The origins of Jiu-Jitsu

Wrestling represents one of the oldest forms of combat. The origins of wrestling go back 15,000 years through cave drawings in France. Babylonian and Egyptian reliefs show wrestlers using most of the holds known in the present-day sport. Literary references to it occur as early as in the ancient Indian Vedas. The Iliad contains references, in which Homer recounts the Trojan War of the 13th or 12th century BC Indian epics Ramayana and Mahabharata contain references to martial arts including wrestling. In ancient Greece wrestling occupied a prominent place in legend and literature; wrestling competition, brutal in many aspects, served as the focal sport of the ancient Olympic Games.

Jiu-Jitsu in India

Buddhist monks were the creators of the most complete form of personal defense of all times, which was jiu-jitsu, the father of all fights. Among his followers, monks in far away monasteries who were obliged to travel through the interior of India, and had to defend against the attacks of bandits who infested the region, there

were some who were the real creators of this kind of fight that allowed self-defense without using weapons that would violate the morals of the religion. In this way was born the jiu-jitsu with the spirit of defense that is its fundamental element. The application of physical laws, such as leverage, momentum, equilibrium, center of gravity, and a detailed study of the vital points of the human body, allowed them to create the art of scientific fighting.

Jiu-Jitsu in Japan

Jujutsu first began during the Sengoku period of the Muromachi period combining various Japanese martial arts which were used on the battlefield for close combat in situations where weapons were ineffective. In contrast to the neighbouring nations of China and Okinawa whose martial arts were centered around striking techniques, Japanese hand-to-hand combat forms focused heavily upon throwing, immobilizing, joint locks and choking as striking techniques were ineffective towards someone wearing armor on the battlefield During this new ideology weapons and armor became unused decorative items, so hand-tohand combat flourished as a form of self-defense and new techniques were created to adapt to the changing situation of unarmored opponents. This included the development of various striking techniques in jujutsu which expanded upon the limited striking previously found in jujutsu which targeted vital areas above the shoulders such as the eyes, throat, and back of the neck. However towards the 18th century the number of striking

techniques was severely reduced as they were considered less effective and exert too much energy; instead striking in jujutsu primarily became used as a way to distract the opponent or to unbalance him in the lead up to a joint lock, strangle or throw.

During the same period the numerous jujutsu schools would challenge each other to duels which became a popular pastime for warriors under a peaceful unified government, from these challenges randori was created to practice without risk of breaking the law and the various styles of each school evolved from combating
each other without intention to kill.

Kano Jiu-Jitsu

Jigoro Kano (1860-1938), member of the Japanese Ministry of Culture and Martial Artist, played an important role in rescuing Jiu-Jitsu’s reputation in times of peace.

When Kanō attended the Tokyo Imperial University in 1877, he started looking for jūjutsu teachers. He first looked for bonesetters, called seifukushi. His assumption was that doctors knew who the better martial
art teachers were. His search brought him to Yagi Teinosuke, who had been a student of Emon Isomata in the Tenjin Shin’yō-ryū school of jūjutsu. Yagi, in turn, referred Kanō to Fukuda Hachinosuke, a bonesetter who taught Tenjin Shin’yō-ryū in a 10-mat room adjacent to his practice. Tenjin Shin’yō-ryū was itself a combination of two older schools: the Yōshin-ryū and Shin no Shindō-ryū.

Fukuda’s training method consisted mostly of the student taking fall after fall for the teacher or senior student
until he began to understand the mechanics of the technique. Fukuda stressed applied technique over ritual form. He gave beginners a short description of the technique and had them engage in free practice (randori) in order to teach through experience. It was only after the student had attained some proficiency that he taught them traditional forms (kata). This method was difficult, as there were no special mats for falling, only the standard straw mats (tatami) laid over wooden floors.

Kanō had trouble defeating Fukushima Kanekichi, who was one of his seniors at the school. Therefore, Kanō started trying unfamiliar techniques on his rival. He first tried techniques from sumo. When these did not help, he studied more, and tried a technique (“fireman’s carry”) that he learned from a book on western wrestling. This worked, and kataguruma, or “shoulder wheel”, remains part of the judo repertoire, although at
this moment the judo organizations of some countries prohibit this throw in competition judo On 5 August 1879, Kanō participated in a jūjutsu demonstration given for former United States president

Ulysses S. Grant. This demonstration took place at the home of the prominent businessman Shibusawa Eiichi.

1914 – Jiu-Jitsu arrives in Brazil Maeda meets Gracie – Count Koma A champion in his own right and student of Jigoro Kano, Maeda began his travels abroad with a group of men who participated in challenge matches across the globe. In 1914 he landed in the northern state of Para, Brazil, to help establish the Japanese colony in that region.

Settling down in Belem do Para, it was natural for
Maeda to make use of his outstanding fighting skills in demonstrations, shows, and even circuses as a way to make a living and spread the Japanese Culture.

The first time Carlos Gracie met Count Koma, was
at one of these demonstrations. Carlos was amazed by Koma’s ability to defeat other opponents who were much bigger and stronger than him.

Carlos Gracie was a wild kid who was slipping out
of control and away from his father, Gastao and mother, Cesalina. Energetic and rebellious, Carlos was giving them a lot of trouble. Knowing that Maeda just started a Jiu-Jitsu program in town, Gastao decided to take Carlos there to learn from the Japanese as a way to calm down and discipline his son.

1916 – Carlos Gracie

Mitsuyu Maeda introduced Carlos to Jiu-Jitsu, at the age of 14. He became an avid student for a few years. The studies under Maeda had a profound impact on his mind. He never before sensed the level of self-control and self-confidence Jiu- Jitsu practice allowed him to experience.

Gastão Gracie was a business partner of the American Circus in Belém. In 1916, Italian Argentine circus Queirolo Brothers staged shows there and presented Maeda.[45][46] In 1917, Carlos Gracie—14 year-old son of Gastão Gracie—watched a demonstration by Maeda at the Da Paz Theatre and decided to learn judo (also known at the time as ‘Kano Jiu-Jitsu’). Maeda accepted Gracie and Luiz França as students [1], and the youth went on to become a great exponent of the art and ultimately, with his younger brother Hélio Gracie, founded Gracie Jiu-Jitsu, modern Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.[47] In 1921, Gastão Gracie and his family moved to Rio de Janeiro. Carlos, then 17 years old, passed Maeda’s teachings on to his brothers Osvaldo, Gastão, and Jorge. Hélio is considered by many as the founder of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (though others, such as Carlson Gracie, have pointed to Carlos as the founder
Gracie Jiu Jitsu developed in Brazil in the early 1900s using techniques learned from the great Japanese champion, Mitsuyo Maeda (known in Brazil as Conde Koma—the “Count of Combat”). Maeda, who was taught by Jigoro Kano, the creator of Judo, fought hundreds of victorious challenge matches against
practitioners of other styles using his Judo techniques to overcome them. Maeda had become a champion Judoka in Japan and was so highly revered by Kano he was sent around the world to spread Judo. According to reports, the young Carlos Gracie refined his system by fighting in matches that were open to all skill levels and learning from those experiences to make Jiu Jitsu more effective. Some reports claim that he advertised in newspapers and on street corners for new opponents upon whom to practice but no

documented records of this exist. Gracie claimed to have fought anyone and everyone who was willing, regardless of size, weight, or fighting style. Though he was 135 pounds, his style proved so effective that Carlos Gracie was never defeated making him a legend in Brazil. Later, his claims were challenged by his brother Jorge Gracie, who stated; “My brother Carlos is nothing when it comes to fighting. Carlos does not have the authority nor the competence to speak about Jiu Jitsu… Who created the sporting tradition of my family if not me, in all honesty, with my career?”

This tradition of open challenge is a part of the heritage of Gracie style of Jiu Jitsu. Carlos Gracie taught his style of Jiu Jitsu to his four younger brothers (Oswaldo, Gastão, Jorge, and Helio) and to his older sons including Carlson and Carley), and they in turn taught their brothers, sons, nephews, and cousins. After Carlos retired from the ring, he managed the fight careers of his brothers and sons, continuing to challenge fighters of all styles throughout the world. This tradition of open challenge is continued by his sons, grandsons, brothers, nephews, and students.

Maeda was quite fond of the 15 year old CarlosGracie and accepted the challenge of educating this skinny boy in the art of Jiu Jitsu. The teachings

of Maeda lasted for the best part of 3 years with interruptions “here and there” when Maeda needed to travel for his duties. In 1921 the Gracie Family was bankrupt and needed to move from Belem do Para to Rio de Janeiro and that was the last time Carlos Gracie saw his master.

He separated from his father and started working on his own in small meaningless jobs until a friend from the Belem do Para days met him in Rio. He had also trained with Maeda for a short while and knew Carlos was one of Maeda’s best students, so he invited him to train alongside him the Special Police, a Core his friend belonged to. Inside Police walls is where Carlos started truly testing his Jiu Jitsu skills in No Holds Barred fights performed in closed quarters.

Soon he managed to save enough money to launch his dream: his own Jiu Jitsu academy. This very modest place was set in “Rua Marques de Abrantes” number 106 in the year of 1925. For this amazing challenge ahead, he asked brothers George and Helio to join him. In his first ad at a local newspaper, he wrote: “Se Você quer a sua face esmurrada e arrebentada, seu traseiro chutado e os seus bracos quebrados, entre em contacto com Carlos Gracie neste endereço…” –

If you want your face punched and bruised, your but kicked and your arms broken, talk to Carlos Gracie at the following address…”

In the time of the academy he taught diligently his brothers. He also promoted fights between his academy and other styles of fighting common in Rio de Janeiro such as Capoeira, Boxing and Wrestling in order to promote his academy. His team would consist of himself and his brothers. Throughout the years Carlos started several other businesses for which he needed to often travel, so he relegated the training of his academies to Helio, his top student and brother. He also opened other academies in Fortaleza and Ceará, Brazil. Carlos Gracie always studied up close human and physical behaviour, and throughout the years his studies paid off as he launched the famous Gracie Diet, which is used successfully to this day.

Although Carlos was away from his academy in Rio, he never completely stepped away from the sport and he cornered his brothers in almost every fight of their career. He was regarded as their master for as long as he lived. Carlos died at the age of 92 in the year of 1994, he had 21 children from different mothers, 11 of which he awarded the black belt in Jiu Jitsu. Amongst his sons are 3 BJJ legends in their own right, such as Carlson Gracie, Rolls Gracie and Carlos Gracie Jr (Carlinhos).

Carlos Gracie 12 commandments

• 1 – To be so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind.
• 2 – Speak to every one of happiness, health and prosperity.
• 3 – Give all your friends the feeling that they are valuable.
• 4 – Always look at events from a positive point of view, and turn positivity into a reality in life.
• 5 – Think always in the best, work solely for the best and expect always the best.
• 6 – Always be as enthusiastic about the success of others as you are about your own.
• 7 – Forget about past mistakes and concentrate your energies on the victories ahead.
• 8 – Always keep your fellow men joyful and have a pleasant attitude to all that address you.
• 9 – Spend all the time you need in perfecting yourself, but leave no time to criticise the others.
• 10 – Become too big to feel unrest, too noble to feel anger, too strong to feel fear and too happy to tumble in adversity.
• 11 – Always have a positive opinion about yourself and tell it to the world, not through words of vanity but through benevolence.
• 12 – Have the strong belief that the world is beside you if you keep true to what is best within you.

The First Gracie School is Founded

The first Gracie Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu School was founded in 1925 at Rua Marquês de Abrantes 106, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. At the age of 23 years old, Carlos Gracie understood well the amazing benefits Jiu-Jitsu could bring to one’s life. Founding a school represented a very important milestone in his decision to grow Jiu-Jitsu Gracie as a national sport in Brazil.

The Marquês de Abrantes school was not exactly what one would expect as the pioneer power house of Gracie Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. With limited resources and concerned with the well being of his younger brothers, all Carlos could afford was a small house where he turned the living room into a training area.

In that house Carlos united his brothers and engaged them in his life project. He knew it would be impossible to accomplish such a gigantic task alone and started to teach his younger brothers, Oswaldo (1904), Gastao (1906), George (1911), and Helio (1913).

The first generation of Gracie brothers living and working in the same house seems to have forged the family spirit that flowed down through generations and was so important to the extraordinary success the Gracie Family achieved

over the years.

The Helio Gracie Era

Gracie was born on October 1, 1913, in Belém do Pará, Brazil. When he was 16 years old, he found the opportunity to teach a Kodokan Judo class (at that time judo was commonly referred to as Kano Jujutsu or simply Jujutsu),[5] and this experience led him to develop Gracie Jiu-Jitsu.[6] A director of the Bank of Brazil, Mario Brandt, arrived for a private class at the original Gracie Academy in Rio de Janeiro, as scheduled. The instructor, Carlos Gracie, was running late and was not present. Helio offered to begin the class with the man. When the tardy Carlos arrived offering his apologies, the student assured him it was no problem, and actually requested that he be allowed to continue learning with Helio Gracie instead.Carlos agreed to this and Helio Gracie became an instructor.

Gracie realized, however, that even though he knew the techniques theoretically, the moves were much harder to execute. Consequently, he began adapting Maeda’s brand of Judo, already heavily based around newaza ground fighting techniques, for his particular physical attributes. [citation needed] From these experiments, Gracie Jiu-Jitsu was created. Like its parent style of Judo, these techniques allowed smaller and weaker practitioners the capability to defend themselves and even defeat much larger opponents.[7][8]

“Carlos and Helio Gracie . . . brought a fresh eye to jujitsu just as their fellow countryman brought a special new approach to football.”

Fighting career

Gracie had 20 professional fights in his career. He had 10 wins with 8 draws and two losses. He began his fighting career when he submitted professional boxer Antonio Portugal in 30 seconds in 1932. In that same year, he fought American professional wrestler Fred Ebert for fourteen 3 minute rounds. The event was claimed to have been stopped because Brazilian law did not allow any public events to continue after 2:00 AM,[citation needed] but in an interview Gracie admitted that he was stopped by the doctor due to the high fever caused by a swelling, and he had to undergo an urgent

operation the next day.

In 1934, Gracie fought Polish professional wrestler Wladek Zbyszko, who was billed as a former world champion, for three 10-minute rounds.[citation needed] Even though the wrestler was almost twice Gracie’s weight, he could not defeat him, and the match ended in a draw. Gracie then defeated Taro Miyake, a Japanese professional wrestler and
judoka (practitioner of judo) who had an extensive professional fighting record and worked for Ed “Strangler” Lewis in the United States of America. Gracie also fought several Japanese judoka under submission rules. In 1932, he fought Japanese judoka Namiki. The fight ended in a draw although Hélio was already twisting his arm when the bell rang. He defeated the Japanese heavyweight judoka and sumo wrestler Massagoishi via armlock. Gracie had two fights with Yasuichi Ono after Ono choked out Jorge Gracie (Hélio Gracie’s brother) in a match.[citation needed] Both fights ended in a draw. Gracie fought judoka Yukio Kato twice. [citation needed] The first time was at Maracanã stadium and they went to a draw. Afterwards, Kato asked for a rematch. The rematch was held at Ibirapuera Stadium in São Paulo and Gracie won[13] by front choke from the guard In May 1955, at the YMCA in Rio de Janeiro,

Gracie participated in a 3-hour 42 minute fight against his former student Valdemar Santana with Santana knocking out Gracie with a soccer kick . This would be the last of Helio’s matches that involved striking (i.e. Vale Tudo)

Kimura vs. Gracie

Kimura versus Gracie with his winning “Kimura lock.” The headline reads: “(Moral) Victory for Helio Gracie.”

Gracie issued a challenge to a highly touted Judoka named Kimura An agreement was made under what would be known as the “Gracie Rules” via the Gracie Challenge that throws and pins would NOT count towards victory only submission or loss of consciousness. This played against Judo rules in which Pins and throws can award someone a victory

In 1951, famous judoka Masahiko Kimura defeated Gracie in a submission judo/jiujitsu match held in Brazil.During the fight Kimura threw Gracie repeatedly with Ippon Seoinage (one arm shoulder throw), Ouchi Gari (major inner reap), Uchimata (inner thigh throw), Harai Goshi (sweeping hip throw), and Osoto Gari (major outer reap). However, Helio Gracie was able to perform ukemi, as demonstrated by his earlier match with Kimura’s fellow judoka Yukio Kato, was in excellent condition, benefited from the soft mat used in competition, and showed a strong will to win and refusal to lose – he was undeterred.[18] Unable to subdue Helio through throwing alone, the fight progressed into groundwork. Kimura maintained a dominance in the fight at this point by using techniques such as kuzure-kamishiho-gatame (modified upper four corner hold), kesa-gatame (scarf hold), and sankaku-jime (triangle choke). Thirteen minutes into the bout Kimura positioned himself to apply a reverse ude-garami (arm entanglement, a shoulderlock). Gracie refused to submit.

In a 1994 interview with Yoshinori Nishi, Gracie admitted that he had been rendered unconscious very early in the bout by a choke although Kimura released the choke and continued the bout. As a tribute to Kimura’s victory, the reverse udegarami technique he used to defeat Gracie, has since been commonly referred to as the Kimura lock, or simply the Kimura, in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

The Carlson Gracie Era

Carlson Gracie, Sr. (August 13, 1935 – February 1, 2006) was a practitioner of the Brazilian martial art of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. He was the eldest son of Carlos Gracie, co-founder of the system with his uncle Hélio Gracie, and learned the art from his father. Carlson Gracie would later split from Hélio Gracie’s group. He founded one of the most victorious mixed martial arts teams to date, which spawned many champions; in 2000, following a financial dispute, many of Carlson Gracie’s students would split from him to form yet another top MMA team, the Brazilian Top Team, but would remain respectful of the master. Carlson fought a total of eighteen vale tudo fights, with only one loss to Euclides Pereira in a fight that was held in Bahia.

Carlson Gracie is the man who ushered Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu into the modern era. The oldest son of Carlos Gracie, who founded Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in Rio de Janeiro during the 1920s, Carlson reigned as world champion for thirty years covering the ‘50s, ‘60s, and ‘70s. He was never defeated in nineteen professional fights. During this time, he was also considered one of the preeminent teachers of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in the world; a reputation he

holds to this day.

Carlson catapulted to fame at the tender age of seventeen when he avenged the defeat of his uncle Helio Gracie. A former student of Helio’s, Waldemar Santana, had defeated the much older Helio during a match in 1955. That match lasted four hours and is still the longest in modern history. Carlson’s match with Santana in 1956 was a much shorter affair: four rounds of vicious valetudo combat left Santana bloodied, beaten, and unable to crawl back into the ring.

Riding on his newly found fame, Carlson became the most sought-after Jiu-Jitsu instructor in Brazil. After teaching at his uncle’s academy for several years, he opened his own, where over the past thirty years many of the greatest names in Jiu-Jitsu and no-holds-barred fighters have trained as members of the famed Carlson Gracie Arrebentacao Team.

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu’s conquest of the mixed martial arts world might not have happened without Carlson’s lion-hearted decision to teach everything he knew at his academy. At the time, Helio’s academy taught only the most basic positions to outsiders, reserving the advanced positions for the family elite. Carlson opened up Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu to the masses, and the masses responded, hungry

to learn everything they could. To compete for students, the other academy was forced to offer all their positions as well. This good-natured competition breathed creativity and invention into Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu,and the sport has never been the same since.

Carlson’s influence on no-holds-barred fighting is extensive as well, for the style of Jiu-Jitsu he taught at his academy was distinct from that being taught by Helio. While Helio’s brand of Jiu-Jitsu emphasized technical proficiency, Carlson favored a ‘warrior style’ of Jiu-Jitsu that encouraged physical prowess and barraging your opponent with a series of attacks. Carlson’s influence is prominent in all Mixed Martial Arts today.

He was born on August 13, 1935 in Botafogo, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and died on February 1, 2006, in Chicago, Illinois, of heart failure, apparently the result of complications of kidney stones (and possibly his pre-existing diabetes), following a hospitalisation of several days’ duration. At the time of his death he was a ninth degree red belt and was referred to as Grandmaster.