A Brief History of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
April 21, 2009The roots of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu can be traced back to Japan and the Japanese martial arts of classical jiu-jitsu and judo. Classical Japanese Jiu-Jitsu had existed for many centuries in Japan and was the fighting art used by Japanese samurai in battle. The word itself “jiu-jitsu” translates as “gentle art”. For a complete understanding of the history of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu one must start with Jigoro Kano and Mitsuyo Maeda.
Jigoro Kano (1860-1938) was a Japanese martial artist who was proficient in several styles of Japanese Jiu-Jitsu. In his studies of the traditional Japanese martial arts he noticed a few problems. One of these problems was that most training in classical jiu-jitsu was done through kata or pre-arranged forms where your partner offered no resistance. There was little to no live sparring or grappling; and there was no overall strategy, just a collection of many moves. Kano removed a lot of the more dangerous techniques from classical jiu-jitsu (such as eye gouging, foot locks, and groin strikes) so that he and his students could spar “live” on a daily basis without getting seriously injured. He wanted his students to become familiar with the feeling of trying to apply techniques on fully resisting opponents. Kano believed that this type of “live sparring” would better prepare a martial artist for the unpredictability and chaos of real fighting. He called his new modified form of training and techniques “Judo”.
In the early 1900’s Kano sent one of his top students Mitsuyo Maeda (1878-1941) to the West to spread judo/jiu-jitsu throughout the world. Maeda participated in many challenge matches in North and South America to promote his style and prove its effectiveness. Through his many no-rules challenge matches Maeda further modified Kano’s judo and traditional jiu-jitsu, discarding what wasn’t effective and adding new techniques. Eventually Maeda ended up in Brazil in the early 1920’s. There he met and befriended Gastao Gracie. In exchange for helping Maeda settle in Brazil, Maeda agreed to teach Gastao’s sons martial arts.
Carlos Gracie(1902-1994), the oldest of the Gracie brothers, became one of Maeda’s students. Maeda taught Carlos Gracie the basics of his modified form of jiu-jitsu and judo for approximately 3 years. Then in 1925 Carlos Gracie opened the first Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Academy in Rio de Janeiro. One of his younger brothers, Helio Gracie, was considered to “small and weak” to effectively apply the techniques. Helio began to experiment with the Japanese techniques to find ways of applying them that did not involve brute strength, but rather leverage and refined technique. Soon the entire family was involved in martial arts and for many years they modified the Japanese techniques always with the idea of making the techniques work in live combat and against larger and stronger opponents.
Martial arts writer Kid Peligro describes them as a scientific research team (the Gracies) asking specific questions such as, “How can I defeat a much larger and stronger opponent?”; and then spending countless hours experimenting and modifying techniques and exchanging ideas. Eventually a new martial art was born radically different than its predecessors, and this new martial art was called “Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu”.
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is a grappling art where the goal is to take the opponent down to the ground (therefore neutralizing his kicks and punches). Once on the ground, the objective is to get to an advantageous position where one can finish their opponent with a choke or joint lock. Enjoy!
