Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu

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Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, is a variation of Judo that was created by Helio Gracie in the early 1930s adapted from Mitsuyo Maeda, a black belt in Kodokan Judo, or what was known at the time as Kano Ryi Jiujitsu. Maeda was a student of many styles of Japanese jiujitsu but preferred groundwork more than standup fighting.  Helio Gracie himself was born in the Brazilian city of Belem on October 1, 1913. When Helio was just a year old, his older brother, Carlos Gracie, became a Judo student under Maeda. This is the birth of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.  Carlos was known to get into fights at school, so his father thought that this could be a good way to release his aggression in a more constructive manner.

Helio, meanwhile, was a fairly frail child, who was known to have fainting spells come on from just running up a flight of stairs. By the time he was 14 years old, he had moved to Rio de Janeiro to live with his brothers, Carlos and Jorge. Even though he wanted to learn Judo himself, his doctors had told him that he should only watch his brothers. By now, Carlos was teaching Kano Judo with an emphasis on groundwork called “newaza”, which was still called Jiu-Jitsu in Brazil until the 1950s,  to others in the city from the original Gracie Academy.

He watched his older brothers quite carefully, and this would pay off at the age of 16, when Mario Brandt, a director of the Bank of Brazil, came in for a private lesson. Carlos was running late, so Helio decided to teach the class himself. When Carlos finally arrived, Brandt said that he’d much rather continue learning from Helio.

Helio soon realized, however, that his relatively weak physical build didn’t allow him to use some of the techniques that traditional Judo required. Using his knowledge of Judo vs Jiu Jitsu, and American “catch wrestling”, he began to develop a form of martial arts more based on judo newaza, or ground fighting, techniques. This allowed a smaller, weaker opponent to be able to take down a larger opponent. He emphasized timing and leverage over speed and brute force. He had used these techniques to develop Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu alongside his brothers.