History of BJJ

The genesis of Brazilian Jiu Jistu was jujutsu. Originating in Japan, jujutsu was designed principally as a means of self defense for Samurai warriors. It rapidly became the benchmark upon which many other martial art forms were developed, and in the 17th century there were over 2000 schools of jujutsu in Japan.

The inception of BJJ began when Mitsuyo Maeda, a Japanese jujitsu and judo master, emigrated to Brazil in 1910. There he met an influential businessman named Gastão Gracie who helped him get established in his new homeland. In return for his assistance, Maeda taught the fighting art of jujitsu to Gastão's sons, Carlos and Helio. The boys realised that many of the techniques could be adapted in a way to increase leverage therefore minimizing the amount of force needed to execute the moves. Through experiments and technical refinement in training and real fighting situations, the art we know today was born.

Over the years the brothers trained many of their sons, who continue the family tradition today. The Gracie family continued to develop their system throughout the 20th century, often holding vale tudo matches (precursors to modern mixed martial arts fights), during which BJJ gained its focus on groundwork and grappling. BJJ is sometimes referred to as Gracie Jiu Jitsu in honour of what the family has achieved.

BJJ came to prominence in the USA in the early 1990s when Royce Gracie won the first, second and fourth Ultimate Fighting Championships. As a result, the martial arts community embraced the art and its popularity began to spread around the world. Today, BJJ is a compulsory component of many mixed martial arts fighters' arsenal.