Mitsuyo Maeda
前田光世
Japanese Kodokan judoka nicknamed Conde Koma, who wrestled abroad from 1904 and from 1914 taught judo in Brazil, where the foundation of Brazilian jiu-jitsu took shape.
Quick Facts
BrazilBiography
Mitsuyo Maeda was a Japanese Kodokan judoka who from 1904 gave judo demonstrations and wrestled in America and Europe and from 1914 worked in Brazil under the nickname Conde Koma. He was born on 18 November 1878 in Funazawa, today part of Hirosaki in Aomori Prefecture, and the Japanese Wikipedia gives 18 December. He died on 28 November 1941 in Belém, Brazil.
He was the eldest son of a well-off farming family. According to the Japanese National Diet Library, he came to Tokyo in 1896 and joined the Kodokan in 1897. In 1898 he won ten matches in a row in the monthly Kodokan matches, from 1901 he held the 3rd dan and until October 1904 he taught judo at the Gakushuin school.
In November 1904 he sailed with Tsunejiro Tomita to the USA, where he gave judo demonstrations at Princeton and West Point, among other places. He then wrestled in England, Spain, Cuba and Mexico, and in Barcelona, according to the National Diet Library, he took the name Conde Koma. His first documented appearance in Brazil was in September 1914, from October 1915 he lived in Belém, and in 1921 he opened the Conde Koma club there.
From 1925 he took part in settling Japanese immigrants in Pará and later took Brazilian citizenship. The Kodokan awarded him the 7th dan on 27 November 1941, the day before his death. His Brazilian students included Jacyntho Ferro and Luiz França. It is often said that he taught Carlos Gracie, but researchers, however, state that Carlos studied under Jacyntho Ferro, a student of Maeda.
Early life
Mitsuyo Maeda was born as the eldest son of a well-off farming family in the village of Funazawa, today part of Hirosaki in Aomori Prefecture. The English Wikipedia gives the date 18 November 1878, the Japanese one 18 December 1878. According to Sonny Brown, he was called Hideyo and changed his name to Mitsuyo in America around July 1905.
According to the Japanese National Diet Library, in 1896 he left secondary school in Aomori for Tokyo and the newly founded Waseda secondary school, and in 1897 he joined the Kodokan. The English Wikipedia gives the year 1894 and Waseda University.
Training and teachers
According to the essay by Sonny Brown, which draws on Japanese Kodokan sources, his first teachers were Iwazaki, Kawahara Yataro, Washio and Isoya. Tsunejiro Tomita was two dan grades higher and Maeda served as his partner at demonstrations for a year, but the Kodokan sources do not regard him as a teacher, according to Brown. The researcher Robert Drysdale states that Maeda was not a direct student of Kano Jigoro.
In 1898, according to the National Diet Library, he won ten matches in a row in the monthly student matches of the Kodokan. From 1901 he held the 3rd dan, and from April 1901 to October 1904 he was an assistant judo instructor at the Gakushuin school. According to Wikipedia, he received the 5th dan on 8 January 1912, the 6th in 1929 and the 7th on 27 November 1941, the day before his death.
Contribution and innovations
On 16 November 1904 he sailed from Yokohama with Tsunejiro Tomita and Satake, and on 8 December he arrived in New York. In 1905 he gave judo demonstrations at Princeton, West Point and Columbia University. In England he performed from June 1907, and in January 1908 he wrestled in London as Maida Yamato. According to the National Diet Library, the nickname Conde Koma originated in Barcelona. In December 1908 he performed in Havana and in July 1909 in Mexico City. In 1912 a book about the travels of a judoka around the world was published under his name.
According to Wikipedia and Drysdale, his first documented appearance in Brazil was in September 1914 in São Paulo or Santos, and the date 14 November 1914 comes from his passport in Porto Alegre. From October 1915 he lived in Belém, and in 1921 he opened the Conde Koma club there. From 1925 he took part in settling Japanese immigrants near Tomé-Açu, and he took Brazilian citizenship, according to the Japanese Wikipedia, in May 1927 and according to BJJ Heroes in 1930.
Legends and documented facts
A widespread version says that Maeda taught Carlos Gracie. According to Sonny Brown, Carlos studied under Jacyntho Ferro, a student of Maeda, and a meeting between them is not documented. Hélio Gracie himself denied ever meeting Maeda. It is also often written that Maeda brought jiu-jitsu to Brazil, but Sada Miyako arrived in Rio as early as 31 December 1908.
The legend of a thousand matches without a defeat does not correspond to contemporary reports: Wikipedia lists defeats in New York on 8 March 1905 and in 1909, and according to Brown the inflated numbers come from the book of 1912. The results of his Brazilian matches differ even in Wikipedia, and Brown states that no-rules vale tudo matches are not documented. The claim that he taught President Theodore Roosevelt arose according to Brown by mistake, and the National Diet Library attributes the teaching of Roosevelt to Yoshiaki Yamashita.
Legacy
According to the research of Robert Drysdale, Maeda awarded the first Brazilian ranks to five students: Waldemar Lopes, Raphael Gomes, Jacyntho Ferro, Matheus Pereira and Guilherme de la Rocque. According to BJJ Heroes, the Conde Koma club in Belém continued under other teachers to this day. Through his students judo and jiu-jitsu reached the Gracie family and became one of the foundations of Brazilian jiu-jitsu.
He is buried at the Santa Isabel cemetery in Belém. In May 1956 a monument to him was unveiled in Hirosaki in the presence of Risei Kano. The biography Lion's Dream about him was published in 2003 by Kamiyama Norishi.