Our History
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) is a martial art, combat sport and a self-defense system focused upon the ground fighting aspects of grappling.
The art was brought to Brazil by Japanese Judo legend, Mitsuyo Maeda. Maeda was one of five of Judo's top groundwork experts that Judo's founder Jigoro Kano sent overseas to demonstrate and spread his art to the world. Maeda had trained first in sumo as a teenager, and after the interest generated by stories about the success of Judo at contests between Judo and Jujutsu that were occurring at the time, he changed from sumo to Judo, becoming a student of Kano's Kodokan Judo. Maeda left Japan in 1904 and visited a number of countries giving "jiu-do" demonstrations and accepting challenges from wrestlers, boxers, savate fighters and various other martial artists before eventually arriving in Brazil on November 14, 1914.
Gastão Gracie was a business partner of the American Circus in Belem. In 1916, Italian Argentine circus Queirolo Brothers staged shows there and presented Maeda to Gastão. In 1917, Carlos Gracie, the eldest son of Gastão Gracie, watched a demonstration by Maeda at the Da Paz Theatre and decided to learn Judo. Maeda accepted Carlos as a student and Carlos learned for a few years, eventually passing his knowledge on to his four brothers.
At age fourteen, Helio Gracie, the youngest of the Gracie brothers, moved in with his older brothers who lived and taught Jiu-Jitsu in a house in Botafogo. Following a doctor's recommendations, Hélio would spend the next few years being limited to watching his brothers teach as he was naturally frail. Over time, Hélio gradually developed Gracie Jiu-Jitsu as an adaptation from Judo, as he was unable to perform many Judo moves. Helio also held the rank of 6th dan in Judo.
The art was brought to Brazil by Japanese Judo legend, Mitsuyo Maeda. Maeda was one of five of Judo's top groundwork experts that Judo's founder Jigoro Kano sent overseas to demonstrate and spread his art to the world. Maeda had trained first in sumo as a teenager, and after the interest generated by stories about the success of Judo at contests between Judo and Jujutsu that were occurring at the time, he changed from sumo to Judo, becoming a student of Kano's Kodokan Judo. Maeda left Japan in 1904 and visited a number of countries giving "jiu-do" demonstrations and accepting challenges from wrestlers, boxers, savate fighters and various other martial artists before eventually arriving in Brazil on November 14, 1914.
Gastão Gracie was a business partner of the American Circus in Belem. In 1916, Italian Argentine circus Queirolo Brothers staged shows there and presented Maeda to Gastão. In 1917, Carlos Gracie, the eldest son of Gastão Gracie, watched a demonstration by Maeda at the Da Paz Theatre and decided to learn Judo. Maeda accepted Carlos as a student and Carlos learned for a few years, eventually passing his knowledge on to his four brothers.
At age fourteen, Helio Gracie, the youngest of the Gracie brothers, moved in with his older brothers who lived and taught Jiu-Jitsu in a house in Botafogo. Following a doctor's recommendations, Hélio would spend the next few years being limited to watching his brothers teach as he was naturally frail. Over time, Hélio gradually developed Gracie Jiu-Jitsu as an adaptation from Judo, as he was unable to perform many Judo moves. Helio also held the rank of 6th dan in Judo.
The Philosophy
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu emphasizes getting an opponent to the ground in order to utilize ground fighting techniques and submission holds involving joint-locks and chokeholds. The premise is that most of the advantage of a larger, stronger opponent comes from superior reach and more powerful strikes, both of which are somewhat negated when grappling on the ground. A more precise way of describing this would be to say that on the ground, physical strength can be offset or enhanced by an experienced grappler who knows how to maximize force using mechanical strength instead of pure physical strength.
BJJ is most strongly differentiated from other grappling arts by its greater emphasis on groundwork. Commonly, striking-based styles spend almost no time on groundwork. Even other grappling arts tend to spend much more time on the standing phase of a fight.
Sport BJJ’s focus on submissions without the use of strikes while training allows practitioners to practice at full speed and with full power, resembling the effort used in a real fight or competition. Training methods include technique drills in which techniques are practiced against a non-resisting partner; isolation sparring, commonly referred to as positional drilling, where only a certain technique or sets of techniques are used, and full sparring in which each opponent tries to submit their opponent using any legal technique. As a result, BJJ practitioners’ physical conditioning is also a very important part of their daily training regime.
BJJ is most strongly differentiated from other grappling arts by its greater emphasis on groundwork. Commonly, striking-based styles spend almost no time on groundwork. Even other grappling arts tend to spend much more time on the standing phase of a fight.
Sport BJJ’s focus on submissions without the use of strikes while training allows practitioners to practice at full speed and with full power, resembling the effort used in a real fight or competition. Training methods include technique drills in which techniques are practiced against a non-resisting partner; isolation sparring, commonly referred to as positional drilling, where only a certain technique or sets of techniques are used, and full sparring in which each opponent tries to submit their opponent using any legal technique. As a result, BJJ practitioners’ physical conditioning is also a very important part of their daily training regime.
