Word: jiu
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Vale Tudo, which translates as "anything goes" in Portuguese, originated among jiu-jitsu masters in Rio de Janeiro's Copacabana neighborhood, which has the largest concentration of jiu-jitsu academies in the world. Often called "cage fighting" or Ultimate Fighting in North America, fighters use a mixture of several different kinds of martial arts styles to force their opponent to "tap out" or give up. In Rio de Janeiro, matches became so brutal that fighters were often rushed to the hospital after their matches. There is now a 30-page rule book ("no hair-pulling, no eye-gouging, no biting...
...women are the best in the world today," said Daniel Otero, who is 24 and one of the world's foremost Vale Tudo fighters. Otero and others involved with the sport here believe that both Brazilian men and women have an advantage because they are often experts in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, which is the art of grappling on the ground developed by world-renowned fighter Helio Gracie, and popularized by his nine sons around the world. Gracie, who is 95 and still teaching in Brazil, worked with Muhammad Ali and some of the world's great fighters to help them...
Porto has a brown belt in jiu-jitsu and every day trains in jiu-jitsu, wrestling and boxing with her coach Pedro Iglesias, a black belt jiu-jitsu master with a gothic tattoo on his forearm that reads "Jesus." "There are no other women to train with here, so I use men and it's pretty intense and rigorous," says Porto, who despite her fierce reputation in the ring is well-spoken and has a gentle manner, especially with her dog, an uncharacteristically calm pit bull named Hannah. Training takes place in the small community center in Jua, her gritty...
...circuit. With steep, cobbled lanes, wooden houses, courtyards, and prayer flags fluttering in the wind, Dukezong was little more than a ramshackle residential area of 15,000 inhabitants two years ago. Now, it's being buffed and polished for the outside world, with B-52 cocktails served alongside bai jiu - the local firewater - and macchiatos almost as readily available as yak-butter tea. The bars attract a lively, mixed crowd of residents, young travelers, artists and adventurers, doubtless hoping to find their own Shangri-La. Chances are they'll do a better job than Hilton, who never went to China...
...circuit. With steep, cobbled lanes, wooden houses, courtyards and prayer flags fluttering in the wind, Dukezong was little more than a ramshackle residential area of 15,000 inhabitants two years ago. Now, it's being buffed and polished for the outside world, with B-52 cocktails served alongside bai jiu-the local firewater-and macchiatos almost as readily available as yak-butter tea. The bars attract a lively, mixed crowd of residents, young travelers, artists and adventurers, doubtless hoping to find their own Shangri-La. Chances are they'll do a better job than Hilton, who never went to China...