Vale Tudo (Portuguese for anything goes – vale – “is allowed”, tudo – “everything”) describes competitions in unarmed combat having minimal rules. It is sometimes considered a combat sport. In Brazil, the term vale tudo was first associated with booth fighting done in Brazilian circuses during the 1920s.
Originating in Brazil, Vale Tudo is portugese for ‘Anything goes’ and is among the most lethal and effective fighting systems. It has been made famous by fighters such as Marco Ruas. It is also similar to Gracie Ju-Jitsu.
Vale Tudo takes the most effective combat techniques from styles such as Jujitsu, Muay Thai, Sambo,Wrestling and Western Boxing. V
ale Tudo is taught as a means of self defence and a way of entering the ring in Full Contact. Great emphasis is placed on physical training and technique. Members can practise a very aggresive sport in a responsable and friendly environment.
One report from Sao Paulo declares that Jiu Jitsu is truly an art and that in an interesting exhibition in the side tent to the big circus a Bahian negro of monstrous dimensions met his waterloo at the hands of a diminutive Japanese wrestler.
The negro was an expert at Capoeira, an old South American style of fighting, but after putting the Japanese on his back and trying to kick his head… the little oriental by the use of a Jiu Jitsu hold threw the Bahian and after a short struggle he was found sitting on the silent frame of the massive opponent.
However, this circus term did not enter popular use until 1959-1960, when it was used to describe the style-versus-style bouts featured in a Rio television show called Heróis do Ringue (Ring-Heroes).
The matchmakers and hosts of the show included members of the Gracie family, and the participants were all legitimate practitioners of their styles. One night, João Alberto Barreto (later a referee for UFC 1) was competing against a man trained in Luta Livre. Barreto caught his opponent in an armbar.
The wrestler refused to tap out. Barreto applied more pressure, and the opponent’s arm broke, audibly, leaving an exposed fracture. Television audiences were shocked. Consequently, this show was soon replaced by another show, Telecatch, that featured more theatrical contests. Heroes of Telecatch included the Argentinan Ted Boy Marino.
Originating in Brazil, Vale Tudo is portugese for ‘Anything goes’ and is among the most lethal and effective fighting systems. It has been made famous by fighters such as Marco Ruas. It is also similar to Gracie Ju-Jitsu.
Vale Tudo takes the most effective combat techniques from styles such as Jujitsu, Muay Thai, Sambo,Wrestling and Western Boxing. In England Vale Tudo is still in it’s infancy though it is likely to hit the English Martial Community with an impact.
Vale Tudo is taught as a means of self defence and a way of entering the ring in Full Contact. Great emphasis is placed on physical training and technique. Members can practise a very aggresive sport in a responsable and friendly environment.
Tap Out Academy, Wolverhampton, was founded to provide a training location in the West Midlands for full-contact, cross training martial arts totalfighters. In keeping with the philosophy of quality over quantity, commercialisation has been shunned and class sizes are kept small.
In the club, members are encouraged to form ‘training pairs’, to help maintain motivation and support each other through all aspects of training. The club as a whole is very much team oriented and mutually supportive.
The training sessions are rigorous and may last up to five hours, being split into fitness building, technique development and skill acquisition through a large amount of sparring. Training aids such as the heavy wrestling dummy are often used to develop striking power when ground grappling and to practise powerful throws such as suplexes. Naturally, grappling practice plays a key role within Totalfight preparation, with technical knowledge being derived from the Japanese and Russian martial arts.
