One of the most important figures in the history of grappling jujitsu was Mistyyo Maeda. He was originally a highly regarded student of classical jujitsu, but like most people of that time, he eventually switched to kodokan judo. Around 1986, Maeda began judo and quickly rose to prominence in the kodokan as a result of his outstanding ability. It is interesting to note that the time that MAeda entered judo coincides with the time that followed Mataemon Tanabe's individual challenges to members of the kodokan. Judo players were already studying ne waza as a way of countering Tanabe's well-known ground skills. Maeda was in fact present to witness the kodokan team lost to Fusen ryu, which preceded the movement toward ne waza training. Maeda was highly ranked in the kodokan and was doubtless a part of the drive toward ne waza expertise.
At the time, however, Jigoro Kano was interested in exporting judo from Japan. He sent delegates all over the world to expand judo overseas with several highly ranked judo men being sent to America and other parts of the world. Maeda was sent to the East Coast of the United States to display and promote judo in 1904, but there he had mixed success. He did fight some challenge matches and win; however, he considered America unsuitable for living as a result of the strong anti-Asian sentiments that he encountered.
Thus, he began a remarkable journey around the world, not unlike that of Yukio Tani, fighting a huge number of challenge matches wherever he went and emerging the winner in all but two cases. In Europe, he took on the name and emerging the winner in all but two cases. In Europe, he took on the name "Count Comde," which is a humorous play on words. It plays on both the Spanish term for combat and Japanese term for trouble, and it conveys the idea that he was the "prince of combat who was constantly in trouble!"
Shortly before World War I, Maeda moved to Brazil. He became involved in the Japanese government's program of overseas colonization. This was the time of colonial powers. Japan, as an emerging power, wanted to be part of the colonial elite and join nations such as England, France and Germany. A national program of emigration to Brazil was begun, and a considerable number of Japanese made the voyage. Maeda was a major figure in this movement and an enthusiastic advocate of Brazil as a place for the Japanese to live.
In looking for land in which to house the colonists, Maeda came to befriend Gastao Gracie, a man of Scottish descent whose family had emigrated to Brazil and gained some prominence on local politics. Both men had an interest in professional fighting. Maeda had become something of a legend in Brazil, fighting all-comers in a large number of challenge matches and teaching his fighting skills to an ever growing number of students. Indeed, "Count Comde" had grown quite rich as a result of his exploits and became an owner of a considerable amount of land. In return, for the help given by Gastao Gracie, Maeda offered to teach his famous fighting skills to Carlos, the oldest of Gastao's sons. For somewhere between two to four years, Carlos learned from Maeda until, Maeda ever the traveler, moved on to a different part of Brazil.
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