Martial Arts Styles
Brazilian Jiu Jitsu
The general idea embraced by most historians is that systemized martial arts techniques came from India along with Buddhism (Dharma). The concept here is that the Shaolin temple was built in the centre of China and this is where Dharma introduced Buddhism and Boxing. Buddhist Monks in northern India are said to have greatly contributed to the early development of Jiu Jitsu. Bandits constantly assaulted the Monks during their long journeys through the interior of India. Buddhist religious and moral values did not encourage the use of weapons so they were forced to develop an empty hand system of self defence. These Monks were men of great wisdom who possessed a perfect knowledge of the human body. Consequently, they applied laws of physics such as leverage, momentum, balance, centre of gravity, friction, weight transmission and manipulation of the human anatomy’s vital points in order to create a scientific art of self defence.
In time the martial arts of India found its way to China as a practised martial fighting art during the war, where eventually it made its way through to Japan. Another version supports the idea of Jiu Jitsu coming from China around the time of the fall of the Ming Dynasty. When a Chinese monk named Chin Gen Pinh came to Japan, accompanied with his knowledge and experience of Kempo, known as the "China Hand."
But it was in Japan that it made a great leap, becoming well known and popular to the world. One thing is certain about these stories, and that is that the Japanese were responsible for refining a grappling art into a very sophisticated grappling system called Jiu-Jitsu which was developed in Japan during the Feudal period.
Jiu Jitsu translated literally means - gentle art.
In 1914 we saw Jiu Jitsu brought to Brazil by Mitsuyo Maeda, a Japanese Judōka and prize fighter in no holds barred competitions. Mitsuyo developed a style of fighting that combined a mixed bag of techniques he'd learned while fighting all comers in the arenas of Japan; in North, Central, and South America; Great Britain; Belgium; Spain; and the islands of the Caribbean, most notably Cuba. He combined Sumo, Judo, Jiu Jitsu, "catch-as-catch-can", Greco-Roman, Boxing, Luta Livre, Karate and other forms of free fighting lumped in with inventions of his own.
Mitsuyo Maeda was also known as Count Combat (or Conde Koma) a nickname he picked up in Spain during 1908. Along with Antônio Soishiro Satake (another naturalized Brazilian), Maeda pioneered Judo in Brazil, the United Kingdom, and other countries.
Maeda has won more than 2,000 professional fights in his career. His accomplishments led to him being called "The toughest man who ever lived" and is referred to as the father of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.
While in Brazil, Maeda agreed to take a wayward boy as a student on the promise he'd never teach others what he'd learned from Maeda. That boy was Carlos Gracie. Carlos, then 17 years old, passed Maeda's teachings on to his brothers Osvaldo, Gastao and Jorge. Helio was too young and sick at that time to learn the art, and due to medical imposition was prohibited to take part in the training sessions. Despite that, Helio learned Jiu Jitsu by watching his brothers. He eventually overcame his health problems and is now considered by many as the founder of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.
In Brazil, the art is still called "Jiu-Jitsu". When the Gracies went to the United States to spread their art, the system became known as "Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu" and "Gracie Jiu-Jitsu."Jiu-Jitsu" was also the original spelling of the art in the West and that is why this style retains the original (although technically incorrect) spelling. Other common spellings are Jujitsu, Ju-Jitsu, Ju jitsu and Jujutsu - the last being correct in accordance with modern romanization.
Brazilian Jiu Jitsu came to international prominence in the martial arts community in the 1990s, when Brazilian Jiu Jitsu expert Royce Gracie won the first, second and fourth Ultimate Fighting Championships, which at the time were single elimination martial arts tournaments. Royce fought against often much larger opponents who were practicing other styles, including Boxing, Shoot-Fighting, Karate, Judo, Tae Kwon Do and Wrestling. It has since become a staple art for many MMA fighters and is largely credited for bringing wide-spread attention to the importance of ground fighting. Sport BJJ tournaments continue to grow in popularity worldwide and have given rise to no-gi submission grappling tournaments, such as the ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championship.
The rest is history.
