History of Jiu-Jitsu in Brazil – Part III

The Gracies are the first family of Brazilian jiu-jitsu. However, their jiu-jitsu evolved out of Japanese judo, which in turn evolved from jujutsu. Part three of this three-part post will focus on the Japanese influences on the Gracie family, as well as how the first generation of Gracies developed their own unique brand of martial arts. For a companion video to all three parts, see the one below.

Mitsuyo Maeda and the Gracie Family

Mitsuyo Maeda had been in Brazil since 1914. Prior to arriving in South America, he’d trained in the Kodokan for a decade and had traveled the world showing off his system of self-defense for another decade. He was a very experienced fighter by the time he arrived in Brazil, and he was not afraid to show that off. Though the Kodokan looked down on prize fighting, he would regularly accept challenges from fighters of other styles.

In 1916, Maeda traveled to Belem and was introduced to a Scottish-Brazilian entertainment entrepreneur named Gastão Gracie. Gracie recognized that Maeda and other fighters drew in big crowds with their demonstrations of Japanese martial arts and challenge matches. Gracie’s sons were also fascinated by Maeda’s technique, and Gastão’s eldest, Carlos, began training under Maeda.

What’s important to note about Maeda is that he kept his distance from the traditions of the Kodokan. As a result, Maeda employed what was a more generic term for his martial art, jujutsu (later modified to jiu-jitsu), instead of judo. Moreover, he did not intend to bring judo to the Amazon, as shown by the fact that he did not elevate any of his students to the rank of black belt.

Carlos Gracie in Rio

Carlos moved to Rio de Janeiro in 1920 and refined the techniques that he learned from Maeda over several years of prizefighting and vale tudo matches where no holds were prohibited (i.e., no holds barred). Throughout that time, his style of self-defense centered on grappling, joint locks, and strangle holds. The proper execution of throws and strategizing for points, which are central in sport judo, were deemed not important.

While Carlos had some success as a fighter, he did not immediately find a lot of people who were interested in learning what he started calling jiu-jitsu. Instead, he held a job at the local water and power company. During this time, he would practice in the office, and he trained primarily with his brothers: Oswaldo, Gastão, George, and Hélio.

In the late 1920s, Carlos ran into Donato Pires Dos Reis, a family acquaintance. Like Carlos, Pires had also been one of Maeda’s students while in the city of Belem, and he had recently been hired to teach martial arts to officers in the Municipal Guard. He invited Carlos to help.

It was at this same time that Carlos’ career in prizefighting began to seriously take off. His first two major matches were against Japanese immigrant Geo Omori, a Kodokan black belt and catch wrestler. Both matches ended in a draw.

Omori and Carlos eventually became good friends, and Omori was instrumental in helping Carlos refine his jiu-jitsu. However, the fights with Omori also made Carlos a local celebrity. Jiu-jitsu became somewhat famous too, and Pires financed the opening of a jiu-jitsu school in 1930. He hired Carlos to be the head instructor. Carlos’ brother, George, was hired as assistant instructor.

The endeavor did not last long. Pires and Carlos quickly had a falling out and Carlos took over the school in 1931. He then changed its name to Gracie Academy of Jiu-Jitsu.

The Development of the Gracie Style

The Gracie Academy of Jiu-Jitsu is where Carlos and his brothers began training full time. They did not participate simply in prize fights—they were typically fighting to demonstrate the superiority of the Gracie style. As Brazil has one of the largest populations of Japanese people outside of Japan, many of their opponents were recent Japanese immigrants who had trained at the Kodokan.

Fighting against the Kodokan fighters repeatedly forced the Gracies to evolve their style to center on the guard. The Japanese judo fighters would repeatedly throw the Gracies to the ground. Rather than become stronger at throws, they eventually learned how to make the most of being on the ground. It was initially a defensive strategy, but over many years they developed a way to employ chokes and locks from the bottom position that would catch their opponents by surprise. This is what makes jiu-jitsu so effective and so unique. It also represents a major departure from traditional judo.

Jiu-Jitsu Continues to Evolve

Jiu-jitsu eventually evolved from a technique to survive and win vale tudo matches into a highly regulated sport. While it has elevated the martial art in certain respects, it has also defanged it in a way and moved away from its roots in self-defense. Many generations have only learned sport jiu-jitsu. It is not that this is a bad thing, because people can likely still defend themselves, but it is simply a change from where jiu-jitsu began.

Recently, this has begun to change. A lot of gyms are returning to the roots of jiu-jitsu and focusing more on self-defense rather than how to score points in a tournament.