Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu

By Steven Frazier
Origins
• Jiu-Jitsu began in feudal Japan.

• Samurai needed a way to defend themselves if they were

to lose their sword. Due to their armor, Joint locks and
takedowns were much more useful than blunt force.

• The martial art remained fairly unchanged for a long

period of time until Mitsuyo Maeda was born in 1878
(The History of Jiu-Jitsu).
• Mitsuyo initially wanted to be a world renown
sumo wrestler, but with his height under 5 foot
5 inches, he did not have the build for the
sport.
• He began learning Judo and blending its
techniques with various techniques seen in
traditional jiu-jitsu.
• Maeda travelled to the United States in 1904
along with other instructors from his
discipline.
• Once in the Americas, he went on a tour
fighting many people and doing presentations
in various countries such as Panama,
Colombia, Chile, and finally settling in Brazil
(The History of Jiu-Jitsu).
Creation of a Sport
• During Maeda’s journey to the west, he fought many different opponents to
showcase his skills, but there was still no official area for jiujitsu
practitioners to showcase their skills.

• Acknowledging this, Maeda decided on ten official rules so that the first
jiujitsu tournament could take place.

• Some of the defining rules were as follows:

 Contestants must trim their finger and toe nails
 One cannot bite, punch, scratch or headbutt
 Having one’s back on the mat is not a loss
 Tapping the mat signals a forfeit
 Rounds will be five minutes long with a two minute break
 The ref can decide a match is over even if one fighter has not forfeited
 (The History of Jiu-Jitsu).
Formation of the Gracie Dynasty
• Carlos Gracie (born in 1902) approached Maeda after seeing him
submit many different opponents.
• A young Carlos asked Maeda to teach him the martial art and
embraced the art whole heartedly.
• By 1925, Carlos had taught all of his brothers the art and opened up
his own BJJ academy, Gracie Academy.
• Carlos had 21 children during his lifetime, 13 of his children became
black belts at Gracie Academy.
• The Gracies would welcome anybody to come into their gym to test
themselves, and their fame grew as time passed because of this (The
History of Jiu-Jitsu).
Jiu-Jitsu Takes on the World
• 1993 marked the first Ultimate Fighting Championships (UFC) event titled “War
of the Worlds’
 The premise was that different athletes of different disciplines would come together and
fight each other in a “no holds barred” match.
 Different boxers, kickboxers, wrestlers, and other martial artists would compete to
determine which martial art is the best in the world.
 The Gracies sent Royce Gracie to the tournament to prove in order to prove to the world
that jiu-jitsu could take down any opponent.
 Royce won the tournament easily dispatching all of his opponents within minutes while
wearing his trademarked gi.
 People around the world saw this and jiu-jitsu’s popularity exploded (The History of Jiu-
Jitsu).

• With this newfound popularity, jiujitsu needed a governing body as well as world
tournaments.
 Carlos Gracie Jr. formed the International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation (IBJJF) in
order to achieve these results.
 The IBJJF has held the World Championship every year since 1996 (The History of Jiu-
Jitsu).
Cultural Diffusion
• Jiu-jitsu initially began in Japan where it mostly resided
until the 1900s.
• Mitsuyo Maeda brought the martial art into the Americas
in 1904, but it didn’t gain much popularity.
• Maeda took up residence in Brazil where the sport grew
exponentially and resulted in the Gracie dynasty.
• The Gracies brought the art form world wide with Royce
Gracie’s dominating win at UFC 1 while Carlos Gracie Jr.
started the International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation
(The History of Jiu-Jitsu).
 Cultural Landscape
• Jiu-jitsu techniques are starting to be
applied in other sports as athletes begin to
cross train.
 American folkstyle wrestlers have started
using sweeps, chokes, and joint locks to
gain an advantage in their wrestling
matches.
 In the world of Mixed Marital Arts jiu-jitsu
has become one of the three main aspects
of the sport, the other two including
striking and wrestling.

Photo from Evolve MMA

Cultural Landscape (Cont.)
• The effect of jiu-jitsu can be seen in
various aspects of the entertainment
industry.
 Certain holds, such as a rear naked
choke, can be seen in a vast majority of
action movies. Sometimes more
advanced holds like armbars and
triangles are used as well.
 Professional wrestling has adopted
more jiujitsu moves into the
mainstream circuit recently. Wrestlers
such as Becky Lynch and Ronda
Rousey can be seen doing an armbar as
a finisher.
Photo courtesy of Mile Killam of prowrestling.com
Cultural
Landscape (Cont.)
• Training in jiu-jitsu has become
common place in many areas. There is
even a jiujitsu gym in downtown
Wheeling.

• The prevalence of the sport has lead to

the popular phrase of “tapping out” as
being synonymous with giving up or
forfeiting.

• Types of clothing worn for jiujitsu is

becoming much more common. There
are certain high school wrestling teams
that are adopting the rash guard used
in no-gi jiu-jitsu tournaments instead of
the traditional singlets.

• While the traditional gi hasn’t caught

on, the rash guard is being sold
worldwide. Even Walmart carries a
rash guard (seen on the right).
Distance Decay
• The highest prevalence of the sport is in Brazil where its
popularity can be looked at almost like wrestling is here in the
united States.
• As the distance increases, the prevalence of the sport
decreases as well. Although in recent years, it has had surging
popularity worldwide due to the popularity of Mixed Martial
Arts.
• Different areas have different takes on the art such as 10 th
Planet Jiu-jitsu, founded in California, which focuses heavily
on the rubber guard. 10 th Planet has over 100 locations
worldwide, showcasing how wide spread the sport is today
(Bravo).
References
• Bravo, Eddie. “10th Planet Jiu Jitsu.” 10th Planet Jiu Jitsu,
www.10thplanetjj.com/.
• Evolve MMA. “The Most Common Submissions In MMA - Evolve Daily.” Evolve
MMA Singapore, 19 Mar. 2018, evolve-mma.com/blog/the-most-common-
submissions-in-mma/.
• Killam, Mike. “WATCH: Becky Lynch Gets The Upper Hand On Charlotte Flair
Heading Into WWE Fastlane.” ProWrestling.com, ProWrestling.com, 6 Mar.
2019, www.prowrestling.com/watch-becky-lynch-gets-the-upper-hand-on-
charlotte-flair-heading-into-wwe-fastlane/.
• “The History of Jiu-Jitsu.” Graciemag, www.graciemag.com/en/the-saga-of-jiu-
jitsu/.
• “Vulkan Flames Long Sleeve Rashguard.” Walmart.com,
www.walmart.com/ip/Vulkan-FLAMES-Long-Sleeve-Jiu-Jitsu-Rashguard-MMA-
Nogi-Rash-guard-30-Day-Comfort-Guarantee-FREE-Submission-Position-Videos-
IBJJF-Approved/822309232.