Brazilian jiu jitsu has become one of the world’s most widespread martial arts. Gaining popularity through MMA, it even evolved and became its own sport. However, the origins of Brazilian jiu jitsu may still be unclear to the general audience. In addition, one of the most common questions is: where is Jiu Jitsu from? This article will discuss the roots of Brazilian jiu jitsu and how it became an integral part of martial arts. Stick to the end and enjoy the article.
Jiu Jitsu’s Early Roots
We can trace the origins of BJJ back to Japan, where Japanese samurai developed it as a fighting style to use on the battlefield. These warriors engaged in armed battles and developed jiu jitsu as a last line of defense if they found themselves disarmed and afoot. The heavy armor limited their mobility, and they, therefore, preferred to use chokes, joint locks, and throws over striking techniques.
Japanese Jiu-Jitsu evolved into a variety of styles over time, with the emphasis gradually shifting from armed combat to general self-defense. While each style was different in its own way, the emphasis on throws, strangles, and joint locks remained a consistent theme.
Jiu Jitsu in Japan
When someone asks where is jiu jitsu from? the answer is that jiu-jitsu originated in Japan, from where it spread to Brazil at the start of the twentieth century. However, its earliest roots are not known. India is usually regarded as the source of jiu jitsu, although there is insufficient proof to prove this claim. We can find a lot of ancient Japanese scripts showing various techniques, which means that people have been doing it for a long time.
Jiu-jitsu means “gentle art” or “soft art.” However, it was not so gentle because it included a lot of dangerous techniques. The phrase “gentle art” expresses the philosophy of jiu jitsu, which is using strength in the most efficient way. Instead of fighting force with force, the idea is to use opponents’ force against him, using techniques to overcome power and aggression. Following this principle, a smaller person can hope to defeat a stronger, bigger one.
With the modernization of Japan and the fall of the samurai, people started to focus on other things. Thus, jiu jitsu was not needed anymore, which was the reason for its decline during the nineteenth century.
Jiu Jitsu and Judo
Brazilian jiu jitsu and Judo have always been historically related. After all, both martial arts are from Japan and have the same roots – Japanese jiu jitsu. Although they look very similar, there are some apparent differences between them.
Brazilian jiu jitsu focuses on ground fighting, specializing in chokes and joint locks. On the other hand, Judo uses fewer submissions and emphasizes stand-up techniques and throws. Aside from that, the two martial arts were developed in quite different environments. Judo was brought up in the Japanese school system and was groomed as a national sport. On the contrary, BJJ was mostly a self-defense martial art that was tested on the crime-filled streets of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Mitsuyo Maeda, the man who taught the Gracies jiu jitsu, was a judo practitioner himself. He trained under the legendary Jigoro Kano, the founder of Kodokan Judo. Let’s take a look at the story of these men and see how they influenced both arts.
Jigoro Kano – The Birth of Judo
When he was a young boy, Jigoro Kano started learning jiu jitsu to improve his weak physique and prevent bullying in school. While studying jiu jitsu, Kano saw problems he wanted to fix. At the time, jiu jitsu was just a collection of techniques, and there was no strategy behind it. Another problem was the lack of “live” sparring. This was because the martial art involved a lot of dangerous moves such as groin strikes, eye gouges, hair pulling, etc. In response to these problems, Kano aspired to improve it and make it a better martial art overall.
In the early 1880s, Kano opened his school, the Kodokan, and utilized new teaching methods. Kano’s most significant innovation was randori, or live sparring. To make this possible, Kano removed the dangerous moves from jiu jitsu, including punches, locks to the legs, spine, wrist, shoulders, etc. Training this way, the students could grapple at full power with little risk of injury. Kano realized that the number of techniques does not show the effectiveness of a martial art.
Instead, how students practiced those techniques was far more important. To distinguish his martial art from traditional jiu jitsu, he called it judo. “Ju” means “gentle” or “soft.” “Do” means “way” and refers to a broader vision of how one should live his life. Rather than being a series of techniques, judo was supposed to be a complete way of life. It included a lot of moral, spiritual, and social values as well as combat effectiveness.
Mitsuyo Maeda
Kano had a desire to spread Judo throughout the world and to make it an Olympic sport. For this reason, he sent several representatives to the United States to demonstrate the sport. One of them was Mitsuyo Maeda, who was one of Kano’s best students. Maeda had originally trained in classical jiu jitsu, but he switched to the Kodokan when he was eighteen. He was well known for his outstanding skill, which made him an obvious choice to showcase judo to the world.
After training and teaching in the US, Maeda toured all over Central and South America and competed in many prize fights. He had a tremendous fighting record which made him a legend. By taking many professional fights, Maeda went against the strict moral codes of Kodokan judo. Probably because of this, he often described his fighting method as “jiu jitsu” rather than “judo.” If you want to learn more about Mitsuyo Maeda, I suggest reading his biography. Also, here is a video you can watch.
How Jiu Jitsu Arrived in Brazil
A 1920s diplomatic mission sent Maeda to Brazil. He met a man named Gastao Gracie, who was a Scottish immigrant. Their friendship grew, and eventually, Maeda offered to teach Gastao’s sons jiu jitsu. This is a pivotal moment in history, as Gastao’s sons were Helio and Carlos Gracie, the founders of Brazilian jiu jitsu.
Maeda and the Gracies
Carlos Gracie, the oldest of the Gracie brothers, became one of Maeda’s students. It is still unclear what Maeda taught Carlos, as Maeda himself made a lot of modifications to the martial art. However, the main lessons and principles were:
- Grappling skill can be used as a highly effective combat style, which could negate the strength of opponents and exploit their weaknesses.
- Live sparring or “randori” was an essential part of training. This came from Maeda’s training with Kano.
- Actual jiu jitsu techniques.
- The basic strategy of taking a striker to the ground, thus removing his greatest strength (punches and kicks) and exposing him to submissions.
Carlos opened his school in 1925 after only training with Maeda for a couple of years. Nevertheless, Maeda had given the Gracies an overall strategy of how a grappler can control and dominate a fight. Additionally, he left them with a training methodology and a philosophy of using real combat as the ultimate test of martial art. This was the legacy Maeda gave to the Gracies in the short time he taught Carlos.
The Gracie Family
Talking about the origins of jiu jitsu and about where is jiu jitsu from could be impossible without mentioning the Gracie family. Brothers Carlos and Helio are regarded as the founders of BJJ, and together with their sons, they developed a new fighting style. They tested their skills on the streets of Rio and fought to prove that Brazilian jiu jitsu was the best among all martial arts. Let’s discuss some of the innovations that were made by the Gracies and how they changed jiu jitsu forever.
The Development of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
After Mitsuyo Maeda traveled around Brazil and the other countries, the Gracies had to develop their jiu jitsu skills alone. However, several advantages enabled them to make quick progress.
One of these was numbers. There were four sons who were all heavily involved with jiu jitsu. This meant that there was never a lack of training partners to practice and refine techniques. The four brothers had many children, and most of them became avid students and teachers of jiu jitsu. They, in turn, had many sons who likewise went into the family trade, making the Gracies a family of martial artists.
The Gracies also had autonomy. It is common in traditional martial arts to have a strong sense of tradition. Modifications can be seen negatively and as a watering down of the original martial art. Since the Gracies were independent, they did not have to answer to anyone but themselves. Effectiveness, not tradition, was the only criteria they cared about.
Overcoming Jigoro Kano’s Limitations
A big part of the development of Brazilian jiu jitsu was the rejection of certain limits that Kano had imposed upon martial arts training. Kano took out too many dangerous elements of fighting and grappling training. To prevent injuries, only submission holds to the elbow were allowed, along with strangleholds. All leg locks, neck cranks, spine locks, shoulder locks, wrist locks, and cross-facing were illegal. However, these were very effective combat techniques. The Gracie family added these techniques to regular sparring and made Brazilian jiu jitsu more effective in combat.
The most significant innovation that the Gracies incorporated is creating a general combat strategy based on a hierarchy of positions. Some positions offer great advantages in terms of ease of striking or submitting your opponent. Others can be disastrous. This hierarchy of positions later became the point scoring system that we know today in Brazilian jiu jitsu. By training and competing under this system of points, the most effective combat strategy was a part of their daily training. This was one of the main reasons for their later success in MMA. John Danaher explains this strategy in his podcast with Joe Rogan. Here is the video.
Jiu Jitsu in the UFC
After some members of the Gracie family immigrated to the United States, they wanted to show everyone how efficient jiu jitsu was. One of Helio Gracie’s sons, Rorion Gracie, teamed up with a promoter and business executive Art Davie to create the Ultimate Fighting Championship. This was a tournament of eight fighters, and the goal was to determine which martial art was the best. The tournament featured fights with no weight classes, rounds, or judges. The only way to win the match was by submission, knockout, or corner stoppage. The Gracie family representative was Royce Gracie, who went on to win three fights by submission. After this tournament, Brazilian jiu jitsu started to get serious recognition from the general audience. Royce Gracie won the second UFC tournament as well, proving that BJJ was one of the best martial arts in the world.
Throughout history, Brazilian jiu jitsu had a lot of representatives in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Many of them became legends when it comes to mixed martial arts. Some of the best fighters to represent jiu jitsu are:
- Demian Maia
- Bj Penn
- Fabricio Werdum
- Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza
- Nate Diaz
- Nick Diaz
- Frank Mir
- Charles Oliveira
- Gilbert Burns
Jiu Jitsu’s Popularity Today
Thanks to the global rise of mixed martial arts, many combat sports have gained popularity. Brazilian jiu jitsu is now a widespread sport, and many people are doing it. Some do it for fun, some for self-defense, and some become professional athletes. Overall, we can say that jiu jitsu has improved the lives of thousands of people all around the world. As the sport grows, it won’t be a surprise if it becomes a part of the Olympic games one day. No matter where is jiu jitsu from, it has become a transnational sport.
Conclusion
To finish this off, let’s answer the question one more time. Where is jiu jitsu from? We should always say that traditional jiu jitsu was first developed in Japan. Later, Jigoro Kano made certain improvements and made it a more suitable fighting style for combat and created his own version. However, we should never neglect the Gracie family’s impact on the development of this martial art. Through the efforts of all these people combined, Brazilian jiu jitsu is the martial art that we practice today, and it is beautiful. Thank you for reading this article; if you would like to learn more about the history of BJJ, I will leave some videos below. Also, I would recommend you read some books as well.