests. Their opponents included Paul Alvarez, who wrestled as Espanol Icognito. Alvarez defeated Satake and Yako Okura - the latter being billed as a former instructor at the Chilean Naval Academy - before being himself beaten by Maeda. Maeda also defeated a Cuban boxer called Jose Ibarra, and a French wrestler called Fournier. The Havana papers attributed Maeda with a Cuban student called Conde Chenard.^[50]

[edit] Late years

In 1925 Maeda became involved with helping settle Japanese immigrants near Tome-açú, a Japanese-owned company town in Pará, Brazil. This was part of a large tract in the Amazon forest set aside for Japanese settlement by the Brazilian government.^[5] The crops grown by the Japanese were not popular with the Brazilians, and the Japanese investors eventually gave up on the project.^[51] Maeda also continued teaching judo, now mostly to the children of Japanese immigrants. Consequently, in 1929, the Kodokan promoted him to sixth dan, and on November 27, 1941, to seventh dan. Maeda never knew of this final promotion, because he died in Belém on November 28, 1941. Cause of death was kidney disease.^[5]

In May 1956, a memorial to Maeda was erected in Hirosaki City, Japan. The dedication ceremony was attended by Risei Kano and Kaichiro Samura.^[5]

[edit] Influence on the creation of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu

In 1917 Carlos Gracie—14 year old son of Gastão Gracie—watched a demonstration by Maeda at the Teatro da Paz and decided to learn judo (also known at the time as "Jiu-Jitsu" or "Kano Jiu-Jitsu".) Maeda accepted Carlos as a student, and Carlos went on to become a great exponent of the art and ultimately, with his younger brother Hélio Gracie became the founder of Gracie Jiu-Jitsu, modern Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.^[52]

In 1921, Gastão Gracie and his family moved to Rio de Janeiro. Carlos, then 17 years old, passed Maeda's teachings on to his brothers Osvaldo, Gastão and Jorge. Hélio was too young and sick at that time to learn the art, and due to medical imposition was prohibited from taking part in the training sessions. Despite that, Hélio learned judo by watching his brothers. He eventually overcame his health problems and is now considered by many as the founder of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (though others, such as Carlson Gracie, have pointed to Carlos as the founder of the art.)^[52]

[edit] Maeda's theory of Combat

According to Renzo Gracie's book Mastering Jujitsu,^[53] Maeda not only taught the art of judo to Carlos Gracie, but also taught a particular philosophy about the nature of combat based on his travels competing and training alongside catch-wrestlers, boxers, savate fighters and various other martial artists.

The book details Maeda's theory that physical combat could be broken down into distinct phases, such as the striking phase, the grappling phase, the standing phase, etc. Thus, it was a smart fighter's task to keep the fight located in the phase of combat that best suited his own strengths.

The book also further states that this theory was a fundamental influence on the Gracie approach to combat.^[53]

[edit] References