![Mitsuyo Maeda (Conde Koma). The man who brough Judo (with a Fusen Ryu emphasis) from Japan to Brazil and laid the foundations of BJJ by teaching the Gracies.His story, like that of the other Kosen Judo missionaries is interesting. Basically Kosen Judo was a form of competition that emphasized and allowed more ground work (newaza) than traditional/ mainline judo (because it was inspired by the ground heavy Fusen school). Ground experts started beating more traditional stylists and the experts in Kosen were duplicitously sent to the far corners of the earth with the stated purpose of “[spreading the word of judo]”.
As this was Meiji era japan though (where social undercurrents of a very intense clash between tradition and modernity took place), its entirely possible that the implicit purpose of this was stopping them from taking over the style and the Kodokan was merely hedging their bet that these guys (while unorthodox) were so good that they would beat nearly everyone from the outside world that they faced. That bet turned out to be true and Maeda ended up proselytizing for Judo more effectively than anyone could have seen coming by causing a theoretical and practical rift in the style which caused a divergent evolution in martial arts technique and history. WHAT A BADASS](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m5amogK75M1r32vzmo1_1280.jpg)
Mitsuyo Maeda (Conde Koma). The man who brough Judo (with a Fusen Ryu emphasis) from Japan to Brazil and laid the foundations of BJJ by teaching the Gracies.
His story, like that of the other Kosen Judo missionaries is interesting. Basically Kosen Judo was a form of competition that emphasized and allowed more ground work (newaza) than traditional/ mainline judo (because it was inspired by the ground heavy Fusen school). Ground experts started beating more traditional stylists and the experts in Kosen were duplicitously sent to the far corners of the earth with the stated purpose of “[spreading the word of judo]”.
As this was Meiji era japan though (where social undercurrents of a very intense clash between tradition and modernity took place), its entirely possible that the implicit purpose of this was stopping them from taking over the style and the Kodokan was merely hedging their bet that these guys (while unorthodox) were so good that they would beat nearly everyone from the outside world that they faced. That bet turned out to be true and Maeda ended up proselytizing for Judo more effectively than anyone could have seen coming by causing a theoretical and practical rift in the style which caused a divergent evolution in martial arts technique and history.
WHAT A BADASS