Luta Livre was developed in the middle of the 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 because of its importance in Vale Tudo matches. In the 70s, 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 a 'gi'. Because he was physically much weaker than most of his opponents at the university, he had to rely on a very refined technique. Much 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 the fighters use locks and chokes to get their opponents under. The standing component of Luta Livra, such as punches and kicks and attacks with elbows and knees, was added later to make the martial art more complete.
Luta Livre Esportiva is the competition version of Luta Livre. In this version, only wrestling techniques are allowed to get your opponent under. It is very important to think of a strategy before executing your moves. Luta Livre Vale Tudo is the version in which Luta Livre really becomes a free fight. In addition to the wrestling elements of Luta Livre, punches, kicks, knees and elbows are now added. These components are used to get someone to the ground and are often seen in MMA matches. Luta Livre Vale Tudo is probably the martial art that most closely resembles Mixed Martial Arts . The last variant is Luta Livre T36. This includes 36 Luta Livre skills to end a fight situation by means of choking or clamping the joints of the opponent.
