Today the world says goodbye to the Brazilian legend Pelé, one of the greatest football (soccer) players in the history. Pelé died at the age of 82, after a period of hospitalization in the Albert Einstein hospital, in São Paulo.
Edson Arantes do Nascimento, better known as Pelé, was also a fan of martial arts. And he didn’t practice just for pleasure, but because he saw different physical and mental benefits in the training.
Elected the “Athlete of the 20th Century” by the French newspaper L’Équipe and by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Pelé released a series of books throughout his career. It is in his “Pelé, the autobiography” (Editora Sextante), from 2007, that the football genius shared a series of useful lessons to martial artists and to you, dear reader, Jiu-Jitsu practitioner.
It was early in his career, in 1957, that he experimented with martial arts. Aware that physical preparation would be fundamental in his life as a player, he trained in martial arts: “Santos had a gym, and for a year I learned karate, which was very important: it taught me how to fall and jump. After that, I learned judo, which helped me improve my balance and agility. When I dribbled the opponents, I hardly fell”.
Rest in peace 🙏🙏🙏 Your name will never be forgotten.
