Early Jiu Jitsu History

Mitsuyo Maeda, also known as “Count Coma” was a Japanese Jiu Jitsu instructor who came to Brazil in the early 1900s. An influential Brazilian businessman Gastao Gracie helped Mr. Maeda get established. In return, Maeda offered to teach traditional Japanese Jiu Jitsu to Gastao’s oldest son, Carlos.

Some years later Carlos along with his younger brothers began teaching Jiu Jitsu. Carlos’s youngest son, Helio, was very slender and meek physically. In fact, he was so physically frail that even though he showed interest in Jiu Jitsu at the age of 14, for the first two years he just watched his brothers train. 

Eventually, Helio began training and sparring with his brothers. Since he was less physically impressive than his brothers, he could not overpower them with brute force. This encouraged him to innovate and improve the use of leverage in the techniques that he was learning.  Helio along his brother Carlos are widely considered to be the founders of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.

 Helio went on to have an impressive fighting career (17 fights total). Some of his famous accomplishments include:

1)    Fights against number two (at that time) ranked Japanese Jiu Jitsu fighter in the world, Yukio Kato. Helio took on the first fight despite suffering a broken rib a week prior. He fought Kato to a draw in that first fight. A month later, when Helio’s body had some time to heal, he fought Kato again. He choked Kato unconscious in under 6 minutes. Masahiko Kimura, who was considered to be the greatest Japanese Jiu Jitsu fighter at the time, agreed to fight Helio only if Helio would defeat Kato, which brings us to the next legendary bout.

2)    Fight against Japanese Jiu Jitsu world champion Masahiko Kimura, who was about 80 pounds heavier than Helio. Before the fight Kimura said that if Helio lasts at least three minutes with him, he should be considered a winner. After 13 minutes of fighting, Kumura secured his favorite submission, which became known as the “Kimura.” Mr. Masahiko was so impressed with Helio’s performance that the day after the fight he invited Helio to teach Jiu Jitsu in Japan.

3)    Fight against wrestling world champion Fred Ebert. The fight was scheduled for an unlimited number of 10 minute rounds. After 140 minutes of combat, the police stopped the fight. After the stoppage, Ebert was sent to a hospital, while Helio went home.

4)    Win against a wrestling world champion Wladek Zbyszko. The fight was scheduled for multiple 20 minute rounds. Helio was proclaimed a winner after Wladek refused to come out for the third round.

5)    Longest fight in history. Helio came out of retirement at the age of 42 to fight his former top student, Waldemar Santana, who was 25 at the time. The fight lasted 3 hours and 40 minutes, which set the record for longest uninterrupted fight in history. At the final moments of the fight, Helio took a brutal kick that caused his brother Carlos to throw in the towel. 

In addition to having a legendary fighting career of his own, Helio raised sons who became legendary in the martial arts world in their own right. Among them:

1)    Royce Gracie. Three time UFC World Champion (UFC 1, 2, and 4), and UFC hall of famer. Widely considered one of the most influential fighters in MMA history. At UFC 2, Royce fought and beat four opponents in one night. At UFC 1 and UFC 4, Royce fought and defeated three opponents in one night.

2)    Royler Gracie. Four time IBJJF World Champion, and three time ADCC World Champion.

3)    Rickson Gracie. Legendary and undefeated MMA fighter, undefeated Jiu Jitsu fighter, and MMA Hall of famer. Widely believed to be the greatest Jiu Jitsu fighter of his generation.

4)    Rorion Gracie. Co-founder of the UFC. Widely credited as one of the people responsible for introducing Brazilian Jiu Jitsu to the world. 

5)    Relson Gracie. Went 22 years undefeated as a Brazilian National Jiu Jitsu Champion.

1990s-Present

In the 1970s and 1980s Karate, Kung Fu and other traditional martial arts became popular. In large part this was because of Hollywood and movies like the “Karate Kid.” However, there was no empirical way to test which martial art was better, just a lot of choreographed movie fight scenes and very enthusiastic supporters.

All of this changed in 1993 with the introduction of the first Ultimate Fighting Championship. At the time there were no weight classes, no time limits, and very minimal rules. The representatives of their respective martial arts were brought together to compete in a tournament to see whose style was the best. To the utter surprise of the masses, Royce Gracie whose physique was not as intimidating as that of the other fighters (Royce was 6’1’’ and 180 pounds) dominated his competition and came out on top. In addition to winning UFC 1, Royce went on to win UFC 2 and UFC 4. 

Today Jiu Jitsu is increasingly popular in the United States and around the world. Increasingly celebrities, business people, public figures and every day average people become enthusiastic practitioners of the art. Today, Jiu Jitsu continues to develop and evolve through the inestimable effort of professors, coaches, and athletes.

Is There a Difference Between Gracie Jiu Jitsu and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu?

 Depends on who you ask, but here are three ways to think about.

1)    All Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is Gracie Jiu Jitsu. Americans just started calling it Brazilian, once it came to the United States. As such, by many people the terms are used interchangeably. 

2)    Gracie is a subset of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. That is, all fighters who have a Gracie Jiu Jitsu black belt have a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belt. However, just because a fighter has a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belt does not mean they have a Gracie Jiu Jitsu black belt.

3)    In its modern form, Gracie Jiu Jitsu is Brazilian Jiu Jitsu plus something. That something is self-defense. That is, every Gracie Jiu Jitsu black belt knows Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, and additionally has a deep understanding of self-defense.