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Otávio MaedaVirgílio, p. 9 (born Mitsuyo Maeda []; November 18, 1878 – November 28, 1941) was a Japanese and Brazilian judo, Catch wrestling, and prizefighter who is considered one of the fathers of Brazilian Jiu-jitsu. He was commonly known by the nickname Conde Koma (Spanish and Portuguese for "Count Combat").
Maeda was the head of the second generation of Kodokan judōka, and was integral to the martial art's expansion into the United States during the 1900's. Along with Soshihiro Satake, he pioneered judo in Brazil, the United Kingdom, and other countries during the following decades, eventually becoming a naturalized Brazilian citizen and a promoter of Japanese immigration to Brazil.
Maeda was fundamental to the development of Brazilian jiu-jitsu, including through his teaching of Carlos Gracie and others of the Gracie family.Virgílio, p. 93 His accomplishments led to him being called the "toughest man who ever lived".
Although the weakest of Kodokan Shitennō, Tomita was able to defeat the great jujutsu champion of that time, Hansuke Nakamura.
With Soishiro Satake, Maeda formed the head of the second generation of Kodokan judoka, which had replaced the first by the beginning of the 20th century.Virgílio, pp. 33–34 Satake, at 175 cm and 80 kg, was unmatched in amateur sumo but admitted that he himself was not able to match Maeda in judo. Satake would later travel to South America with Maeda and settle in Manaus, Amazonas, while Maeda continued traveling. Satake would become the founder, in 1914, of the first historically registered judo academy in Brazil. He and Maeda are considered the pioneers of judo in Brazil.
At that time, there were few graduated Kodokan judoka. Maeda and Satake were the top graduated professors at Waseda University, both sandan (3rd dan), along with Matsuhiro Ritaro ( nidan or 2nd dan) and six other shodan (1st dan).Virgílio, pp. 36–37 Kyuzo Mifune registered at the Kodokan in 1903 and attracted the attention of Maeda, who commented, "you are strong and competent, therefore, you will certainly leave your mark in the Kodokan ..." Mifune went to learn under Sakujiro Yokoyama and later, already a celebrated judoka, Mifune said that Maeda's words were a great incentive, as he regarded Maeda with the greatest admiration, even though Yokoyama was his sensei (instructor).
According to Mifune, in 1904 Maeda lost to Yoshitake Yoshio by hane goshi, after defeating three adversaries in succession, but in a following tsukinami-shiai defeated eight adversaries in a row and was awarded the rank of 4th dan ( yondan). Mifune also states that Maeda was one of the most vigorous promoters of judo, although not by teaching the art, instead generating recognition of judo through his many combats with contenders from other disciplines. Maeda treated experienced and inexperienced students alike, throwing them as if in real combat. He reasoned that this behavior was a measure of respect towards his students, but it was often misunderstood and frightened many youngsters, who would abandon him in favor of other professors.
In 1903, a senior Kodokan instructor named Yamashita Yoshitsugu traveled to the United States at the request of the Seattle businessman Samuel Hill. In Washington, DC, Yamashita's students included Theodore Roosevelt and other prominent Americans. At Roosevelt's request, Yamashita also taught judo at the U.S. Naval Academy.Svinth, Joseph R. (October 2000) "Professor Yamashita Goes to Washington". Journal of Combative Sport. Capitalizing on the publicity, the Japanese Legation to the United States asked the Kodokan to send more judo teachers to America, providing continuity to Yamashita's work. Tomita reluctantly accepted the task; Maeda and Satake embraced the opportunity.
Early in 1905, Tomita and Maeda gave several public demonstrations of judo. On February 17, 1905, Tomita and Maeda gave a demonstration at Princeton University when Maeda threw N.B. Tooker, a Princeton football player, while Tomita threw Samuel Feagles, the Princeton gymnasium instructor. Baltimore Sun, February 18, 1905. On February 21, 1905, they gave a judo demonstration at the United States Military Academy at West Point, where Tomita and Maeda performed kata (patterns)—nage-no, koshiki, ju-no, and so on. At the request of the crowd, Maeda wrestled a cadet and threw him easily. Because Tomita had been the thrower in the kata, the cadets wanted to wrestle him too. Tomita threw the first (Charles Daly) without any trouble. However, Tomita twice failed to throw another football player named Tipton using Tomoe nage. Afterwards, the New York sportswriters claimed the victory for the cadets because Tomita was thrown, whereas the Japanese embassy staff proclaimed that Tomita had achieved a moral victory, on the grounds that he was a far smaller man. Baltimore Sun, February 22, 1905.
A conflicting account provided by The New York Times on February 21, referring to Tomita as "Prof. Tomet," states that
In any event, later that year the U.S. Military Academy hired a former world champion professional wrestler, Tom Jenkins, instead of a judo teacher, a job Jenkins kept until his retirement in 1942. Pittsburgh Press, December 27, 1905; New York Times, August 18, 1942.
The Japanese experts did better at the New York Athletic Club on March 8, 1905: "Their best throw was a sort of flying cartwheel," said an article in The New York Times, describing Maeda's match with John Naething, a 200 lb wrestler. "Because of the difference in methods the two men rolled about the mat like schoolboys in a rough-and-tumble fight. After fifteen minutes of wrestling, Maeda secured the first fall. Ultimately, however, Naething was awarded the match by pin fall." New York Times, March 9, 1905. On March 21, 1905, Tomita and Maeda gave a "jiu-do" demonstration at Columbia University attended by about 200 people. Following introductions, Tomita demonstrated falls and throws, then Maeda threw the university's wrestling instructor. According to the student newspaper, "Another interesting feature was the exhibition of some of the obsolete jiu jitsu tricks for defense with a fan against an opponent armed with the curved Japanese sword." Translations were provided by chemist Jōkichi Takamine. Columbia Spectator, March 22, 1905.
During April 1905, Tomita and Maeda started a judo club in a commercial space at 1947 Broadway in New York. Members of this club included Japanese expatriates, New York Times, April 6, 1905. plus a European American woman named Wilma Berger.Gregory, O.H. & Tomita, Tsunejiro Judo: The Modern School of Jiu-Jitsu. (Chicago: O.H. Gregory, no date but about 1906). On July 6, 1905, Tomita and Maeda gave a judo exhibition at the YMCA in Newport, Rhode Island. Newport Herald, July 7, 1905. On September 30, 1905, they gave a demonstration at another YMCA in Lockport, New York. In Lockport, the local opponent was Mason Shimer, who wrestled Tomita unsuccessfully. Lockport Journal, October 7, 1905.
On November 6, 1905, Maeda was reported visiting professional wrestler Akitaro Ono in Asheville, North Carolina; Asheville Gazette-News, November 6, 1905. Ono arrived in San Francisco on April 20, 1905, aboard the same ship as a Japanese college baseball team. Ono said that his goal was to teach judo at West Point. For this, Washington Post, April 21, 1905. However, as noted, the Military Academy hired Tom Jenkins rather than a judo teacher, so instead Ono took up professional wrestling, and American wrestler Charley Olson's subsequent battering of Ono caused a minor diplomatic incident later that year. For more on this, see Mark Hewitt, Catch Wrestling: A Wild and Wooly Look at the Early Days of Pro Wrestling in America. Boulder, Colorado: Paladin Press, 2005, pp. 79–88. after this, Maeda was no longer routinely associated with Tomita in the U.S. newspapers. On December 18, 1905, Maeda was in Atlanta, Georgia for a professional wrestling match with Sam Marburger. The contest was best of three, two falls with jackets and one without, and Maeda won the two with jackets and lost the one without. According to the Atlanta papers, Maeda listed his residence as the YMCA in Selma, Alabama. Atlanta Journal, December 18, 1905, and December 20, 1905.
When Maeda visited Barcelona, he saw an advertisement for a lecture given by a man calling himself the "Japanese judo champion", who was the man who he had known had not sufficient skill to call themself the champion at all. He decided to offer a challenge to the man under a false name to teach him a lesson so that he should not refuse to accept the challenge if he knew the challenger was Maeda. When he had difficulty hitting upon a good name, he first thought of the name, "Komaru Maeda" from the Japanese word "Komaru" which means "to be in difficultly" as he was in financial difficulty at the time, and at last he decided to take up "Koma" alone from "Komaru" and to add "Conde" which means "count" in Spanish in front of it. Thus his nickname, "Conde Koma" was given birth. He offered a challenge under the name "Conde Koma", but his opponent soon found the challenger was Maeda and called off the bout.
During November 1908, Maeda went to Paris, France, apparently to see his friend Akitaro Ono. From Paris, he went to Havana, arriving there on December 14, 1908, and his twice-a-day wrestling act quickly proved to be very popular. On July 23, 1909, Maeda left Havana for Mexico City. His debut in Mexico City took place at the Virginia Fabregas Theater on July 14, 1909. This show was a private demonstration for some military cadets. Shortly afterwards, Maeda began appearing at the Principal Theater. In a similar fashion to how the jujutsu pioneers in Europe did things, Maeda put on “all comers” matches against anyone willing to test their luck on stage. His standing offer was 100 Mexican peso (US$50) to anyone he could not throw, and 500 pesos (US$250) to anyone who could throw him. Mexican Herald, July 14, 1909.
During September 1909, a Japanese calling himself Nobu Taka arrived in Mexico City for the purpose of challenging Maeda for what the Mexican Herald said would be the world jujutsu championship. Mexican Herald, September 3, 1909. After several months of public wrangling, Taka and Maeda met at the Colon Theater on November 16, 1909; Taka won. Mexican Herald, November 16, 1909 There was an immediate rematch, and four days later, Maeda was pronounced the champion. Mexican Herald, November 20, 1909.
In January 1910, Maeda took part in a wrestling tournament in Mexico City. During the semifinals, Maeda drew with Hjalmar Lundin. Mexican Herald, January 23, 1910. This is a different result than Lundin recalled in his 1937 memoirs. Said Lundin, "Having been accustomed to handling the big Greco-Roman wrestlers with ease, the Jap thought he could do likewise with me, but in the first encounter I got the better of him, after which my confidence returned. I had no trouble then in winning the match. It was a surprise to the crowd and a set-back for Koma. He had been the hero all week, but as soon as he was beaten the fans, true to form, called him a bum."Hjalmar Lundin. On the Mat – and Off: Memoirs of a Wrestler. New York: Albert Bonnier, 1937, p. 94.
In July 1910, Maeda returned to Cuba, where he tried to arrange matches with Frank Gotch and Jack Johnson. The Americans ignored him—there was no money to be made wrestling him, and much money to be lost if they lost to him.Green, Thomas A. and Svinth, Joseph R. (2003) "The Circle and the Octagon: Maeda's Judo and Gracie's Jiu-jitsu." In Thomas A. Green and Joseph R. Svinth, eds. Martial Arts in the Modern World. Westport, Connecticut. pp. 61–70. . On August 23, 1910, Maeda wrestled Jack Connell in Havana; the result was a draw. Mexican Herald, August 23, 1910. During 1911, Maeda and Satake were joined in Cuba by Akitaro Ono and Tokugoro Ito. The four men were known as the 'Four Kings of Cuba.'Virgílio, p. 53
The Four Kings were very popular in Cuba, and the Japanese media were proud of the reputation they were bringing to judo and Japan. Japan Times, November 1, 1912. Consequently, on January 8, 1912, the Kodokan promoted Maeda to 5th dan. There was some resistance to this decision because there were those in Japan who did not approve of his involvement in professional wrestling.Svinth, Joseph R. (1916) "On the Defeat of Tokugoro in America". Judo, 5, pp. 85–86 In 1913, Tokugoro Ito stayed in Cuba while Maeda and Satake went to El Salvador, Costa Rica, Honduras, Panama, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru. In El Salvador, the president was assassinated while Maeda was there, and in Panama, the Americans tried to pay him to lose; in response, they kept moving south. In Peru they met Laku, a Japanese jujutsuka who taught the military, and invited him to join them. They were then joined by Okura in Chile, and by Shimitsu in Argentina. The troupe arrived in Brazil before September 1914.Virgílio, p. 67
On December 20, 1915, the first demonstration in Belém took place at the Theatro Politheama. The O Tempo newspaper announced the event, stating that Conde Koma would show the main jiu-jitsu techniques, excepting the prohibited ones. He also would demonstrate self-defense techniques. After that, the troupe would be accepting challenges from the crowd, and there would be the first sensational match of jiu-jitsu between Shimitsu (champion of Argentina) and Laku (Peruvian military professor).Virgílio, pp. 69–73 On December 22, 1915, according to O Tempo, jiu-jitsu world champion Maeda, head of the Japanese troupe, and Satake, New York champion, performed an enthusiastic and sensational jiu-jitsu match. On the same day, Nagib Assef, an Australian Greco-Roman wrestling champion of Turkish origin, challenged Maeda. On December 24, 1915, Maeda defeated in seconds the boxer Barbadiano Adolpho Corbiniano, who became one of his disciples. On January 3, 1916, at Theatro Politheama, Maeda finally fought Nagib Assef, who was thrown off the stage and pinned into submission by arm-lock. On January 8, 1916, Maeda, Okura, and Shimitsu boarded the SS Antony and left for Liverpool. Tokugoro Ito went to Los Angeles. Svinth, Joseph R. "Tokugoro Ito" Satake and Laku stayed in Manaus teaching, according to O Tempo, jiu-jitsu. After 15 years together, Maeda and Satake had finally split up.
At some point, Maeda became a naturalized Brazilian citizen, adopting the Portuguese given name Otávio ().
Maeda was still popular in Brazil, and recognized as a great fighter, although he only fought sporadically after his return. Around 1918–1919, Maeda accepted a challenge from the famous Capoeira Pé de Bola. Maeda allowed Pé de Bola to use a knife in the fight. The capoeirista was 190 cm tall and weighed 100 kg. Maeda won the match quickly.Virgílio, p. 79 In 1921, Maeda founded his first judo academy in Brazil. It was called Clube Remo' and its building was a 4m x 4m shed. Later, it was moved to the Fire Brigade headquarters and then to the church of N.S. de Aparecida. In 1991, the academy was located in the SESI and was run by Alfredo Mendes Coimbra, of the third generation of Conde Koma's descendants.
On September 18, 1921, Maeda, Satake, and Okura were briefly in New York City. They were aboard the Booth Line steamship SS Polycarp. All three men listed their occupations as professors of "juitso".Ancestry.com. New York Passenger Lists, 1820–1957 (database online). Year: 1921; Microfilm serial: T715; Microfilm roll: T715_3023; Line: 2. After leaving New York, the three men went to the Caribbean, where they stayed from September to December 1921. At some point in this trip, Maeda was joined by his wife. In Havana, Satake and Maeda took part in some contests. Their opponents included Paul Alvarez, who wrestled as Espanol Icognito. Alvarez defeated Satake and Yako Okura—the latter being billed as a former instructor at the Chilean Naval Academy—before being himself beaten by Maeda. Maeda also defeated a Cuban boxer called Jose Ibarra, and a French wrestler called Fournier. The Havana papers attributed Maeda with a Cuban student called Conde Chenard. Diario De La Marina, Havana, various dates, September–December 1921.
In May 1956, a memorial to Maeda was erected in Hirosaki City, Japan. The dedication ceremony was attended by Risei Kano and Kaichiro Samura.
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