The Lineage · 01 of 07
Mitsuyo Maeda
Conde Koma — the champion who carried jiu-jitsu from Japan to Brazil
Mitsuyo Maeda was a Japanese judoka from the Kodokan — Jigoro Kano's school in Tokyo — and one of the men who carried jiu-jitsu out of Japan and into the world. Known on the road as "Conde Koma" (Count Koma), he spent years traveling from country to country, fighting challenge matches against wrestlers, boxers, and fighters of every style to prove the art worked.
In 1914 Maeda arrived in Brazil, and he eventually settled in Belém, Pará. There he taught jiu-jitsu to a small circle of Brazilian students — among them Carlos Gracie, and the man this lineage descends through: Luiz França.
Every Brazilian jiu-jitsu lineage on earth traces back to Maeda's mats. In this line, his teaching passed hand to hand — França to Fadda, Fadda to Monir, Monir to Júlio César, Júlio César to Ataíde, Ataíde to Deivid — without ever breaking.