Soshihiro Satake

Soshihiro Satake trained at the Kodokan alongside Mitsuyo Maeda under Sakujiro Yokoyama. He sailed from Japan with Maeda and Tsunejiro Tomita in 1904. After fighting across the US, England, Mexico, and Cuba (as one of the 'Four Kings of Cuba'), he arrived in Brazil in 1914. In January 1916, he won the first jiu-jitsu tournament in the Amazon and opened his academy at the Atletico Rio Negro Clube in Manaus — the first Japanese-run judo/jiu-jitsu academy in Brazil. He was known for winning matches using leglocks and became a naturalized Brazilian citizen. His most historically significant student was Luiz Franca, who founded the most important non-Gracie BJJ lineage through Oswaldo Fadda.