s t asked:
did gracie invent bjj? was helio the first to invent the “ranges” of combat and chokes/armlock on ground? I would think ancient greeks did stuff like that first,,so why do they call it brazilian?
did gracie invent bjj? was helio the first to invent the “ranges” of combat and chokes/armlock on ground? I would think ancient greeks did stuff like that first,,so why do they call it brazilian?
#1 by Muay Thai Swede - December 23rd, 2008 at 12:44
When Maeda left Japan, Judo was still often referred to as “Kano Jiu-Jitsu”, or, even more generically, simply as “Jiu-Jitsu.
Kigashi, the co-author of “Kano Jiu-Jitsu wrote in the foreword
“Some confusion has arisen over the employment of the term ‘jiudo’. To make the matter clear I will state that jiudo is the term selected by Professor Kano as describing his system more accurately than jiu-jitsu does. Professor Kano is one of the leading educators of Japan, and it is natural that he should cast about for the technical word that would most accurately describe his system. But the Japanese people generally still cling to the more popular nomenclature and call it jiu-jitsu.
Outside Japan, however, this distinction was noted even less. The distinction between a jutsu and a do is subtle, and is still used somewhat arbitrarily to this day.
Thus, when Maeda and Satake arrived in Brazil in 1914, every newspaper announced jiu-jitsu despite both men being Kodokan Judoka.
The Japanese government itself did not officially mandate until 1925 that the correct name for the martial art taught in the Japanese public schools should be “judo” rather than “jujutsu”. In Brazil, the art is still called “Jiu-Jitsu”. When the Gracies went to the United States to spread their art, the system became known as “Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu” and “Gracie Jiu-Jitsu.”
“Jiu-Jitsu” is an older romanization that was the original spelling of the art in the West, and it is still in common use, whereas the modern Hepburn romanization is “j?jutsu.” Other common spellings are Jujitsu, Ju-Jitsu, and Ju jitsu.
The art is sometimes referred to as Gracie Jiu-Jitsu (GJJ), but this name is trademarked by Rorion Gracie and specifically refers to the style taught by him and his selected teachers. Other members of the Gracie family often call their style by personalized names, such as Charles Gracie Jiu-Jitsu or Renzo Gracie Jiu-Jitsu, and similarly, the Machado brothers call their style Machado Jiu-Jitsu (MJJ). While each style and its instructors have their own unique aspects, they are all basic variations of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.
Today there are four major branches of Jiu-Jitsu from Brazil. Gracie Humaita, Gracie Barra, Alliance Jiu-Jitsu, and Carlson Gracie Jiu-Jitsu. Each branch can trace its roots back to Hélio Gracie, and Mitsuyo Maeda.
#2 by nwohioguy - December 25th, 2008 at 01:34
Maybe because they are from Brazil and Helio was well known for fighting and defeating all sorts of people there? Not really sure but I don’t think they invented it, just renamed it and definitely improved it…but then again isn’t that what all instructors aim to do? Improve their art?
#3 by Lycann - December 25th, 2008 at 11:30
The long answer is great if you have some of the other details left out. BJJ developed from judo (sometimes referred to as jiu-jitsu if you read the long post).
While Gracie did not develop an entire style, he did modify judo into what we know as BJJ and taught this style.
#4 by pugpaws2 - December 25th, 2008 at 18:18
The ranges of combat (four ranges…..kicking range, punching range, trapping range, grappling range) were in the style I study way before I began training in 1967. The gracies did not come up with it they just make use of it. As for them inventing BJJ, I can’t say. It depends a lot on what you consider inventing. They don’t do any technique that was not already around before their time.
#5 by callsignfuzzy - December 26th, 2008 at 12:50
The Gracies invented BJJ, which is derived from the Judo they learned from a Japanese immigrant, which is itself derived from classic Japanese Jujitsu. They didn’t “invent” any ranges; ranges have always existed. They didn’t “invent” ground fighting. Not all ground fighting is BJJ. Ground fighting exists in Judo, classic Jujitsu, freestyle wrestling, catch wrestling, Greco-Roman wrestling, Taijutsu, various Silat systems, Aikido (to a degree), and so on. What they did was popularize ground fighting with submissions, and the idea that certain ground positions were more advantagious than others.
#6 by A L - December 28th, 2008 at 01:19
kindof yes
there have been underworks type organization teaching ”forgoten brizilian jiu jitsu and capiora” but none came before gracies learned judo
what we call bjj is gracie jj
uit was nothing new as far as techniques except that they specialized of their backs
#7 by SMITIMB - December 29th, 2008 at 04:55
Pankration is the ancient olympic style of no holds barred fighting. It definitely existed before any other unarmed sport fighting that I have ever heard of. It was referred to as “the heavy games” because they did not have weight divisions, so larger competitors tended to dominate the game.
From a sport aspect, after Helio Gracie popularized his twist on Japanese JuJitsu and Judo, people began referring to it as Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Carlson Gracie was the one who really took and put the sport of BJJ with modern competition rules on the grid.
So in effect, the Gracie’s did event the sport of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, but they did not invent that style of grappling and fighting.
#8 by Zenlife - December 31st, 2008 at 05:26
Muay Thai Swede and pugpaws2 answers sum it up for me.
Also check out this link…
Best wishes.
#9 by Fitness T - January 1st, 2009 at 22:58
You might consider giving the first poster the “best answer” IF you can figure out what he is saying. By now, I think most of us are confused after the first answer since you were just asking a simple question.
Therefore, I would give the best answer to #3 poster. Yes, Gracie modified the Japanese JJ to BJJ.