History of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu

Literally translated, Jiu-Jitsu means “gentle art.”  It is believed to have originated in India over 2000 years ago where it spread into China, and eventually Japan. It was here that Japanese samurai adopted the martial art as their form of empty-hand combat.  In the early 1900’s, a master of Japanese Jiu-Jitsu, Mitsuyo Maeda, moved to Brazil and was taken in by Gastao Gracie.

As token of his appreciation, Maeda passed on the art to Gastao’s eldest son, Carlos. From there, Carlos taught his brothers, including Helio, the youngest and weakest.  In order to compensate for his stature, Helio refined and restructured the techniques to utilize leverage and skill to overcome much larger and stronger opponents.  His development of this new technique revolutionized the martial arts world. Now Gracie Jiu-Jitsu is studied and taught all over the world.