The Toughest Man Who Ever Lived

By Nori Bunasawa & John Murray

The Toughest Man Who Ever Lived tells the tragic but inspiring story of Mitsuyo Maeda (1878-1941) who developed a style of fighting that combined a mixed bag of techniques he’d learned while fighting all comers in the arenas of Japan, North, Central, and South America, Great Britain, Belgium, Spain, and the islands of the Caribbean, most notably Cuba. He combined sumo, judo, jiu-jitsu, “catch-as-catch-can”, Greco-Roman, boxing, luta livre, karate, and other forms of free fighting lumped in with inventions of his own. Maeda went against them all and won every time.

He acquired the name Count Conde Koma as a whim of his agent while fighting in Spain and kept it as a pseudonym throughout his career. He is said to have won more than 2000 fights in his professional life. In 1907, he wrestled “Catch”, in the first amateur World Wrestling contest held in London. He’d never studied Western wrestling but entered anyway at the challenge of a friend. At only 5’6″ and 156 lbs he chose to enter the heavyweight division. By the 6th day of competition, he’d fought his way to the finals. But because chokes and joint locks were banned, he lost to a 6’4″ 330 lb Scot. It was the last time he ever lost a fight of any kind although he fought professionally for 17 years.

While in Brazil, he agreed to take a wayward boy as a student on the promise he’d never teach others what he’d learned from Maeda. That boy was Carlos Gracie. In 1925, Carlos nevertheless opened his own clinic in Sao Paulo and renamed what he’d learned from Maeda and others, Gracie Brazilian Jiu-jitsu. The rest is history.

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