Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is a young art. Still rapidly evolving, it has progressed through the phases of ancient martial art, to self-defence style, to the sport we see today. This article will take you through the key eras and influences on Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, and how it got to where it is today.
Origins in Japan
To talk about the origins of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu it is important to know its Japanese roots.
Jiu Jitsu is an umbrella term for many Japanese martial arts. There’s no consistent style to Jiu Jitsu, some forms having weapons, some having striking, grappling, and some all three. Written records can be traced back to the 8th century, but there’s no way to know if its existence stretches back much further than that.
Many schools existed, but many of these styles were considered outdated and impractical by the end of the 19th century. It’s at this time that Jigoro Kano, founder of Judo, started to look into training. In his time as a student, he took up two styles; one based more heavily on throws, the other more focussed on pins and chokes, and combined them into his own style in the 1880s.
Judo, and the Modernisation of Jiu Jitsu
Judo evolved out of Kano’s own experiences teaching Jiu Jitsu. He founded his school – the Kodokan Judo Institute – in 1882 and taught a style distilling the most effective throws and submission attacks that he had learned. Influenced by his teachers, much of Kano’s focus was around learning and competing well, with a lesser emphasis on strict form.
Judo was a name given to signify how it was to teach broader life lessons, as Kano focussed not only on the combative side of his teachings but also on a wider, more holistic approach. Nonetheless, many at the time referred to it as Kano Jiu Jitsu as was the traditional nomenclature.
His desire to form a skill with wider life applications also influenced some of the choices made in techniques to teach. He avoided the more dangerous and injury-prone moves, a philosophy which ultimately led to the banning of most leg locks under Judo rules. This ruling came much later though, and BJJs own avoidance of leg locks came from more classist discrimination.
Exodus from Japan
Ulysses S. Grant, former US president, visited Japan in 1879. Whilst there he attended a Jiu-Jitsu presentation (that happened to include Jigoro Kano). This would have been one of the earliest introductions of Jiu-Jitsu to the outside world. A senior member of the Kodokan (Yamashita Yoshitsugu) was invited to the United States in 1903, and while there took on US President Theodore Roosevelt as a student. Thereon followed an official request from the Japanese government to send more members of the Kodokan to the country.
A student of Judo, Mitsuyo Maeda, left Japan in 1904 with two colleagues, Tsunejiro Tomita and Soshihiro Satake. They left first for the United States, arriving in New York, but went on to explore North and Central America, as well as Brazil and Cuba.
Maeda was certainly on the smaller side which would have influenced his techniques and style of fighting, perhaps leading on to how he would teach. He developed a particular philosophy of combat, that fighting could be broken down into different phases (striking, clinching/wrestling, groundwork) and that one would be best able to win a fight by keeping it in the phase they are best at. This philosophy would later be transferred to his students.
Brazil is, of course, the most important part of Maeda’s journey for our story. Here he fought in many challenge matches, sometimes as part of a circus troupe. It was while traveling in such a troupe that Carlos Gracie saw him for the first time in 1917, and was inspired to learn Judo. Helio, amongst others, also took up tutelage under Maeda.
Carlos’ account is that his brother Helio, being unable to perform the more energetic throws of Judo, focussed on the ground techniques and developed depth in the art here. This allowed him to combat much larger and stronger opponents and led to the start of the style we know today.
Becoming it’s Own Style
These early days in Rio are really where the origins of BJJ exist. These original students would go on to found their own lineages, and it’s through these schools that BJJ was cemented as its own distinct style of Jiu-Jitsu, and made the branch away from Judo altogether.
Several existing Gracie Jiu-Jitsu lineages were founded at the time, such as Gracie Barra and Carlson Gracie Jiu-Jitsu. But not all the schools were Gracie-based. One famous school, for example, was founded by Luis Franca, also a student under Maeda. One of his students, Oswaldo Fadda, continued his lineage and was famous for teaching poorer residents in the favelas, as well as providing classes for those employed in the military and police services. Franca and the Gracies famously clashed, with tournaments between the two lineages in 1955 and 1956.
One has to remember that none of these styles evolve in a vacuum. No one group can, for example, claim to own boxing or wrestling – so too with BJJ. They develop under the influence of different fighters and cultures and are the product of no lone individual. This can be seen in the names of different techniques. The kimura is named after Masahiko Kimura, arguably the greatest Judoka to ever have lived, who broke the arm of Helio Gracie in 1949 with this technique. Catch wrestlers, many from the USA, toured the Lutra Livre and professional wrestling scenes of Brazil throughout the 20th century and undoubtedly brought their own influences, focussing on takedowns, pinning, and leg locks. Brazil was something of a melting pot of styles, and being concerned with what is effective above all else, BJJ continues to be a melting pot also.
To the Wider World
In 1972 Carlos Gracie moved to the United States, and was later followed by other members of the family. This proved critical to the development of BJJ as it cemented itself in North America.
The true entrance of BJJ into the public sphere came in 1993. UFC 1 was organised by Rorion Gracie and businessman Art Davie, with Royce Gracie shocking viewers as he grappled his way to victory. Many contemporary greats can link their interest in the sport to this event, and as the UFC has grown in popularity it has brought more and more people to BJJ by association.
Now, BJJ is a worldwide sport with practitioners in every continent. The continued growth and legitimisation of BJJ and MMA have led to changes in the sport, and a progression away from its roots in fighting on the beaches of Rio.
The Sportification of BJJ
The final era of BJJ brings us into the present. BJJs popularity and the growth of MMA have not necessarily been harmonious.
Both have become increasingly sportified. Practitioners in each have looked more and more to specialise into their craft, and the more participants each attracts the more this effect becomes pronounced. With no grappling rule set that mimics how MMA fighters grapple, this means that the most advanced grapplers use many techniques that would not function well in the octagon.
This is also away from the roots of BJJ. Whether with the gi or without, the more advanced moves are a far cry from the simple guard and heavy pressure strategies of the early days. Advanced Jiu-Jitsu competitors certainly can fight, but street fighting is not what they are tailoring themselves for.
The Future
Just as the BJJ style has departed from MMA, so too will no-gi depart from gi. We’re already seeing this shift, and though many competitors are able to jump between the two successfully, I think the days for which this is possible are numbered.
BJJ is becoming two separate sports. Each is evolving separately, and is doing so further and further from their roots. In coming years we will see more people like Gordon Ryan specialising in just one form of BJJ, and at some point the sports will take on new names of their own.
But it begs the question of when the origin of BJJ really was. If it has evolved, from the original Japanese art, to Judo, to the self-defence and prize fighting styles under the Gracies and Franca, to a sport based around MMA and submission grappling, and now to two separate sports, where did it originate from? And that’s not even to mention the influences of catch wrestling, and now freestyle wrestling which is becoming an increasingly common introduction.
BJJ is, ultimately, a form of wrestling. Though most people trace its roots to Rio in the early 1900s, I think it makes more sense to look at it as a continuous evolution influencing, and being influenced by, the sports and cultures that it interacts with.
