- Home
- Martial Art Styles
- Brazilian Jiu Jitsu
Martial Arts Styles:
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu was originally known as Gracie Jiu-Jitsu. It was developed by the Gracie family of Brazil, from Japanese Judo, that was first taught to Carlos Gracie. And then refined by his younger brother Helio Gracie, to become the effective fighting art that it has been for almost a hundred years.
Although it was not well known outside of Brazil until the UFC, and Mixed Martial Arts made it a household name in the U.S and worldwide, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is probably the world's most famous Martial Art.
It became so after Royce Gracie proved its effectiveness by defeating opponents of other Martial Arts styles, some of which were much bigger and stronger than himself to win the first, second, and fourth Ultimate Fighting Championships.
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is a Martial Art with an emphasis on ground fighting, and using proper techniques and leverage, primarily chokes and joint locks that put a practitioner in a position to be able to use a strong part of their body against a weak part of an opponent's body to defeat bigger and stronger opponents.
It could be said of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, the way it was said of Samuel Colt's invention of the six shooter in the late 1800s, that God didn't make men equal – Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu did.
Knowing there was a Martial Art so effective that a man who weighed 130 lbs. or less could choke out, or break the arm of a 300-pound or larger adversary in just a few seconds gave bullies something to contemplate before picking on a little guy.
Evolution from Japanese Jiu-Jitsu
The evolution of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu from its grandparent, Japanese Ju-Jitsu has occurred in the last 130 years. In the late 1800s there were over 700 known styles of Ju-Jitsu in Japan. Some styles put an emphasis on throwing, some on striking, and some on ground fighting. Kano Jigaro was an expert in several different styles of Ju-Jitsu. Kano developed Judo out of what he considered to be the most effective techniques of the Ju-Jitsu styles that he had studied.
And Kano primarily implemented the throws of Kito-ryu Ju-Jitsu, and the chokes and ground fighting of Tenjin Shin yo-Ryu Ju-Jitsu into his new style.
In 1882 Kano started teaching his new version of Ju-Jitsu. One of Kano's best students and one of his top five Ground Fighting experts, Mitsuyo Maeda also known as Count Koma was sent abroad to spread Judo to the rest of the world.
Maeda left Japan in 1904 and visited a number of countries, giving Judo demonstrations and taking challenges from Wrestlers, Boxers, and practitioners of other Fighting Arts. Maeda went to America where he gave Judo demonstrations and would take on challengers of other fighting styles. One fight was against a wrestler known as the Butcher who was a foot taller than the 5' 6'' Maeda. Maeda took the wrestler down several times before ending the fight with an armbar.
Maeda fought 3 more times and had 3 more victories, and then issued a challenge to Heavyweight Boxing Champion Jack Johnson to fight him in a No Holds Barred match. And this began the tradition carried on by the Gracies of challenging the reigning Heavyweight Boxing Champ of the time.
Helio challenged Joe Louis, and Rickson Gracie challenged Mike Tyson, all without a reply from the Boxers.
Brazil Beginnings
Maeda then left for England and had 13 more fights all victories there, then to Belgium, and then to Cuba where he had 15 more victories and hundreds of more victories in street fights. Next was Mexico and 4 victories.
Count Koma was a globe-trotting Ass Kicker. In all it is said that Maeda won between 1000 and 2000 fights, making him one of the greatest fighters in history.
Already very famous in many countries because of all his victories in Wrestling and Mixed Fights, Count Koma arrived in Brazil in 1914 and was befriended by a Brazilian businessman named Gastao Gracie. Gracie had aided Japanese families who had immigrated to Brazil, and also helped Maeda in this new country. In gratitude for Gastao's help, Maeda taught Gastao's sons Judo, still known as Ju-Jitsu or Jui-do or Kano's Ju-Jitsu at the time.
Carlos was the oldest of the brothers, and Helio the youngest. Helio was very young when Count Koma was teaching Carlos. And later when Carlos began teaching, Helio was too small and sickly to participate in the classes. But Helio would observe the classes and payed close attention to the techniques. One day Carlos was late to teach a lesson, and Helio volunteered to teach the student, even though what Helio knew he had learned only from watching Carlos teach, and not from actually doing the techniques.
The student agreed and when Carlos finally arrived to teach the student, the student was so impressed with Helio's teaching that he asked if Helio could continue to teach him. Helio soon realized that when he tried to execute some of these techniques, that they required a lot of strength, something that the small, sickly Helio didn't have. But something Helio did have was instinct and a lot of determination. And he modified these techniques to suite his small, weak body, through trial and error.
This was the beginning of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.
Helio learned how to maximize leverage so that he didn't need so much force to execute a move. Through the Vale Tudo (No Holds Barred) fights that he and Carlos made popular in Brazil, they tested Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu against other Martial Arts to see how it worked in real fights. Vale Tudo matches were almost identical to the first UFCs except that they were held in a Boxing ring and not in a cage.
Carlos and Helio promoted their system of fighting through an open challenge known as the Gracie challenge. In the early 1920s they put an add in a local newspaper that read, "if you want to get your face beat in, or your arm or ribs broken contact me at this address" – an open challenge to all fighters and tough guys to test our system of fighting.
You might think an offer that good would be hard to resist. But the lines outside the Gracie academy were never that long, with people waiting for skeletal reconstruction, courtesy of the Gracies. Although there were a few fighters that thought they could defeat the Gracies, in No Holds Barred Fighting, and this was how concept for the Vale Tudo matches began.
Helio used these fights like a test lab, and his opponents like lab rats to try out his refined Jiu-Jitsu techniques. He kept the ones that worked and threw out the ones that didn't. He fought against fighters of various styles of Martial Arts, in order to fine tune Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, and to prove its effectiveness no matter the style, or the size of his opponent.
Carlos won his first Vale Tudo match, and in January 1932 at age 17 Helio fought his first fight under Vale Tudo rules against the Lightweight Boxing Champion of Brazil, Antonio Portugal in Rio De Janiero. When the fight started Portugal threw a punch that Helio dodged, and then Helio took the Boxer to the mat and applied an armlock to win the fight, in only 30 seconds. The crowd was stunned to see this smaller man defeat a Boxing Champion so quickly, and many people thought the fight was fixed.
Helio vs Japan's Greatest Champions
Helio had several fights against Japanese fighters either defeating them or ending in a draw. And in 1951 two of Japan's greatest Champions came to Brazil to put an end to Helio's undefeated streak against the Japanese. Masahiko Kimura was the Champion of Japan, and Kato was the number two fighter in Japan.
Kimura didn't want to fight Helio first, because he outweighed Helio by 55 lbs. He wanted Helio to prove himself by fighting Kato first.
Kimura said if Helio could defeat Kato, then he would offer an immediate challenge to Helio. In September 1951 Helio fought Kato. They fought three 10-minute rounds, and with no one being submitted the match was declared a draw. Later that month they fought again, and this time, Helio choked out Kato in 6 minutes. Kimura then stepped into the ring and issued a challenge to Helio.
The fight took place on October 13, 1951 in Rio De Janiero in front of 60,000 fans.
Kimura was undefeated in 13 years and one of Japan's greatest Champions ever. Helio didn't believe that he could defeat Kimura, but he wanted to know what he could learn from Kimura and if there were any secret techniques of Jiu-Jitsu that the Japanese had been hiding from the rest of the world.
Because of the weight difference, Kimura declared that if the fight went more than 3 minutes then Gracie should be declared the winner. The fight lasted 13 minutes and only ended after Kimura applied a reverse ude garame (shoulder lock) on Helio. When Kimura got the lock, the Brazilian crowd went silent only to hear the snap of Kimura breaking Helio's arm.
Helio didn't submit and Kimura pressed the arm even further. Hearing a second snap Carlos threw in the towel as Helio's arm was broken again, knowing that his brother would not submit.
Kimura was very impressed with Helio's ability and fighting spirit, and Helio had a great respect of Kimura also. Kimura even invited Helio to come to Japan, which Helio respectfully declined. But as a tribute to the technique that beat Helio, the reverse ude garame was renamed the Kimura Lock in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.
Helio's other famous fights
Another of Helio's famous fights was in 1955 against one of his best students, Walderman Santana. Helio and Santana had a falling out about Santana doing pro wrestling at a place known for fixed fights. Helio was afraid it would hurt the Gracie Academy's reputation and told Santana he didn't want him to participate in it.
But Santana was in need of money and took the fight anyway. When Helio found out, he expelled Santana from the Academy. And after the fight, which he easily won, Santana made disparaging remarks about the Gracies to a reporter.
Helio confronted Santana and gave him a chance to retract what he had said. But Santana refused and so Helio issued a challenge to him for a fight. Helio was 43 years old and weighed 132 lbs, and Santana was 23 years old and weighed 193 lbs. It is believed to be the longest Vale Tudo match in history at 3 hours and 45 minutes. Santana won the fight as Helio was completely exhausted and Santana soccer kicked Helio to the head and knocked him out.
Later on 17 year-old Carlson Gracie, son of Carlos Gracie, avenged Helio's loss by pummeling Santana with elbow strikes from the mount and the fight ended as Santana's corner threw in the towel at 39 minutes and 20 seconds into the fight. Carlson would fight Santana 3 more times, beating him 1 more time and having 2 draws.
In 1993 Rorian Gracie, Helio's oldest son had an idea to put on a one-night tournament matching 8 different fighters of 8 different fighting styles, with Vale Tudo rules, called the War of the Worlds. To see which Martial Art was the most effective in a real fight.
The concept was accepted but the name was changed to the Ultimate Fighting Championships. And Royce Gracie, Rorian's younger brother, was chosen to represent Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in the matches. Almost overnight Royce Gracie and Gracie Jiu-Jitsu became household names in the U.S. with his victories over a Boxer, a shootfighter, and a Kickboxer. And that was just in the first UFC; Royce also won UFC 2, and 4. And Royce wasn't even the best fighter of Helio's sons; that honor goes to Rickson, Royce's older half brother.
These fights shocked the Martial Arts world, and made it take notice of the effectiveness of Brazian Jiu-Jitsu, and the need to be able to fight on the ground.
Rorian Gracie trademarked the name Gracie Jiu-Jitsu and so from a legal standpoint only Jiu-Jitsu taught at his academy can be called Gracie Jiu-Jitsu, unless you put a first name in front of it. I.E Reylson Gracie Jiu-Jitsu, Renzo Gracie Jiu-Jitsu, etc.
And so the name Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu has been more prevalent in recent MMA fighting events. And now there are thousands of non-Gracies teaching Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu all over the world.
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu's influence on MMA
And since those first Ultimate Fighting Championships, fighters in Mixed Martial Arts no longer train in only one style, as the Gracies did back then. Now the evolution of Mixed Martial Arts has the fighters training in several different Martial Arts, both ground fighting and standup fighting to be better all-round fighters.
But one thing that hasn't changed is the fact that almost without exception, every Mixed Martial Arts Fighter still trains in Gracie Jiu-Jitsu, even if it's called Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu nowadays.
More than any other single Martial Art, a knowledge of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is needed if only from a defensive standpoint, to avoid being choked unconscious, or having your arm broken in a match. That speaks volumes for the effectiveness of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.
And without Carlos, Helio, Carlson, Rorian, Royce, Rickson, Renzo, and all of the other members of the Gracie family, Mixed Martial Arts in Brazil, and the U.S would either not exist, or be nothing like it is now.
A few of the many Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Black Belts fighting in MMA include:
- Jose Aldo
- Vitor Belfort
- Lyoto Machida
- Frank Mir
- Antonio Nogeira
- B.J Penn
- Mauricio Sho-Gun Rua
- Matt Serra
- Anderson Silva
- Wanderlei Silva
- Georges St-Pierre
In tribute to these great Jiu-Jitsu innovators, fighters and teachers:
Carlson Gracie 1935 - 2006
Helio Gracie 1913 - 2009