Luiz França Filho (1910–1982) was a Brazilian martial artist and one of the primary founders of a non- Gracie lineage of Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ). França learned from Soshihiro Satake, Geo Omori, and

Mitsuyo Maeda naturalized as Otávio Maeda (),Virgílio, p. 9 was a Japanese people, Japanese-born judo, ''judōka'' and prizefighter in no holds barred competitions. He was known as Count Combat or ''Conde Koma'' in Spanish and Portuguese, a nickname he pi ...

, three Japanese who had immigrated to Brazil and from whom he learned

Kodokan judo is an unarmed modern Japanese martial art, combat sport, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyclopedia Nippo ...

. This assertion is disputed by some.

Biography

Luiz França Filho was born on 2 June 1910 in Manaus, Brazil. França began learning martial art from Soshihiro Satake at his academy in ''at the Rio Negro Athletic club,'' the first jiu-jitsu/judo school ran by a Japanese in Brazil, located in

Manaus Manaus () is the List of capitals of subdivisions of Brazil, capital and largest city of the States of Brazil, Brazilian state of Amazonas (Brazilian state), Amazonas. It is the List of largest cities in Brazil, seventh-largest city in Brazil, w ...

. França would remain in Manaus for a year, before moving to the city of

Belém Belém (; Portuguese for Bethlehem; initially called Nossa Senhora de Belém do Grão-Pará, in English Our Lady of Bethlehem of Great Pará), often called Belém of Pará, is the capital and largest city of the state of Pará in the north of B ...

. In

, França began training under

a friend and training partner of Satake, at the same time as

Carlos Gracie Carlos Gracie (September 14, 1902October 7, 1994) was a Brazilian martial artist who is credited with being one of the primary developers of Brazilian jiu-jitsu. Along with his younger brother Hélio Gracie and fellow students Luis França a ...

. França then moved to

São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...

to continue his training under another Japanese judoka called Geo Omori (He later fought a grappling match against Carlos Gracie that ended in a

draw Draw, drawing, draws, or drawn most commonly refer to: * Draw (terrain), a terrain feature formed by two parallel ridges or spurs with low ground in between them * Draw (tie), in a competition, where competitors achieve equal outcomes * Draw ...

). França then moved outside

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

, where he taught police officers, soldiers, and the favela's poor. One of his student,

Oswaldo Fadda Oswaldo Baptista Fadda (August 1, 1920 – April 1, 2005) was a practitioner and developer of Brazilian jiu-jitsu, reaching the rank of "nono grau", a 9th degree red belt. In 2014, he was posthumously awarded the 10th degree ("décimo grau").Se ...

, a young Marine, carried on França's mission of teaching jiu-jitsu to the impoverished population. Around 1942 he promoted Fadda to black belt.

Influence

França’s style of BJJ can be found today in teams such as Nova União and GFTeam. According to

Robert Drysdale Robert Lewis Drysdale (born October 5, 1981) is a Brazilian-American Brazilian jiu-jitsu 4th degree black belt under Léo Vieira, a retired undefeated Mixed martial arts, mixed martial artist and an instructor at his own BJJ acade ...

there is no evidence that proves that França learned and trained under those Japanese masters.

References

External links

Luiz França photo
1910 births 1982 deaths Brazilian practitioners of Brazilian jiu-jitsu People awarded a red belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu Brazilian male mixed martial artists Brazilian male judoka Martial artists from Manaus Martial arts school founders 20th-century Brazilian sportsmen {{Brazil-judo-bio-stub