Luta Livre was developed in the mid-20th century in the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The creator of the Luta Livre system was Euclydes Hatem (Tatu). He is considered one of the best Brazilian fighters of all time.
The so-called ‘ground fighting’ was always a priority due to its importance in Vale Tudo matches. In the 1970s, Luta Livre was strongly influenced by technical experts such as Roberto Leitao.
Leitao was a university professor and dedicated many years of his life to wrestling and judo without the ‘gi’. Because he was physically much weaker than most opponents at the university, he had to rely on very refined technique. Essentially like Royce Gracie would do 20 years later in the UFC.
Luta Livre was passed down from generation to generation and was brought to Germany by Professor Daniel D’ Dane. He taught Luta Livre to a handful of people in Cologne. Later, he also became the trainer of Andreas Schmidt.
Luta Livre is the style with the most victories in IVC (International Vale Tudo Championships). Luta Livre means ‘free fight’ in Portuguese. Initially, it is a wrestling style where fighters use holds and chokes to bring their opponents down.
The standing part of Luta Livre, such as punches, kicks, and attacks with elbows and knees, was added later to make the martial art more complete.
Luta Livre Esportiva is the competitive variant of Luta Livre. Here, only wrestling techniques are allowed to bring your opponent down. It is very important to devise a strategy before executing your moves.
Luta Livre Vale Tudo is the version where Luta Livre truly becomes a free fight. In addition to the wrestling elements of Luta Livre, punches, kicks, knees, and elbows are added. These techniques are used to take someone to the ground and are often seen in MMA matches.
Luta Livre Vale Tudo is probably the martial art that most closely approaches Mixed Martial Arts. The final variant is Luta Livre T36. This includes 36 Luta Livre skills to end a fight situation through chokes or joint locks on the opponent.
