The Origin of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu

The Origin and History of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu

The origin of jujitsu can be traced back to around 2000 BC. Nowadays, many fighting techniques used in Jiu Jitsu can be found in traditional fighting techniques in China, Indian, Greek, Egyptian and Mesopotamia. In fact, there are hundreds of murals in the famous Egyptian pyramid of khufu. The martial arts techniques depicted in it are exactly the same as those of modern Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Some scholars speculate that martial arts spread from India and China in Asia and were brought around the world by monks and soldiers. To be sure, these fighting techniques finally settled in Japan and became the fighting techniques used by samurai on the battlefield.

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu originated from Jiu Jitsu developed by Japanese samurai. Japanese jujitsu has many fighting skills, including hitting, throwing, joint skills and strangulation skills. "Jiu Jitsu"-Jiu Jitsu means "the method of softness", which is applicable to all martial arts systems in Japan, and "softness" means flexibility. Jiu Jitsu is characterized by making full use of the lever principle, rather than confronting and comparing with opponents. Jiu Jitsu practitioners will choose to use skills to make their opponents yield or exhaust their physical strength, and finally subdue their opponents. However, in ancient times, jujitsu was regarded as a secondary martial art. Because most samurai use swords first and take fencing as the most important martial art, Japanese jujitsu has formed a variety of fighting systems, each of which embodies some of the most primitive techniques and strategies. Give two examples: judo, focusing on throwing, karate, focusing on kicking.

Former Jiu Jitsu Master Tian Hong (1880- 194 1) introduced the rules of ground fighting to Brazil. Maeda is an expert in Japanese Jiu Jitsu and Judo Gymnasium. Maeda is very good at fighting and likes to participate in various competitions to test his skills. He often participates in all-contact fighting competitions. Maeda is a small man, 5 feet 5 inches tall and weighs 154 pounds. Nevertheless, his skill is superb, and it is said that he only lost once in his life. 19 14 entrusted by the Japanese government, Maeda came to Brazil to help Japanese immigrants set up resettlement sites. At this time, he got the help of casto Gracie, a successful businessman with a strong political background. Maeda and the Scottish immigrant became good friends. So Maeda passed on his JIU Jiu Jitsu knowledge to Gracie's sons.

Carlos Gracie (1902-94), then 17 years old, was the eldest son of casto and had been trained by Maeda. According to historical records, Carlos studied with Maeda for a limited time, maybe only two to four years. It seems impossible to become a jujitsu master in such a short time. So what did Carlos learn from Maeda?

Maeda taught the two brothers Gray the basic techniques of Jiu Jitsu, the general strategies that the captors should master and the methods to win and control the fighting from historical records. These strategies are Maeda's own practical experience in unrestricted fighting. In addition, Gracie also adopted Maeda's training method (free fighting training) and the philosophical thought of using real fighting as the verification of technical practicability. Carlos also taught Jiu Jitsu to his brothers: osvaldo, casto, Joao, Yuge and Helio. 1925, Gracie established Gracie School in Rio de Janeiro. Finally, Gracie developed a lot of technical knowledge of Jiu Jitsu and its application strategies in actual combat. Maeda continued to travel in Brazil and around the world, while young Gracis studied the details of technology. Maeda should find it hard to think that Gracie will come out of the shadows and become the greatest fighting myth in modern times.

Carlos' brother helio gracie (1908 till now) is the youngest of the brothers. When he was a child, he was thin and often dizzy, and the doctor didn't allow him to do strenuous exercise. When Helio 14 years old, Carlos became his guardian. Carlos has been practicing Jiu Jitsu for some time. He teaches Jiu Jitsu with his brothers. Although Helio can't practice with his brothers, he often watches them practice jujitsu. One day, Carlos failed to train a trainee alone, and Helio volunteered to replace his brother. Because of his small size, Helio uses technology to make up for his lack of strength. The students were impressed by Helio's skills and asked him to teach him formally. With the training, Helio's physical fitness has gradually improved.

Helio found that when he met a bigger and stronger opponent, many of his techniques were difficult to apply, and many of them were not practical in real combat. Helio improved these techniques to make full use of the lever principle in every movement. By using less effort and more levers, the practicality of Jiu Jitsu is greatly increased. New technologies are constantly added, and technologies that are not practical or perfect in actual combat are completely abandoned. Maeda taught Gracie some offensive techniques, and Helio added a defensive side to Jiu Jitsu because of his own physical factors. Helio has made great contributions to Jiu Jitsu, forming a set of martial arts strategies and techniques to deal with bigger and stronger opponents. Helio became the best player among the brothers, the "family champion". He is a reformer and instructor of new technologies and strategies, and promoted the evolution from "Japanese ancient jujitsu" to "Brazilian jujitsu", namely "Gracie jujitsu".

Helio has also participated in many world professional competitions. He has challenged Japanese judo and jujitsu players, professional wrestlers, boxers and road fighting experts. He was the first contortionist to beat Japanese contortionist Takagi in the western world. 1932 this competition is his first time to participate in a jujitsu competition, and it is also his first time to participate in a jujitsu suit. Elliot asked Longwood to put on a defensive style. After the bell rang for a few seconds, Longwood clapped his hands to show his approval. Elliot also played the longest game in modern times. He played against his former student Vadema Santana for 3 hours and 45 minutes without a break. He also challenged boxing champions Primer Canala and Richard Charles, world champion John Lewis and later boxing champion Ali, but they all refused to participate. Later, many Gracie Jiu Jitsu masters appeared, such as Jason, Rickson, Royer, Royce, Lanzo and so on.

Gracie found that if he pulled his opponent to the ground, his main weapons-fists and legs-would be greatly weakened. This advanced fighting strategy has made Brazilian jujitsu fighters achieve great success in countless unrestricted fighting competitions, and made their fighting system accepted by the world. Gracis tried to find a way to solve all martial arts, that is, to create a fighting system that is effective for any opponent and make all trainers get the same effect. There are many factors that make Gracie improve her jujitsu quickly. The first factor is its purely familial nature. The Gracie Family consists of many family members, students and students' family members. From Carlos to Aleo, many children and grandchildren, all members are practicing Jiu Jitsu, developing Jiu Jitsu and taking Jiu Jitsu as their profession. In the school, there are thousands of trainers who can participate in the improvement of Jiu Jitsu and exchange ideas. Brothers, uncles, sons, grandchildren and students all participated in the development of Jiu Jitsu and passed on their fighting skills from generation to generation. The Gracie Family, like a large research institution, has made a thorough study of unarmed combat technology. Another advantage is that almost all Gracie are small and weak. Usually this is considered as a disadvantage in the battle, but it forces Gracie to give full play to her skills. Generally speaking, in fighting, Gracias is always thinner than his opponent, so they let themselves rely entirely on technical advantages rather than strength to win. Gracie is constantly improving her jujitsu skills, making full use of the lever principle and avoiding strength, so as to win the final victory. Another point is that Gracie Jiu Jitsu was developed by Gracie, and its martial arts system has no formal restrictions. Family members have great freedom to modify, without consulting their tutors or grandfathers. If a technology is not practical in actual combat, it will be modified or even abandoned. Practicality is the only criterion to test Gracie Jiu Jitsu, not tradition. All technologies must be tested in actual combat, and theories and guesses cannot be used to guide the use of technologies. Practicality is the most important thing, and no morality, society and ideology affect their research and exploration of Jiu Jitsu. Gracis firmly believes that practicality in actual combat is the only criterion to test the quality of a martial art.

Generally speaking, it is very common to admire tradition in martial arts. The modification of original technology is despised by many people because it will offend the authority and the master's purpose. Obviously, it is unhealthy to cling too much to authority and past ideology, while absolute belief in ancient thoughts and past masters is only because they are ancients. Unlike many traditional martial arts, jujitsu practitioners are always developing new techniques and perfecting old ones. It is believed that only the masters of past dynasties can master the true biography, which will only inhibit creativity and hinder the development of Wushu. If we keep this idea in other social sciences, we will still stay in the stage of lighting the road with torches and bleeding to cure diseases. The pioneers of Wushu, like doctors and scientists, should constantly improve and perfect their own techniques and training methods to make them more practical and effective.

After a lifetime of fighting, helio gracie still teaches Jiu Jitsu in Brazil. Although he is over 90 years old, he still takes spreading Jiu Jitsu as his way of life. He has courage and determination, and is a respected Brazilian national hero. He is regarded as the founder of Gracie Jiu Jitsu. Now, the whole world calls it "Brazilian Jiu Jitsu".