Vale tudo, translated from Portuguese, means 'anything goes' and is a Brazilian martial art that has become popular all over the world. In Brazil, the term vale tudo was first used to refer to fistfights that took place in the circus during the 1920s. The circus term was barely used until about 1959-1960, when it was used to describe the style-versus-style battles on the Brazilian television show Heróis do Ringue (Heroes of the Ring). The organizers of the show included members of the Gracie family and all participants were very good fighters in their own martial arts style.
From the 1960s onwards, vale tudo remained an 'underground' sub-culture and most fights took place in martial arts dojos or small gymnasiums. Vale tudo was mainly situated around the city of Rio de Janeiro, but many fights also took place in more northern regions and in the southern state of Bahia, where Capoeira was the main focus. In and around Rio de Janeiro there was mainly a rivalry between Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Luta Livre, while in other regions various martial arts competed against each other.
Rorion Gracie, member of the famous Gracie family, moved to America and introduced vale tudo to a new market by founding the UFC in 1993. The enormous success of the UFC sparked a vale tudo explosion around the world, especially in Japan and regained popularity in Brazil. This resulted in two organizations that organized vale tudo competitions, the WVC and the IVC. Both organizations operated from the Brazilian city of Sao Paulo and many of today's MMA stars started their careers here.
After pale tudo fighting was banned in Sao Paulo, both organizations ceased to exist in 2002. The world focused mainly on the safer mixed martial arts, where stricter rules apply. When vale tudo was also banned in the United States, vale tudo retreated back into the 'underground' of Brazil. Countless Tudo fights still take place in Brazil every year, but due to their violent and bloody image, the fights can count on a lot of criticism from the media.
Critics believe that pale tudo fighting should adopt the rules of the much safer Mixed Martial arts . Supporters of vale tudo are strongly against this because MMA, developed in America, is now very different from vale tudo and should therefore be seen as a completely different sport, just as Muay Thai also differs from the safer kickboxing, for example.
