- published: 08 Jan 2014
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Vale tudo (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈvali ˈtudu]; meaning "everything allowed", or "anything goes") are full-contact unarmed combat events, with a limited number of rules, that became popular in Brazil during the 20th century. Vale Tudo has been considered a combat sport by some observers. While Vale Tudo uses techniques from many martial art styles, making it similar to modern mixed martial arts competitions, it is a distinct style in its own right.[citation needed]
Fighting sideshows, termed "Vale Tudo" or "anything goes", became popular in Brazilian circuses during the 1920s. Examples of such bouts were described in the Japanese-American Courier on October 4, 1928:
However, this circus term did not enter popular use until 1959–1960, when it was used to describe the style-versus-style bouts featured in a Rio television show called Heróis do Ringue ("Heroes of the Ring"). The matchmakers and hosts of the show included members of the Gracie family, and the participants were all legitimate practitioners of their styles. One night during the show, João Alberto Barreto (later a referee for UFC 1) was competing against a man trained in Luta Livre. Barreto caught his opponent in an armbar and the man refused to submit. Barreto subsequently broke the man's arm. Consequently, this show was canceled and soon replaced by a professional wrestling show entitled, Telecatch.
In geography, a vale is a wide river valley, usually with a particularly wide flood plain or flat valley bottom. Vales commonly occur between the escarpment slopes of pairs of chalk downs, where the chalk dome has been eroded, exposing less resistant underlying rock, usually clay.