or Geo Omori as he became known in Brazil, was a

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

ese-born

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

ian martial artist who is credited for being one of the creators of

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ; pt, jiu-jitsu brasileiro ) is a self-defence martial art and combat sport based on grappling, ground fighting (ne-waza) and submission holds. BJJ focuses on the skill of taking an opponent to the ground, control ...

.Martial Arts of the World: An Encyclopedia of History and Innovation, Volume 2
edited by Thomas A. Green, Joseph R. Svinth

Early life and education

Born in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

, Omori joined the Kodokan school in 1907 at age 9 and gained his black belt in 1915 at age 17. He learned under

Tokugoro Ito Tokugoro Ito (1879-1938) was a Japanese judoka and professional wrestler. Ito was one of the founding fathers of mixed martial arts in Brazil. Early years Ito was an instructor of judo at Tokyo Imperial University in Japan. In 1911, Akitaro O ...

and was a training partner of the famed

Sanpo Toku was a Japanese judoka. Biography Toku was born in Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan in 1887. He started training in judo, karate and kendo at elementary school, becoming a frequent tournament winner; in one of his first showings, he defeated 165 opp ...

Immigration and career

After moving to Brazil in 1925, he taught Jiu Jitsu and Judo in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

, and in 1931 he opened a school in

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for 'Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the GaWC a ...

in Edificio Martinelli, the first skyscraper in Brazil. Omori is considered instrumental in the foundation of

Brazilian jiu-jitsu Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ; pt, jiu-jitsu brasileiro ) is a self-defence martial art and combat sport based on grappling, ground fighting (ne-waza) and submission holds. BJJ focuses on the skill of taking an opponent to the ground, control ...

by establishing the first Jujitsu school in São Paulo. He would later instruct another key Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu founder

Luiz França Luiz França Filho (1910–1982) was a Brazilian martial artist and one of the primary founders of Brazilian jiu-jitsu. França was a student of Soshihiro Satake, Geo Omori, and Mitsuyo Maeda, from whom he learned Kodokan judo (known prior to 1 ...

. His other students included Carlos Pereira.

Fighting career

Omori was one of the first prominent

mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, inc ...

competitors of his era. He helped to initiate the

Vale Tudo Vale Tudo (; en, Everything Goes/Everything Allowed), also known No Holds Barred (NHB) in the United States, is an unarmed, full-contact combat sport with relatively few rules. It became popular in Brazil during the 20th century and would event ...

trend of the 1920s and 1930s in Brazil. Geo had an extensive fight history engaging fighters of various styles including

capoeira Capoeira () is an Afro-Brazilian martial art that combines elements of dance, acrobatics, music and spirituality. Born of the melting pot of enslaved Africans, Indigenous Brazilians and Portuguese influences at the beginning of the 16th century ...

boxing Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermined ...

, and

wrestling Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat ...

. A 1928 issue of

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

highlighted one of his fights against a "

negro In the English language, ''negro'' is a term historically used to denote persons considered to be of Black African heritage. The word ''negro'' means the color black in both Spanish and in Portuguese, where English took it from. The term can be ...

" capoeira fighter, in which Geo Omori won. He fought many members of the

Gracie family The Gracie Family () are a prominent martial arts family originally from Belém, state of Pará, Brazil whose ancestors came from Paisley, Scotland. They are known for creating the self-defense martial arts system of Gracie Jiu-Jitsu, also kn ...

including George Gracie and

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 and ...

. His feud with Carlos Gracie is well documented.

Death

His premature death in 1938 was attributed to

food poisoning Foodborne illness (also foodborne disease and food poisoning) is any illness resulting from the spoilage of contaminated food by pathogenic bacteria, viruses, or parasites that contaminate food, as well as prions (the agents of mad cow disease) ...

.Martial Arts of the World: An Encyclopedia of History and Innovation, Volume 2
edited by Thomas A. Green, Joseph R. Svinth, p. 33.

References

1898 births 1938 deaths People from Tokyo Deaths from food poisoning Martial arts school founders Japanese emigrants to Brazil Brazilian male mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing Brazilian jiu-jitsu Mixed martial artists utilizing judo Brazilian practitioners of Brazilian jiu-jitsu Japanese practitioners of Brazilian jiu-jitsu Brazilian male judoka Japanese male judoka 20th-century philanthropists {{Brazil-judo-bio-stub