IIMA-Vale Tudo

VALE TUDO

Vale tudo, Portuguese for "anything goes," or literally "everything is allowed," describes a Brazilian martial arts discipline. With competitions in unarmed combat having minimal rules, it is sometimes considered a combat sport. It is also 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.

Vale Tudo takes the most effective combat techniques from styles such as Jujitsu, Muay Thai, Sambo,Wrestling and Western Boxing.

The term vale tudo was first associated with booth fighting done in Brazilian circuses during the 1920's. However, this 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 respective styles.

After 1960, vale tudo would remain an underground sub-culture, with most of the fights taking place in martial arts dojos or small gymnasiums.

Rorion Gracie of the famous Gracie family would eventually emigrate to the United States and introduce vale tudo to a new market when he helped to found the UFC in 1993. The enormous success of the UFC created a vale tudo explosion around the world, specifically in Japan, as well as a resurgence and newfound popularity back in Brazil. The state of Sao Paulo prohibited vale tudo fights from being a sanctioned sport. As promotions went into decline, they have not promoted a show since 2002. However, vale tudo events still take place in great number around Brazil.

Newer promotions that have gained athletic sanctioning in the United States give rise to critics who have argued that vale tudo shows should all adopt the much safer mixed martial arts rules. However, supporters of vale tudo counter that the sanctioned mixed martial arts style that developed in the United States are now too vastly different from true vale tudo. They further suggest that it should be treated as an entirely different sport, just as kickboxing, which is sanctioned in United States due to its safer rules and is considered different from Muay Thai, for example.