Brazilian Jiujitsu

Brazilian Jiujitsu or Jujutsu, arguably the most popular modern martial art. There are plenty of videos online detailing the origins of Brazilian Jiujitsu often linking the Gracie family to the origins of the art. In case you haven't heard the story before, it goes something along the lines of: Mitsuyo Maeda, one of the great early Judoka arrived in Brazil after spending many years traveling the world and demonstrating the power and effectiveness of Judo/Jujutsu. While in Brazil he befriended the patriarch of the Gracie family and agreed to teach judo to his sons, Carlos and Helio Gracie. From here, the two sons took the original judo that they were taught and modified the techniques to match their smaller frames and allow them to defeat men much larger than themselves. They focused more on the guard and techniques from closed guard. This story was calcified during the famous match between Helio Gracie and Masahiko Kimura. Kimura, one of the greatest Judoka of all time, was famously challenged to a match by the Gracies and it became a national spectacle. During the match, Kimura managed to get a keylock on Helio's arm and snapped it. This match became the foundation of the BJJ story and how Helio, a supposedly small and frail man, was able to go toe to toe and give Kimura a run for his money using the modified techniques of BJJ.

I don't buy into this story at all. I've seen a lot of evidence contrary to that popular story, and it makes far more sense to me that Mitsuyo Maeda, who was sent abraod by the Kodokan to spread Judo's influence and elevate its status internationally, would teach judo to far more than a couple boys and that there was in truth, a large and thriving community of judoka and jujutsu players in Brazil aside from the Gracies. It's known that the judo scene in Brazil was large and active during the early to mid 1900's, and there are plenty of records of noted jujutsu players showing up to these Judo tournaments and posting results. While there is certainly a distinction between Brazilian jiujitsu and modern Judo, at the time in the early 1900's, they were far more similar. Early judo did not train ne-waza(floor grappling) as much as Brazilian jiujitsu does today, but they were certainly not unfamiliar with it. In fact, there is a modern offshoot branch of judo in Japan called "Kosen Judo" which took the college and university style of Judo popular in the pre-war period and codified a seperate ruleset that encouraged the use of ne-waza to win matches. In fact, it is almost certain that Mitsuyo Maeda, the man largely credited with introducing Judo to Brazil, would have known and even been familiar with this style of Judo.

On the topic of Mitsuyo Maeda, while he made Brazil his main residence in his latter years, he would not have been the first or only Judoka in Brazil at this time. There were other judoka present in Brazil at the same time as Maeda, and in the years between Maeda first arriving in Brazil and the famous Gracie-Kimura match, there would have been almost 40 years. It is my personal theory that through Maeda or other Judoka, this university style of Kosen Judo would have first arrived in Brazil and developed over time in Brazilian jiujitsu, with or without the influence of the Gracies. Although, to give credit where it is due, Brazliian Jiujitsu would be a minor martial art, obscure even, if it were not for the wealth and marketing power of the Gracie family, who promoted the martial art across Brazil and caused the art to skyrocket in popularity through its connection with the first UFC event.

Anyways, what do I think about BJJ? I like it. I think it can be a wholly comprehensive grappling art and it's fun to train in both no-gi and gi. I think BJJ is great because although there is a technical curriculum and a set of standard techniques that you should know, you cover most of those by the time you get to mid-blue belt and purple belt. After that, it's almost entirely self directed how your style develops. Of course you'll learn more advanced techniques and principles from your instructor, but how you grapple is almost entirely determined by what you feel comfortable with, what you like and what you want to work on. I think this kind of self expression is really indicative of what martial arts should be, a physical representation of your self, expresssed through physical movement.