Luta Livre is a complete Brazilian martial art, which is primarily a mixture of Catch wrestling and Judo. Luta Livre is a Brazilian based martial art that was created by Euclydes Hatem(master “Armadillo”). Euclydes Hatem went by the name of Tatu. It was designed in Rio de Janeiro and means “free fight” in Portuguese(cf. “freestyle wrestling”) also known as Brazilian Wrestling, or Sport wrestling. There are also striking techniques with hands, feet, knees and elbows. The name “Luta” is Portuguese for “Fight” and “Livre” for “Free”, roughly meaning “Free fighting”. There are two styles known as “Luta Livre Esportiva” and “Luta Livre Vale Tudo”. Both styles are no-gi. Noticeable practitioners are Marco Ruas, Ebenezer Fontes Braga, Johil de Olivera and Alexandre Franca Nogueira. The competitive version is known as Luta Livre Esportiva, (Esportiva being Portuguese for “Sporting”) [a complete martial art system which was designed in Rio de Janeiro. Luta Livre is essentially a “no gi submission grappling”. In Luta Livre Esportiva competitions, grappling techniques are the only techniques allowed to subdue the opponent. Consequently, it is important to calmly strategize and execute your moves. This is a style of submission wrestling with the aim to force his opponent to submit via armlock, leglock, choke or necklock or by points to win (i.e. takedowns, domination position). Punches, kicks and other “hard” techniques are not allowed as this is seen as more of a sport than an actual form of self-defense or fighting. Luta Livre T36 includes 36 Luta Livre skills for ending a real combat situation by chokes or locks on the opponents joints. It is a special program with a structured game plan for grappling, MMA and any kind of real combat situations like self-defense. Luta Livre Vale Tudo includes techniques in the clinch, as well as on the ground for Vale Tudo and other MMA-style fights. Here, punches and kicks are allowed. The ground fight and submission is still its strongest element.
