Where did Brazilian Jiu Jitsu come from:

Depending on how deeply one digs linkages can be found back to Japan, China, India and even ancient Greece. For our purposes it is enough to say that BJJ has it’s roots in Japanese Jiu-Jitsu where it was practiced at least as far back as the 1500’s. In the 1800’s a Jiu Jitsu practiconer by the name of Jigoro Kano developed the art of Judo. Judo drew techniques from many different schools of Jiu-Jitsu and incorporated the idea of Randori (free sparring). The free sparring practice helped the Judoka develop and test their abilities in a realistic though controlled environment. This allowed Judo to generally out perform when tested against traditional schools of Jiu-Jitsu.. After triumphing in a contest held at Tokyo Police headquaters Judo was accepted as the national martial art of Japan.

Jiu Jitsu (in the form of Judo) was brought to Brazil by Esai Maeda in 1915. Maeda had been praticing Judo for almost twenty years. As a direct student of Kano, he traveled the world for many years demonstrating and teaching Judo. He settled in Brazil to help establish a Japanese colony in Sao Paolo City. A politician by the name of Gastao Gracie assited Maeda in his efforts. In exchange, Maeda taught the basics of Jiu Jitsu to Carlos Gracie who then taught his brothers including Helio Gracie.

The Gracies kept the best of Judo while stripping away many of the rules that had become attached to it. They refined their techniques and opened their first school in 1925 teaching what eventually became known as Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. The Gracies issued a standing challenge to any fighter to test them in a vale tudo, or no rules fight. They would analyze these competitions actively improving their techniques and developing new ones based on what they encountered. The Gracies evolved their art from a sport back into a street effective self defense and modern martial art.

In later years the art fractured and there are now many styles practiced under a variety of family names. All owe their inspiration to those intense early years of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and to the Gracies themselves.... "I think that everyone today that knows Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu learned it, directly or indirectly, from a member of the Gracie family. I think everyone should be grateful to them for that." - JJ Machado