Myths,  Misconceptions, and Misinformation about Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in Japan[1]

　　By Roberto Pedreira

August 30, 2016

Updated January 30, 2018

Some readers may be surprised to know that Maeda Mitsuyo [前田光世] (aka Mitsuyo Maeda, Count Koma, Conde Koma, and several other names) is not a living legend and national hero in Japan. In fact, he was virtually totally forgotten in his own country until Rorion Gracie mentioned his name in Gracies in Action, or more exactly, until Japanese promotion companies decided to import UFC style events on a large and well-capitalized scale in 1994, cashing in on the Gracie family's clever marketing campaign and the sudden availability of exotic fighters who could deliver the goods without the need for elaborate choreography. (See interview with Pride president Naoto Morishita). The Japanese already had a surfeit of pro wrestling companies, and the Pancrase organization evolved out of one of them just a few months before the first UFC. In fact two of the first UFC contestants were veterans of either Pancrase or the UWF, namely Ken Shamrock and Gerard Gordeau.  

Suddenly, Japanese became interested in their forgotten Kodokan judo heroes, Masahiko Kimura [木村政彦] and Mitsuyo Maeda [前田光世]. 

Interest was not limited to fans. Scholars also took notice. Unfortunately, most of Maeda's career was spent outside of Japan. He left in 1904 and never went back. So Japanese researchers needed to rely on foreign sources of information. Japan's interest in Maeda stemmed directly from his alleged association with the Gracie family, specifically as the putative (unconfirmed) instructor of Carlos Gracie. Most books and academic articles mentioned the Gracie family, specifically Carlos Helio or Rickson, and asked such questions as: How and why did Helio Gracie develop his unique brand of jiu-jitsu out of Maeda's Kodokan judo? Indeed, most foreign writers ask this question, assuming that what Royce did in UFC 1, 2, and 4 was what his father created in the 1930's (or even later). Otherwise, there is not much to be explained. Obviously, BJJ is now very different from judo. Anyone who has trained both knows what the differences are. People with some knowledge of judo history will also have a pretty good sense for why they came about (hint: internationalization and sportification, both of judo and BJJ, albeit at different times). 

This brings us to history. Unfortunately, Japanese researchers suffer the same limits, but even more so, that everyone else does. To know what happened in Brazil, you have to be able to access and read old Brazilian newspapers and other documents. As of 2014, all. or most, of this information has been available in Choque 1-3.  Before that, researchers used what the could get and interpolated (made up) the rest based on what seemed plausible, what they read on the internet, academy web sites, or martial arts magazines. Virtually everything derived from Gracies in Action (1988 and 1992) and the Pat Jordan Playboy article (1989). Myths, misinformation, and misconceptions flourished as one writer recycled what another writer said, nobody seeming to notice that it all came from the same source, namely Rorion Gracie (and later, academy owners and others with vested interests in maintaining the myths).

1.  神山典士 [Kohyama Norio]. (1997). ライオンの夢―コンデでコマ＝前田光世伝.　東京：小.学館.

Two books about Maeda were published in 1997. Both contributed to and helped spread the Gracie Myths. Norio Kohyama's Raion no Yume was first, published May 10. Takao Marushima's followed on November 1. Marushima did not cite Kohyama's book but he could not have avoided hearing about it. It is possible that he read it, if for no other reason than to avoid covering too much of the same material in too similar a way. They differ in various respects but the most significant is that Kohyama's is not about the Gracie family (although the book was inspired by Maeda's alleged relationship to them), while Marushima's book is substantially about the Gracies.

Kohyama conceded that he wrote his book because of Maeda's resurrected fame thanks to the Gracies claiming a direct lineage from him (pp. 21-22; he also notes on page 225 that judo history was impacted by Kimura's match with Helio Gracie in 1951. His own research did not reveal anything about Maeda and the Gracies. His conclusions appear to be based on a December 1993 interview with Helio and Rorion in the magazine 格闘技通信. Like everyone else (until GTR, Jiu-Jitsu in the South Zone, and Choque 1-3), Kohyama did not attempt, or was unable, to verify what Helio and Rorion said. He probably didn't care that much, His interest was in  Japanese immigration and related topics. Maeda's ring career was covered vaguely and briefly (pp. 101-109) and repeats most of the standard myths and misinformation about his fight record. The stories about Maeda's 2,000 victories without a defeat "were not exaggerated", he says, (p. 107), he says without any evidence, basing his confident but entirely erroneous conclusion on the assumption that Maeda must have been fighting and winning whenever there was no record of his activities.

Contrary to the stories, most of Maeda's activities in Brazil were documented and he did very little in the way of real fighting.

Based on what Helio and Rorion said, and possibly other similar things he obviously heard or read, Kohyama  wrote that Carlos learned jiu-jitsu directly from Maeda but because Carlos was dead (as of 1994) it was left to the remaining family members to carry on Maeda's legacy for the benefit of Japanese MMA fans [ "コンデ-コマに直接柔術を習ったカルロスはすでに亡くなっていることから、グレイーシ−家としても前田光世にまつまる記録はほとんど残っていないという状況だが、グレイーシ威光から、日本の格闘技ファンの間でコンデーコマ＝前田光世に対して新しい光りが当たり始めた."]

He quotes Helio who said "In 1914 Maeda and Iomata were in Brazil. My four older brothers, Carlos, Gastão, and George, learned jiu-jitsu from Maeda for 3 or 4 years. And there was me. [ “一九一四年、(アマゾンのべレンに) 前田とイオマタという日本人がいて,　私の兄弟は三−四年間前田に柔術を習った。私は五人兄弟で四人の兄がいて、上からカルロス (この大会の後九四年に死亡)、ガシトン (八十七歳)、ジヨージ　（故人）、そして私だ.] [2]

Helio erred on several points. Although Oswaldo on at least one occasion claimed that all of the brothers (except Helio) learned from Maeda, there is no evidence that they did. For his part, Helio had no way of knowing what his brother did or didn't do, other than what Carlos told him. Moreover Helio went on record in 1951 as saying that he never even heard of jiu-jitsu until January 1930 or March 1929 at the earliest [Choque 2 chp. 2, and Choque 3 app. 5]. In other words, whatever Helio said about Carlos and Maeda was based (at best) on what Carlos told him.

Helio’s oldest son, Rorion (age 43) was also present at the interview. He explained that "In Brazil Maeda taught the old stiff style of jiu-jitsu. My dad was handicapped by a lack of physical abilities so he tried to use his physical limitations as an advantage, with the mentality of "soft overcomes hard" of the original jiu-jitsu. That's what Gracie jiu-jitsu is." [Rorion: "前田がブラジルに伝えたオールドースタイルの柔術は動きが硬かった。だから、体格に恵まれなかった父は体力のハンデイを逆に武器にしながら、“柔よく剛を制す”の精神でオリジナルの柔術を作っていたんだよ。それがグレイーシ柔術さ"].

Rorion was born in 1951 so he obviously had no idea what his father did or didn't do, apart from whatever Helio may have told him. The theme of a weak man using science to overcome strong men is a jiu-jitsu marketing cliché that goes back to the days of Jigoro Kano himself [Choque 3, app. 5]. As Choque 1 documents, Helio was not a frail, small, weak boy during his first jiu-jitsu career (1932-1936) or second either (1950-1955), but on the contrary was a healthy, studly athletic young man. He had already been a swimming and rowing champion (both strenuous sports) before he begin learning jiu-jitsu, and he was not particularly small either, for a Brazilian of his age, at that time, other than in comparison to the typically obese pro wrestlers in his milieu (see almost any chapter of Choque 1-3.) Recall that most of Helio's ring opponents were about his own size or even smaller, see here ). 

The chief impact of Kohyama 's book came not from anything in it--it's almost all about immigration. The impact came from an internet review by Mark Gorsuch, who added his own erroneous personal opinion that Maeda was a vale tudo fighter who used kicks and elbows to take it to the ground after which he finished by submission. This error subsequently took on a life of its own in the forums and blogs (see here for details about that).

2.  丸島隆雄 [Marushima Takao] (1997) 『前田光世―世界柔道武者修行―』島津書房.

Takao Marushima's biography of Count Koma/Mitsuyo Maeda is available only in Japanese and currently out of print. It achieved fame on the internet via Graham Noble's 2000 article on Yukio Tani. Graham suggested that Marushima supported the claim that Tani was a student of Tanabe Mataemon and thereby was a Fusen-ryuu stylist. Unfortunately, Graham apparently did not read Marushima's book. Others, who should have been more cautious, then cited Marushima based on what Graham said, none of them having actually read the book.[3] 

Marushima's book is as much about the Gracies as Maeda. Unfortunately, all of his information (about the Maeda connection and Gracie Jiu-jitsu origins) came from Gracie marketing videos and Japanese magazine articles promoting the Gracies.  Marushima was even cited by Japanese researchers (see below). Incidentally, the Gracies did not call their jiu-jitsu Gracie Jiu-Jitsu or even claim that it was different from Japanese jiu-jitsu until Rorion moved to America (with one brief exception, see Choque 3). On the contrary what they claimed was that their brand of jiu-jitsu preserved the features of old jiu-jitsu that modern judo abandoned. The issue about what their jiu-jitsu was didn't even arise until judo became an international sport and Brazilians started to want to learn it and compete.

According to Marushima (1997, p. 140) "Tani was a student of Tanabe Mataemon of the Fusen-style of jujutsu ["谷は、不遷流の田辺又右衛門の門弟である"]. He adds, "Tanabe’s specialty was ne-waza. He was known for having measured forces with the Kodokan’s 'strong men' and making them lick a bitter cup” [寝技を得意とし、講道館の猛者たちと渡り合い、彼らに苦杯をなめさせたことで有名だ."] . No mention of Tani's father is made.

Above, the "Eel" (ウナギ) Tanabe Matauemon, from 秘録日本柔道 {Secret Record of Japanese Judo] p. 110. The picture originally appeared in 1939 in Maruyama Mitsuzo's [丸山三造 ]Dai-Nihon Judo-Shi 大日本柔道し(p. 888).

Marushima did not cite a specific source, but in his references and bibliography section  he listed `秘録日本柔道 by Kudō Raisuke [工藤雷介], published in 1972 and Minoru Yamada's 1997 book Yawara: The World of Unknown Japanese Jūjutsu　[Yawara: 知られざる日本の柔術の世界] as references. In fact the claim about Tani and Tanabe is in Kudō's  book, page 47. Kudō provided no evidence however.