A brief journey to the roots of Jiu-Jitsu through an important historical record.
A book written by the legendary Japanese fighter Mitsuyo Maeda (1878 - 1941), the famous Conde Koma, precursor of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.
Mitsuyo Maeda learned the gentle way at the Kodokan, with an instructor directly appointed by Jigoro Kano, the creator of Judo. He received his black belt in 1889, and five years later he left Japan to travel the world demonstrating the effectiveness of his martial art, then called "Kano Jiu-Jitsu".
After traveling through Europe, the United States, and Central America, he settled in Brazil in 1917, where he married and taught the precepts of the gentle way. In addition to being one of the first to introduce Judo to Brazil, his work as a teacher in the city of Belém do Pará, with Carlos Gracie, Hélio Gracie's brother, as his student, sowed the seeds of what would become Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.
This book, written during his time in El Salvador in 1913, gives us a glimpse of his vision, descriptions, and photographic records of various techniques: locks, chokes, projections, and self-defense techniques, as well as his teachings on healthy habits.
Self-defense or jiu-jitsu achievable by everyone is a small piece of judo and jiu-jitsu history, inaccessible for decades, now at your fingertips.
