The Godfather of MMA and Founder of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu

The Birth of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu

IN THE BEGINNING, THERE WERE two avenues open for resolving differences among apes. There was no-rules fighting, which consisted of scratching, grappling, gouging, kicking and biting.

And there was politics, which consisted of posturing, smiling, mutual grooming and lying. When these things failed, which was often, there was running, jumping, climbing and hiding to bridge the gap.

Thus, martial sports were invented among us even before Lucy’s day—about 20 million years ago, give or take a digit or two.

The next major advance in contact sport was throwing and dodging. This came some five million years later. Catching and throwing back were next on evolution’s agenda. In a natural progression of things, spears, slings, bows and arrows came on the scene. When these were pretty well mastered there was a chronic cave shortage in Kanapoi County and the apes (hominids by now) began to migrate north. They wandered here and there until a bunch of them got to Greece. Out of pure conceit, these vagrants decided to declare themselves humans to distance themselves from their low-life relatives. …

We fast forward now to about three thousand years ago when some clever minds devised ways to measure weight, time and distance. Coaches, referees, rules, disqualifications and fines soon followed. The world of sports was never the same again. Smiling, lying and bug plucking were still state-of-the-art politics, but free-fighting was soon handicapped by headgear, padded gloves, armor-plate, padded jockstraps and a long list of other objectionable devices.

This went on pretty much the same until about a hundred years ago when some reactionary people in South America said, “There are too many rules! Let’s get back to basics.” These reactionary folks were Brazilians and they said all this in Portuguese. Politics still hadn’t changed but fighting in Brazil reverted mostly to the original “no-rules” rules. Many fainthearted Utopian socialists thought this uncivilized and had it banned wherever they had influence. Others called it progressive and agreed to a minimum of safety measures—enough, they hoped, to prevent death and dismemberment in the arena.

People came to these contests and they happily declared, “Hey, this is real!” That’s when a few of the participants decided to name the ancient no-rules style of fighting Gracie Brazilian Jiujitsu

Gracie Brazilian Jiujitsu

Who are the champions of this new/old sport and what makes them so notorious? Well, the very best of them have some common traits: they’re natural, all-around athletes; they have quick-witted analytical skills; a strong work ethic; an unassailable ego; a mean-spirited aggressiveness; a resistance to pain; ultra-fast reflexes; a stubborn, almost suicidal courage; a coil-spring muscularity; a contortionist’s flexibility, and lastly—and perhaps most importantly, a consuming thirst for competition.

Of the characteristics listed here, Mitsuyo Maeda had all but one: he lacked a mean-spirit gene. In fact, he was routinely good natured. One characteristic of his so far unmentioned is something rarely found in an athlete. Maeda had an unwavering, almost sophomoric loyalty to an ideal. And that stayed with him throughout his career. It gave him strength when he needed it to overcome an almost certain loss, much like Rocky Marciano’s Round 13 knockout of Joe Walcott after Marciano had become hopelessly behind on points.

But the name popularly associated today with Brazilian Jiujitsu is not Maeda but Gracie. The prolific Gracie family of Brazil are the Flying Wallendas of the free-fighting world, an almost unstoppable force the details of which is covered in its proper place in this book.

And who taught the Gracies the secrets of the Judo/Jujitsu style free-fighting developed by Maeda. Why, it was Mitsuyo Maeda, aka Conde Koma, himself....

Read more about the fascinating history of Mitsuyo Maeda, aka: Conde Koma and his journey as he fights his way across the globe in no holds barred underground competitions to become one of the most legendary undefeated MMA fighters in history.

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Coronavirus vs the Spanish Flu

These are trying times as the coronavirus pandemic is peaking in the U.S and in many other countries around the world. Death rates in the U.S have spiked above those lives lost in the Vietnam war and the contracted cases have reached close 1,200,000 with no end in sight. Many are fearful of this invisible enemy and how it spreads throughout a country, the states and small communities. With no known cure or vaccine, we have to rely on the latest scientific data and study other historical cases to find the best way to keep the country healthy. The best method of intervention the scientific community have studied is to isolate the virus by self distancing and quarantining those showing symptoms until we can find out exactly how it spreads and how to cure those who contract it. But the bigger question is how can countries do this on a grand scale while not completely destroying the economy at large.

We can reference similar cases in history such as the 1918 Spanish flu epidemic that ravished the globe and killed nearly 50,000,000 people. Much like the coronavirus, the Spanish flu was a novel virus that attacked the upper respiratory system of its host creating pneumonia, high fever, organ failure with many casualties. An except from

"The Toughest Man Who Ever Lived"

story explains how the Spanish flu spread in the U.S: "On the 8th of March, 1918, While Koma (Judo legend) was busy working with with Japanese immigrants in Belem and enjoying his role as a first time father, soldiers at Fort Funston in Kansas had been given the odious job of burning several tons of manure comprised of various types of feces, including that of pigs, chickens as well as horses and mules. The horses alone produced nine tons of it monthly.

The heat and the quantity of manure created a rare antigenic shift in an influenza protein that had infected one or more of the animals with viral pneumonia. The results was a birth of a virus with an altered protein that jumped the species barrier and mixed with air over the fire. This new protein provided the virus with a mechanism to kill off human monocytes- the resident protectors of the body that guard against viral infection, As monocytes die off, infected people or animals have less and less ability to fight off viral attacks.

A dust storm mixed with the smoke of the fire had turn the sky ominous black. It soon drifted over the nearby town. It was inhaled by a number of ordinarily healthy towns people, including young healthy men and women in their prime. Within twenty-four hours, many who'd been touched by the infected air came to the hospital reporting a sudden onset of high fever that quickly turned into pneumonia. People began to die by the dozen and the mysterious viral infection traveled from town to town, indiscriminately infecting young and old alike. Hundreds of deaths turned to thousands, then tens of thousands. By the time it has run its course in the U.S., More than half a million people were dead from it. Somewhere along its line of March, People began to refer to this deadly virus as the Spanish flu. It quickly spread worldwide where it killed more people than the bubonic plague, World War I and World War II combined.

This unparalleled pandemic killed twenty to forty million people within a year. But many exposed people like Koma never fell victim to it while other died in weeks. Immunity to the disease quickly made its way around the world much like the backwash following a tsunami that sweeps the beach clean. Mysteriously, by the end of 1919, the Spanish flu was history.

As we face this novel coronavirus in our current times, we try to learn from the new data collected as well as the past history of other similar deadly viruses. Immediate isolation efforts have helped slow the spread but ask if we should open the economy as business and trade has come to standstill, hurting families financially. This poses a risk of a larger more deadly outbreak. World leaders are plagued with the decision to allow their countries to return to work but many question still need to be answered. Will herd immunity allow the world to eradicate the virus? How does a global economy continue operating when different neighboring countries are still showing signs of infection? Do we ban travel and how do we treat or eradicate this virus indefinitely? Only time will tell.

#coronavirus #juijitsu #judo #Spanishflu #Maeda #Quarantine #pandemic #MMA #toughestmanwhoeverlived

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Bunasawa Kai judo organization would like to wish everyone a happy and healthy 2020 New Year! We have some new and exciting changes coming to the organization this year, including a new redesigned website that includes: updated news, picture, team information, and schedules. For more information please check us out at www.bunasawakai.com ...Cheers! #Judo#JiuJitsu#BJJ#NewYear#2020#Maeda#TougestManWhoEverLived#UFC#Submission#MMA#SelfDefense