Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is the most proven and effective martial art in history. Its story begins in 1924, when a Japanese martial artist named Mitsuyo Maeda arrived in Brazil to perform demonstrations and accept challenge fights from the locals. Maeda was a representative of The Kodokan, the founding academy of the art of judo. However, at that time Maeda and others referred to their art as jiu-jitsu, a Japanese phrase that could be translated as “the gentle art” or “the yielding techniques.” It involved little to no punching or kicking. Instead, it taught its fighters to take hold of their opponent, bring them to the floor, and force them to surrender from there.

Maeda took on students during his time in the city of Belém, among whom was a man named Carlos Gracie. Gracie learned to grapple from Maeda and subsequently from others. He became skilled in the art and taught it to his brother George Gracie, who began accepting challenge fights much like Maeda had. Carlos’s younger brother, Hélio (pictured), eventually took up jiu-jitsu as well, making many technical innovations that led to the art being seen as something unique to Brazil and the Gracie family, hence the term “Brazilian” Jiu-Jitsu.

The Gracie family would take on challengers for decades to come, defeating fighters of many other styles by using the control afforded by ground fighting. The application of leverage, gravity, and friction allowed them to go nearly undefeated for decades against larger and stronger opponents. In the ‘90s, they brought the art to America, founded The Ultimate Fighting Championship (The UFC), and sparked a movement in the martial arts unlike anything that came before.

Today, any fighter in mixed martial arts knows that they must train in jiu-jitsu to have a chance. There is also a large and growing “sport jiu-jitsu” scene with an incredible rate of technical innovation on display. While many schools only teach one or the other, we teach both self-defense and sport, in the belief that the two can co-exist and reinforce one another. Ultimately, there is only one jiu-jitsu.