The Beginning
"Where did it all begin?"
I
don't think anyone can answer this question with certainty, but there
are plenty of good hypotheses. Every culture has some form of hand to
hand combat in its history. Combat without weapons usually appears in
the form of wrestling and sometimes boxing. Looking at the history
timeline, one good hypothesis is that the wrestling techniques of
Jiu-Jitsu could very well have come from Ancient Greece. Olympic games
were one of the Greek's strongest traditions. It is most likely that
along with Greek ideas, came one of its most popular sports,
Pankration. Pankration was a sport that involved both boxing and
wrestling techniques and became more popular to the Greeks than either
of those sports individually. Pankration would later be overshadowed
by the Roman Gladiators, and then banned from the Olympics by Christian
leaders of the Roman Empire. Even though new rulers would come and
go, Greek customs and ideas still reached India, where Jiu-Jitsu's
foundation was likely to have been born. During Alexander the Great's
conquests (356 - 323 B.C.), he brought the Greek culture to the areas
he conquered. His conquests stretched all the way to India, where he
introduced the customs and ideals of Greek culture to the people of
that area. Jiu-Jitsu wasn't being formally taught in Japan for over
one thousand years after this. Many say that the Greek influence in
India led to the development of Kung Fu or more appropriately, Wu Shu
(martial arts) in China.
The Chinese have a great deal of stories
to support the history of their martial arts. The general idea
embraced by most historians is that systemized martial arts techniques
came from India along with Buddhism (Bodhi Dharma). The concept here
is that the Shaolin temple was built in the center of China and this is
where Bodhi Dharma introduced Buddhism and Boxing (senzuikyo).
(ref. Aikido and Chinese Martial Arts, Sugawara and Xing)
The story that supports the idea of Jiu-Jitsu coming from China takes
place around the time of the fall of the Ming Dynasty. It states that a
man named Chingempin came from Japan to live in Tokyo at a Buddhist
temple where he met three Ronin (masterless Samurai) named Fukuno,
Isogai, and Miura. Chingempin told the Ronin of a grappling art he had
seen in China. The Ronin became particularly interested in pursuing
the study of this art, so he then began teaching in Japan, and this art
became Jiu-Jitsu.
Excerpted from
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, The Master Text by Gene Simco. For the complete history,
buy the book!
The next theory is that there was many forms of wrestling that had
developed in China. One of the most notable is Horn Wrestling, called
Jiaodixi. This form of wrestling was practiced by the Mongolians and
later evolved into Jiaoli, which was wrestling without the horns. This
form of wrestling can be seen in Native American cultures (evident in
the typical Native American Buffalo head wear) and most likely arrived
there by way of Mongolians migrating through now modern Alaska. Jiaoli
evolved and became Xiangpu and it is said that this form of wrestling
became Sumo in Japan. Another theory says that there were
practitioners of Chikura Karube, a wrestling sport developed around 200
B.C. It is said that Chikura Karube later became Jiu-Jitsu in Japan.
The
last story mentioned here is that Jiu-Jitsu is Japanese and from
Japan. This story follows the same basic idea but differs in that
Chingempin introduced an early form of Jiu-Jitsu (not yet called
Jiu-Jitsu) called Kempo in Japan, which consisted mostly of strikes and
very little grappling. From there, the Japanese developed it into a
more effective grappling art. One thing is certain about these
stories, and that is that the Japanese were responsible for refining a
grappling art into a very sophisticated grappling system called
Jiu-Jitsu.
Tracing the history of grappling techniques for this
book was quite interesting. In doing so, I decided to look for some
common threads between the stories, which are:
- All ancient cultures had some form of grappling and unarmed fighting techniques.
- The
Greek culture gave its fighters the greatest financial and social
rewards. The ancient Greeks conquered quite a bit of territory during
the time of Alexander the Great, including the area that Jiu-Jitsu's
techniques were said to have come from.
- Wrestling did exist in
China and Mongolia before Jiu-Jitsu did in Japan, and it is interesting
to note that this is where Native American wrestling most likely came
from by way of migration over the Alaskan Ice Bridge.
- The
pinning and throwing techniques of Jiu-Jitsu are very similar to, and
in some cases, the same as those of Greco Roman Wrestling.
Development of Jiu-Jitsu
Jiu-Jitsu
itself was developed in Japan during the Feudal period. It was
originally an art designed for warfare, but after the abolition of the
Feudal system in Japan, certain modifications needed to be made to the
art in order to make it suitable for practice. During Feudal times,
Jiu-Jitsu was also known as Yawara, Hakuda, Kogusoko, and an assortment
of other names. The earliest recorded use of the word "jiu-jitsu"
happens in 1532 and is coined by the Takenouchi Ryu (school). The
history of the art during this time is uncertain because teachers kept
everything secret to give their art a feeling of importance and then
would change the stories of their art to suit their own needs.
After
the Feudal period in Japan ended (Jiu-jitsu was no longer needed on
the battlefield), a way to practice the art realistically was needed,
which is why Jigoro Kano (1860--1938), a practitioner of Jiu-Jitsu,
developed his own system of Jiu-Jitsu in the late 1800's, called Judo.
Judo was helpful because it allowed practitioners the ability to try
the art safely and realistically at the same time. The most important
contribution Judo made to the practice of "Jiu-jitsu" was the concept
of Rondori. Rondori was a form of sparing and contained a set of
sportive rules that made practice safe, yet realistic. Because of the
sportive outlet (rules that made practice safe), students of Jiu-jitsu
from Kano's school were able to practice more frequently due to the
fact that they were not always recovering from injuries. This
multiplies the amount of training time for student's of Kano's school
and drastically increased their abilities. Judo (Kano's version of
Jiu-jitsu) was watered down from the complete form (of Jiu-jitsu), but
still contained enough techniques to preserve its realistic
effectiveness. The one problem that occurred was, in Kano's opinion,
ground work was not as important as achieving the throw or take down,
therefore ground fighting was not emphasized in Judo and became weak in
that system. Judo also began placing too many rules and regulations
on the art to make it more acceptable as an Olympic sport. Leg locks
were not allowed, and when a fight went to the ground, a player had
only 25 seconds to escape a hold or pin before the match was lost.
These are a few of the rules that hindered Judo as a realistic form of
self-defense. Then why did Judo flourish and why was it so great? Even
with all the rules and restrictions, the time-tested principle of
"pure grappler beats pure striker," still holds true. The fact remains
that most fights, even those fights occurring between strikers with no
grappling experience, end up in a clinch. You see the clinch in just
about every boxing match, and hundreds of punches usually need to be
thrown to end the fight with a strike, which gives the grappler plenty
of opportunity to take his/her opponent to the ground, where a pure
striker has no experience and is at the grappler's mercy.
After a
match-up between older styles of Jiu-jitsu and Judo at the Tokyo
police headquarters, Judo was named the national martial art in Japan.
It was the official art used by law enforcement in the late 1800's, and
continues to be popular to this day. During World War II, many U.S.
soldiers were exposed to the art of Judo and brought it back to America
with them. The first issue of Black Belt magazine here in America
(1961), featured a sketch of a Judo throw and was a special Judo issue.
It
wasn't until the birth of martial arts in Hollywood that the mystique
of martial arts myths were catapulted to the public eye on a large
scale. Here in the U.S. especially, Bruce Lee was one of the greatest
catalysts for martial arts in the world today. Bruce Lee was actually
a student of Judo and did many studies on grappling while he was
alive. He criticized traditional martial arts as being ineffective,
but ironically spread more myths about martial arts through his movies
than almost anyone in martial arts history.
Jigoro Kano was the
founder of Judo, however, Judo is simply a style of Jiu-jitsu and not a
separate martial art. Kano was not the first to use the name Judo,
the Jiu-jitsu schools he studied at, which would be the source of much
of his Judo's techniques had used the phrase before he made it famous
in the late 1800's.
The first use of the name Judo was by Seijun
Inoue IV, who applied it to his Jujitsu of Jikishin-ryu. Students of
Jikishin-ryu Judo were not only expected to master its ninety-seven
techniques, but to also develop into generous and gentle-mannered
individuals.
Kuninori Suzuki V, the Master of Kito-ryu (Kito means
to Rise and Fall) Jiu-jitsu, changed the name of Kito-kumiuchi to
Kito-ryu Judo in 1714. The most important contribution that kito ryu
would offer Judo was the principle of kuzushi (off-balancing), which is
the key to the throwing techniques of modern Judo. Jigoro Kano
studied the judo of Jikishin-ryu and Kito-ryu, and incorporated some of
their concepts into his original system, which he named Kodokan Judo.
Judo
is made up of many styles of Jiu-jitsu whose masters Kano had studied
with. The most notable were Jikishin-ryu, Kito-ryu, and later Fusen-ryu
would be incorporated for its groundwork (ne waza) as Kano would ask
the style's head master, Mataemon Tanabe for his syllabus. Yokiashi
Yamashita (Kano's Chief assistant) would add his knowledge of Yoshin
Ryu ju jitsu and Tenshin shinyo Ryu ju jitsu, both of which, he was a
master.
In 1912, Kano met with the remaining leader masters of Jiu
Jitsu to finalize a Kodokan syllabus of training and kata. Aoyagi of
Sosusihis Ryu, Takano, Yano, Kotaro Imei and Hikasuburo Ohshima from
Takeuisi Ryu. Jushin Sekiguchi and Mogichi Tsumizu from Sekiguchi Ryu,
Eguchi from Kyushin Ryu, Hoshino from Shiten Ryu, Inazu from Miura Ryu
and finally, Takamatsu, a Kukkishin Ryu master, whose school
specialized in weapons training.
Before the formal meeting
between Kano and the grandmasters of Japan's greatest Jiu-jitsu
schools, a defining event occurred, which is one of the most
historically important pieces of the Brazilian Jiu-jitsu puzzle. By
1900, the Kodokan had been challenging other Jiu-Jitsu schools in sport
competition and winning with throwing (standing) techniques. Much of
the Kodokan's status was built on the throwing skills of Shiro Saigo, a
practitioner of Oshikiuchi, the art of Daito Ryu Aikijujutsu. Jigoro
Kano had actually enlisted the help of Shiro Saigo in order to win a
famous tournament at the Tokyo police headquarters in 1886. This
tournament, mentioned briefly earlier in this chapter, was Judo (Kano's
style of Jujitsu) vs. "old" Jujitsu. It is interesting to note that
Kano's champion was not originally a Judo student at all, but a student
of an older Jujitsu style, which in reality, defeated the purpose of
having a Judo vs. Jujitsu tournament in the first place.
As I
stated earlier, Judo was a collection of Jiu-jitsu styles, once such
style was the Fusen Ryu. Fusen was a school of Jiu-jitsu which
specialized in Ground Work (Ne Waza). In 1900, the Kodokan challenged
the Fusen Ryu school to a contest. At that time Judo did not have Ne
Waza (ground fighting techniques), so instead they fought standing up,
as Kano had been taught in both the Tenshin Shinyo Ryu and Kito Ryu
systems he studied. Both Kito Ryu and Tenshin Shinyo Ryu had excellent
striking skills and effective throws.
When Kodokan Judo
practitioners fought the practitioners of Fusen Ryu Jiu-Jitsu, the
Kodokan practitioners realized that there was no way they could defeat
the Kodokan Judoka standing, thus they decided to use their superior
ground fighting skills. When the Kodokan fighters and the Fusen Ryu
men began to fight, the Jiu-Jitsu practitioners immediately went to the
guard position ( lying on their backs in front of their opponents in
order to control them with the use of their legs). The Kodokan Judoka
didn't know what to do, and then the Fusen Ryu practitioners took them
to the ground, using submission holds to win the matches. This was the
first real loss that the Kodokan had experienced in eight years.
Kano
knew that if they were going to continue challenging other Jiu-Jitsu
schools, they needed a full range of ground fighting techniques. Thus
with friends of other Jiu-Jitsu systems, among them being Fusen Ryu
practitioners, Kano formulated the Ne Waza (ground techniques) of
Kodokan Judo which included three divisions: Katame Waza (joint locking
techniques), Shime Waza (choking techniques), and Osae Waza (holding
techniques). This all occurs shortly before Judo arrives in Brazil, and
serves as an excellent suggestion as to why Brazilian Jiu-jitsu
contains a higher percentage of techniques on the ground than most
styles of Jiu-jitsu or Judo. Thus, we find ourselves faced with the
impending development of Jiu-Jitsu in Brazil.
Jiu-Jitsu in Brazil
Eventually,
in Japan many different variations of the art (Jiu-Jitsu) took shape,
including Karate, Aikido, and Judo. But these arts were missing
essential pieces of what the complete art of Jiu-Jitsu originally held.
Soon the day of the Samurai came to an end, the gun replaced the
sword, and new sportive ways to practice martial arts were developed.
This lack of reality created years of confusion in the martial arts
community, a confusion that legendary Bruce Lee would later refer to as
the 'classical mess'. The 'sport arts', such as Judo and Kendo were
wonderful in the way of offering their practitioners a safe way to
realistically train the techniques of their system, but often limited
their practitioners with too many rules to maintain effectiveness as a
combative style. The more traditional combat schools were simply
practicing techniques no longer suitable for modern day combat, and
with no way to safely test them, practicing these arts became like
swimming without water. It wasn't until the sport art of Judo and the
combat art of Jiu-Jitsu were introduced to the Gracie family in Brazil
that the real art of Jiu-Jitsu would be brought to life again.
Japanese Jiu-Jitsu (practiced as Judo) was introduced to the Gracie
family in Brazil (@ 1915) by Esai Maeda, who is also known as Conde
Koma. This name came about when Maeda was in Spain (1908). While in
Spain, Maeda, having some financial troubles, used the Japanese verb
"komaru", meaning to be in trouble, to describe himself. Maeda decided
this didn't sound right, so he dropped the last syllable and changed
it to "koma." The word "conde" comes from the Spanish language, meaning
"Count." Later in his life, Maeda would be given the Brazilian title
of "Conte Comte," or Count Combat.
Maeda was a champion of Judo
and a direct student of its founder, Jigoro Kano, at the Kodokan in
Japan. He was born in 1878, and became a student of Judo in 1897. In
1904 Maeda was given the opportunity to travel to the United States
with one of his teachers, Tsunejiro Tomita. While in the U.S. they
demonstrated the art of Judo for Theodore Roosevelt at the White House,
and for cadets at the West Point Military Academy. This is an exert
from Roosevelt's letters to his children on wrestling and Jiu-jitsu
(note the spelling is Jiu-jitsu, not Jujutsu due to the fact that it is
before 1950):
White House, Feb. 24, 1905.
Darling Kermit:
"...
I still box with Grant, who has now become the champion middleweight
wrestler of the United States. Yesterday afternoon we had Professor
Yamashita (Yamashita was Roosevelt's Jiu-jitsu instructor before Meada
and Tomita had arrived there in the U.S.) up here to wrestle with
Grant. It was very interesting, but of course jiu jitsu and our
wrestling are so far apart that it is difficult to make any comparison
between them. Wrestling is simply a sport with rules almost as
conventional as those of tennis, while jiu jitsu is really meant for
practice in killing or disabling our adversary. In consequence, Grant
did not know what to do except to put Yamashita on his back, and
Yamashita was perfectly content to be on his back. Inside of a minute
Yamashita had choked Grant, and inside of two minutes more he got an
elbow hold on him that would have enabled him to break his arm; so that
there is no question but that he could have put Grant out. So far
this made it evident that the jiu jitsu man could handle the ordinary
wrestler. But Grant, in the actual wrestling and throwing was about as
good as the Japanese, and he was so much stronger that he evidently
hurt and wore out the Japanese. With a little practice in the art I am
sure that one of our big wrestlers or boxers, simply because of his
greatly superior strength, would be able to kill any of those Japanese,
who though very good men for their inches and pounds are altogether
too small to hold their own against big, powerful, quick men who are as
well trained."
Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919)
(Theodore Roosevelt's Letters to His Children. 1919. NEW YORK: CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS, 1919 NEW YORK: BARTLEBY.COM, 1999)
Maeda
eventually parted ways with Tomita, and settled in Brazil. Maeda was
staying in Sao Palo City to help establish a Japanese Immigration
colony. At this time Brazil held the largest population of Japanese
people outside Japan. He was aided in Brazil by Gastao Gracie, a
Brazilian of Scottish decent, who's first experience with Jiu-Jitsu was
most likely through managing an Italian boxer named Alfredi Leconti,
who fought a friend of Maeda in November of 1916.
For some time
in Japan, Judo and Jiu-Jitsu were almost synonymous. Judo was known as
Kano's Jiu-Jitsu. Regardless, this answers the question, "why do they
call it Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and not Brazilian Judo?" Because they were
essentially the same thing at the time, remember, the Gracie family
was learning Jiu-Jitsu and Judo while Kano was still struggling to show
the difference between the two and popularize his art. In the early
1900's there was very little difference between the two. In fact, Judo
was merely a collection of Jiu-jitsu styles, whose strongest points
were put together to make what then became Judo. The Gracie family was
introduced to Judo at a time when the Kodokan had recently suffered a
great defeat to the grappling style of the Fusen Ryu. This can be
compared to the Ultimate Fighting Championship of the early 1990's, when
most martial artists were attempting to fight Royce Gracie standing.
They would all eventually find themselves on the ground, where they
were at a loss as to what to do. Consequently, grappling became very
popular over the next ten years and many styles began to incorporate
grappling techniques into their curriculum. Royce Gracie was simply
doing what had already been done in the early 1900's by the Fusen Ryu
to Judo practitioners of the Kodokan, so we can easily draw the
conclusion from the experience in our own time that when Meada arrived
in Brazil, he was a student of a Kodokan that was adding "new"
grappling techniques to its system.
To show gratitude to Gracie
for his help in the colonization, Maeda taught Gastao's son Carlos the
basic techniques of Jiu-Jitsu. Carlos Gracie then taught his brothers
Oswaldo, Jorge, Gastao, and Helio. In 1925 the brothers opened their
first school, and Jiu-Jitsu was cultivated into a more effective
martial art and sport known as Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. What made this
version of Jiu-Jitsu more effective was the constant exposure of its
practitioners to real situations. Between their own schools, Brazilian
Jiu-Jitsu players would compete in a sportive way to keep the
techniques of their art sharp. The Gracie family would issue a
challenge to all others to fight without rules. In these no rules or
'vale tudo' fights, the Gracie family and their students would evaluate
the techniques of their fighting art.
"If you
want to get your face beaten and well smashed, your ___ kicked, and your
arms broken, Contact Carlos Gracie at this address..."
-- Brazilian newspaper ad, circa 1920s
Through
the last fifty years, many Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu schools have opened and
broken away from the original members of the Gracie family, making
subtle differences in styles within Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Gracie
Jiu-Jitsu, Machado Jiu-Jitsu, and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu are all different
schools of the same art. The Gracie family itself has hundreds of
members who do not all associate with one another.
The formal
teaching of Jiu-Jitsu to Brazilians by the Gracie family began in 1940
when Helio opened an academy in Rio. Over the next 18 years, if you
wanted to learn Jiu-Jitsu from the Gracie family in Brazil, you had a
choice of four academies, all of which were located in Rio. The
Gracie's were not the only one's teaching Judo and Jiu-Jitsu in Brazil,
but they were certainly the most popular, teaching over 2000 students
in that 18 year period. A good example of this is Mehdi, a Judo master
who came to Brazil from France in 1949, and still teaches there now.
There have been Judo schools in Brazil since the early 1900's and Sao
Paulo still has a very large Japanese population. Mehdi's list of
students include Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Black Belts Mario Sperry, Rickson
Gracie, and Sylvio Behring, just to name a few. This is another
example of Judo's influence on Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and that Helio
Gracie did not invent it. The Gracie family developed the art of Judo
into a more effective rules-free style. While in Brazil, I learned
about a Grand Master named "Fadda," who learned Jiu-Jitsu from a man
named Luis Franca. Like Carlos Gracie, Franca also learned Jiu-Jitsu
(Judo) from Meada. Fadda took the Jiu-Jitsu he learned from Franca and
started his own school of Jiu-Jitsu in Brazil. His popularity is not
as great as the Gracie family, but nonetheless, he is an example of
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu being refined and practiced outside the Gracie
family. His students compete in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu tournaments and
consider their art separate from both Gracie Jiu-Jitsu and the older
styles of Jiu-Jitsu in Japan. This stands as evidence that Brazilian
Jiu-Jitsu and Gracie Jiu-Jitsu is not the same thing.
In 1967, the
first federation of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu was created by Helio Gracie,
and the system of belts as we know it was developed (white, blue,
purple, brown, and black). Around the time the Carlson Gracie team was
born in the early 1970's, the Gracie family made their first split.
Carlson Gracie was the son of Carlos and a very reputable Vale Tudo
fighter. He claimed many victories while defending the Gracie family
name, including avenging one of Helio's very few losses. There were now
two sides of the Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Family, students under Helio and
students under Carlson. Helio's side would argue that Carlson's style
of Jiu-Jitsu involved too much strength and that it was Helio who
developed the technique further due to the fact that he was much
smaller than his brother Carlos, who taught it to him. The fact
remains that it is basically the same Jiu-Jitsu with a few natural
variations in teaching methods in the actual application of techniques.
Robson Gracie created a new federation in 1988 and Carlos Gracie Jr.
created the Confederacao Brasiliera in 1993. Carlos Jr.'s federation
is the most active one worldwide and is responsible for the development
of the World Championships. The idea of the Mundial (World's) is to
attract foreign competitors in hopes of making Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu an
Olympic sport. This was all done around the time Royce was winning the
first UFC (early 1990's) and giving America its first prominent taste
of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Members of the Gracie family are not the only
ones to operate federations and associations of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu who
may organize tournaments or give rank within the art. In an interview
with Andre Pederneiras, a fifth degree black belt in Brazilian
Jiu-Jitsu and founder of the Nova Uniao team, he was asked about his
involvement in the promotion of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and organization of
the art's first tournament. He stated that he had organized the first
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu tournament in 1993, then the following questions
were asked:
"What is the difference between the first Brazilian
Jiu-Jitsu tournament you created and the BJJ Confederation (Carlos
Jr.'s) Tournament?"
"Price for one. In my
tournament, I charged competitors ten dollars per person and Carlos
Gracie Jr. charged thirty dollars. I only charged ten dollars, but I
held the event in an expensive place called Club Hebraica. At the time
his tournament was held as the Clube Guanabarra and I know he paid
nothing for this place."
"Did you collaborate on this event with the president of the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Confederation, Mr. Carlos Gracie Jr.?"
"Of course not. The confederation did not exist yet when I was putting
this tournament together. After my idea, Carlos Gracie created the
Brazilian Confederation and started to make the other Brazilian
tournaments."
"So basically he made a much greater profit than you did?"
"Exactly. I created the tournament so that all Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
fighters could compete and have a good time, not to get rich. Our
priorities are were just different."
(from interview for www.jiu-jitsu.net, August 2001)
JJ Machado on the Gracie Family's influence:
"Carlos Gracie Jr. was our teacher from the beginning. When you say
Jiu-Jitsu you have to link it to the Gracie family. That's the family
that started our Jiu-Jitsu style and we're just one part of that clan. 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."
A
good example of how Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is truly a mixed martial art and
not developed PURELY by Gracie family members is illustrated in a
question from an Interview with Romero "Jacare" Cavalcanti by Kid
Pellegro:
"You are one of the few Black Belts from Rolls Gracie, what was it like learning from him?"
"It was spectacular, Rolls as the best of his time, besides being a
great instructor he was also an incredible person. I trained with him
from '74 until '82 when he died. He died on June 6th, '82 and I had
received my Black Belt in February. He would teach a lot of self
defense, stand up, and ground fighting, with and without gi. It was a
very complete class. He had started to do wrestling, so he added a lot
of the wrestling attacks, single leg and double legs takedowns. So
Rolls revolutionized the Jiu-Jitsu with his new positions. As a matter
of fact, the "Triangle" was invented by one of his students, Sergio
Dorileo, Sergio had been studying a Japanese book of positions and
invented the Triangle. At that time everybody would pass the Guard the
traditional way with one hand on the biceps and the other hand between
the legs and low, so all of a sudden, if you would try to pass
Dorileo's guard you'd end up in a triangle. What was considered the
right way didn't work anymore. Can you imagine!!! Everybody had to go
back and rethink a lot. It was an incredible experience, I learned so
much from Rolls, even the way he warm up the class was special. It
was one of the greatest losses in my life and it took me years to get
over. I still get choked up, to this day, when I reminisce."
During
the mid 1900's while Vale Tudo (free-style fighting) was developing in
Brazil, there were experts of Judo, wrestling, capoeira, and boxing
mixing together in these no-rules contests. It is impossible to think
that as these competitions took place, the participants wouldn't
cross-train and "borrow" techniques from their competition. This
interview, taken from Black Belt magazine, illustrates this point:
Black Belt Magazine: "At what point in your jujutsu training did you decide that the art's techniques needed modification?"
Helio Gracie: "I didn't invent the martial art. I adapted it to my
necessity-what I needed for my weight and lack of strength. I learned
jujutsu, but some of the moves required a lot of strength, so I could
not use them. I couldn't get out from some of the positions I learned
from my brother because of my lack of strength and weight. So I
developed other ways out."
Black Belt Magazine: "Why didn't anyone before you refine the techniques of traditional jujutsu into a more effective style?"
Helio Gracie: "Because most people who practice the martial arts
already have physical strength and ability that I didn't have. I
needed to create those [techniques]. This was the only way I had to
compensate for my lack of strength."
No matter
where you live or what style of Jiu-Jitsu you practice, we all owe some
degree of respect to the Gracie Family for introducing us to Brazilian
Jiu-Jitsu. The Gracie family is responsible for a large part of the
modern advancement or improvement of Jiu-Jitsu. The term Gracie
Jiu-Jitsu is used to describe the difference between the 'old' Jiu-Jitsu
(jujutsu/jujitsu), and the Gracie family's advancement of the art
through the 1900's. Now that 'Gracie Jiu-Jitsu' has spread all over
Brazil and to the United States, many champions of the art are being
born that are not Gracie Family members. These champions are
contributing to the art's progression by improving on techniques and
developing new ones. The bulk of basic movements may still be Gracie
Jiu-Jitsu, but as the art develops, the term 'Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu'
becomes more appropriate. As more and more innovators contribute to
the art outside of Brazil, it eventually may be appropriate to simply
call the art 'Jiu-Jitsu'.
The Gracies face opposition
The
Gracie's were not the only ones doing Jiu-Jitsu in the world during
the 1900's, and certainly not the only one's doing Jiu-Jitsu in Brazil,
they were just the most popular. Early members of the Gracie family in
Brazil were political figures and very involved in the community where
they lived. Among Helio's first students were Governor of Rio, Carlos
Lacerda, and President, Joao Figueiredo. There were many Japanese
immigrants practicing Judo and Jiu-Jitsu in Brazil and a new form of
"free fighting" was also developing in Brazil at this time. The
Brazilians developed a system of fighting called Luta Livre (Free
Fight), and if you ask a Gracie, they might tell you that Luta Livre is
from Jiu-Jitsu, if you ask a Luta Livre practitioner, he might tell
you something different. There is a large rivalry between the two
styles, but the truth of the matter is that the styles are very
similar. I heard from a few sources that Luta Livre was developed from
Wrestling and Judo in Brazil. Luta Livre is practiced without the gi
or kimono. While I was in Brazil, I passed down a street in Bahia
(which is where Capoeira also comes from) named after one of the great
Vale Tudo (meaning "anything goes") fighters of the mid 1900's named
Valdimar Santana, who was responsible for one of Helio Gracie's only
defeats. I've heard some Brazilians call him a Luta Livre fighter,
others say he was a Judoka, and the Gracies say he was a Jiu-Jitsu
player. During Valdimar's fight with Helio Gracie, after over an hour,
Helio's corner was forced to throw in the towel. I've read that
Valdimar Santana was one of Helio's students, but have heard different
as well. Carlson Gracie would later avenge Helio's defeat by defeating
Valdimar Santana in a No Rules fight. The other famous victory over
the Gracie family in the early part of the art's development occurred
in 1951. After defeating a famous Judo player named Kato, Helio issued
a challenge to another Japanese fighter named Yamaguchi. Yamaguchi
was concerned about taking the fight because he felt Helio would be
hard to submit. A friend of Yamaguchi named Masahiko Kimura (5'6" 185
Lbs.) stepped up to face Helio in his place. The fight between Helio
and Kimura resulted in a win for Kimura by TKO after Helio's side threw
in the towel. Kimura applied udegarami (a shoulder lock now called
the Kimura), an arm lock to Helio's left arm, breaking it. Helio was
commended for not giving up, but still suffered a defeat, nonetheless.
An
interesting event occurred later in the 1950's when Kimura ended up
facing Valdimar Santana in a No Holds Barred Match. He describes the
name of the fighter as Adema, but I assume that this is a spelling
mistake made in the translation due to the description being identical
to Valdimar right down to the place he resided. Kimura describes the
match in this excerpt taken from his biography "My Judo". I debated
for a while about whether to include this, but it was so interesting,
hard to find in print, and so historically significant that I had to
share it with you. This excerpt really gives a lot of insight as to
what was happening in Brazil during this time period, and gives an idea
about how far ahead of the U.S. and Japan that Brazil was in Mixed
Martial Arts fighting. The next two and three-quarter pages are taken
directly from Kimura's book,
My Judo.
"My
opponent Adema (Valdimar) Santana was a 25 year old black man, and was
a boxing heavy weight champion. He was 4th dan in judo, and a capoeira
champion as well. He was 183cm had a well proportioned impressive
physique. His weight was close to 100kg. Bahia, where the match took
place, is a port city where black slaves were unloaded. The slaves were
forbidden to carry a weapon. As a result, many martial arts were
developed by them, I heard. Vale Tudo is one of such martial arts. In
the south of Sao Paulo, pro wrestling is popular. But the farther one
goes to the north, the more popular Vale Tudo becomes. Helio Gracie,
whom I had previously fought, was the champion in Vale Tudo. But Adema
Santana challenged him the previous year (Note: 1957), and after 2
hours and 10 minutes, Helio got kicked in the abdomen, could not get
up, and got knocked out. Thus, Adema had become the new champion. In
Vale Tudo, no foul is allowed. 1 foul results in an immediate
disqualification. No shoes are allowed. When the fighters are
separated, they are not allowed to strike with a fist, and they have to
use open hand strikes. But once they get in contact with each other,
every type of strike is allowed but groin strikes. All types of throws
and joint locks are legal. The winner is decided when one of the
fighters is KO'd or surrenders. Biting and hair pulling were illegal.
Since bare-knuckle punches are traded, taking direct 2 or 3 hits in
the eye means the end of the fight. I was told there have been many
cases in which a fighter got hit in the eye with an elbow, and the
eyeball popped out from the socket by half, and got carried to the
hospital by an ambulance. Therefore, there were always 2 ambulances at
the entrance of the arena."I have no choice. I will fight." I said.
Then, the promoter grinned, took out a form and told me to sign it.
Yano translated the content, which said, "Even if I die in this match,
it is what I intended, and will not make anyone accountable for my
death." I nodded, and signed the form. On my way to the ring, someone
raised his arm and waved at me. It was Helio Gracie, whom I had not
seen for several years. Helio was at the radio broadcast seat. He was
the commentator of the match. The gong rang. Adema and I circled the
ring first. I lightly extended my fingers in a half-body posture, and
prepared for his kicks. Adema, also in a half-body posture, had
tucked his chin, tightened his underarms, as he would do in a boxing
match. Once in a while, he delivered high kicks to my face.
"I
blocked the kicks with my hands, and returned a kick with my right leg.
Adema started to deliver right and left roundhouse kicks. I stepped
back and dodged them, but suddenly, I received a fire-like impact on my
face. It was an open hand strike. I had overlooked his hand motion,
paying too much attention to his kicks. When I got hit in the temple,
and the core of my head became a blur, left and right roundhouse kicks
came. When I blocked his right kick with my left hand, a tremendous
pain ran through from the tip of the little finger to the back of the
hand. I had jammed the finger. I traded kicks with him. The entire
audiences were standing with excitement. Even in this situation, I was
able to think clearly. While I was thinking 'Adema is one level
higher than I both in kicks and open hand strikes. In order to win, I
must take the fight to the ground,' another fast kick flew at my
abdomen.
"I struck the kick down with left knife hand, and jumped
in to deliver a head butt on his abdomen with a momentum that could
penetrate through his body. This must have had an effect on him. He
covered his abdomen, and stepped back while wobbling. I wanted to get
close to him, throw him, get on top of him, and use Newaza. If I
succeed in this, I could use elbow strikes and head butts. Adema
recovered from the damage, and delivered a kick to my face again. I
ducked the kick, and jumped in for a clinch. I got in a tight clinch
to prevent him from using knee kicks or elbow strikes. We traversed
along the rope. All of a sudden, I received a head cracking impact. I
experienced a tremendous ear ringing, and got momentarily unconscious.
I received a head butt on my left temple. It was a head butt from a
side. I had thought that all the head butts would come from front. I
never knew a side head butt. 'I cannot lose here. I must win even if I
may die,' I thought. Driven by this will power, I tried to find a way
to fight back. The referee then came in between to separate us. We
were already covered with blood. The fight was brought back to the
center of the ring again. Adema threw a right open hand strike. I
caught the arm and attempted Ippon-seoi. It seemed like I could score a
clean throw. However, it was a miscalculation. We were both heavily
covered with sweat as if a large amount of water had been poured onto
our heads. Moreover, he had no jacket on. There was no way such a
technique could have worked under these conditions. His arm slipped
through, and my body rotated in the air once forward, and landed on my
back. 'I screwed up!' I shouted in my mind, but it was too late.
Adema immediately jumped at me. If he got on my chest, he could freely
strike my eyes, nose, and chest with his elbows."
I caught him in
a body scissors. I squeezed his body with full force hoping to sever
his intestine. Adema crumbled momentarily, but did not surrender.
Since the body scissors did not finish him, I realized that I was in a
disadvantageous position. When I lifted my head, hundreds of stars
flew out of my eyes. I took a straight punch between my nose and my
eyes. It was an accurate intense punch. The back of my head got
slammed onto the mat.
"Moreover, an intense head butt attacked my
abdomen. It felt like my organs would be torn into pieces. Once,
twice, I hardened my abdominal muscles to withstand the impact, and
waited for the 3rd attack. At the moment the 3rd head butt came, my
right fist accurately caught Adema's face by counter. It landed
between his nose and eyes. Blood splattered. I had also already been
heavily covered with blood. The blood interfered with my vision.
'Kill him, kill him!' the devil in my mind screamed. Adema wobbled,
and stepped back, and tried to run with the ropes on his back. I
chased him throwing kicks and open hand strikes. He returned head
butts and elbow strikes. But, neither of us was able to deliver a
decisive strike. Maybe we were both exhausted, or maybe the blood in
our eyes prevented us from aiming clearly at the target. After all,
the 40 minutes ran out, and the match ended in a draw. It was my first
Vale Tudo experience. That night, my face was badly swollen. I had a
number of cuts on my face. Every time I breathed, an excruciating
pain ran through my belly, and I could not sleep. I received an
injection from a doctor, and cooled my belly with a cold towel all
night. However, I learned a very important lesson in this fight. That
is, one must never fear death. If I had not had the iron will to
fight despite the possibility of getting killed, his head butts would
have torn my intestine into pieces." - (From My Judo, by Masahiko Kimura , 1985)
Carlson Gracie Comments on his fights with Valdemar Santana:
"Valdemar
was a student of the family for twelve or thirteen years. He fought
more than 20 times for our academy. What happened was, he had a
disagreement with Helio Gracie, and they decided to fight Vale-Tudo, and
Valdemar won. In fact, I was a friend of his, and told him: "look
Valdemar, we are friends, but now I can't let it pass, you beat Helio,
now your going to have to fight me. I have nothing against you, but in
the ring, I'm going to beat the shit out of you!" And I did. I fought
against him six times. I won four times, and two were a draw. He was
tough shit. If it were today, he would be one of the best fighters".
(From O'Tatame magazine (Brazil) Translated by Tatiana Andres, 1997)
Besides
Helio's defeats (where it is interesting to note that he did not
actually submit to either opponent) the Gracies remained undefeated for
the most part in Vale Tudo (no holds bared) matches, until another
Japanese fighter would give them some trouble. After the popularity of
the Ultimate Fighting Championship in the United States, Japan started
to host a series of Vale Tudo tournaments, one fighter in particular
started grabbing everyone's attention, and his name was Kazushi
Sakuraba. Sakuraba was not the biggest fighter on the scene, but he
was creative and experienced. Sakuraba represented the sport of
Japanese Wrestling, which is very different from American wrestling in
many ways, the biggest difference being that Japanese wrestlers have an
outstanding knowledge of submission holds. The Wrestling style that
Sakuraba practiced looked almost exactly like Jiu-Jitsu, and during my
research for this book, I've stumbled across more than one article that
states Sakuraba had trained Jiu-Jitsu quite extensively. Sakuraba had
been winning no holds barred matches against some formidable opponents
in Japan, including Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Black Belt Conan Silvera, whom
he beat with a Juji Gatame, or in Portuguese, Chave Braco, a standard
move in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. It wasn't long before Sakuraba and the
Japanese press set their sights on the Gracie family. Sakuraba's first
victory over a Gracie family member was over Royler. Sakuraba
outweighed Royler by at least forty pounds. The fight ended in a very
controversial referee stoppage, over which Royler appeared to be very
upset about. The second was to Royce; this fight lasted about an hour
and thirty minutes until Royce's corner threw in the towel. To Royce's
credit, Sakuraba was not able to submit him and Royce fought very
well. The third was to Renzo Gracie. Renzo was fighting very well
until Sakuraba applied the same lock he used to defeat Royler; the lock
was applied standing and when the two fell to the floor, the fall
broke Renzo's arm. Once again, the Gracie family member did not submit,
and the referee stopped the fight. The fourth was to Ryan Gracie who
lost the fight after suffering an injury to his shoulder and after time
expired by judge's decision. I have researched a couple of sources
that claim a famed BJJ black belt named Sergio Penha was actually
training Sakuraba and that this aided him in his victories.
To
the Gracie family's credit, I have not seen members of the Gracie
family 'lose' very often. There are incidences in sport Jiu-Jitsu where
a Gracie family member will lose to another Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
player, but that is Jiu-Jitsu losing to Jiu-Jitsu. Dan Henderson's
victory over Renzo Gracie is one of the few I can recall where anyone
outside of the sport of Jiu-Jitsu or the art of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
defeated a Gracie family member.
Jiu-Jitsu has now developed
beyond the Gracie family and with all appropriate respect and thanks to
them, it moves forward and progresses through the teachings of
instructors from all parts of the world. It wasn't until this happened
that people from outside the art of Jiu-Jitsu started claiming
victories over Gracie family members. By introducing the Brazilian
style of Jiu-Jitsu to North America, the Gracie family opened the door
to great financial rewards and the problems that would come with
success.
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu was introduced to the United States
in the 1970's, but was not made popular until 1993, when Royce Gracie
defeated opponents from other martial arts in a contest called the
Ultimate Fighting Championship. This type of fighting was known in
Brazil as Vale Tudo (anything goes) and would later become known as NHB
(No Holds Barred) here in the United States. The effectiveness of the
art form over so many others made Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu known to the
martial arts community and the world. This was America's first look at
Mixed Martial Arts fighting. Unlike many other martial arts,
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu gained its reputation and popularity through
effective fighting, not Hollywood movies.
In November of 1993, a
large number of Americans would get their first look at Brazilian
Jiu-Jitsu ... it wasn't pretty. For years in the United States, the
Martial Arts community had been plagued by the mystique and
misconception created by Hollywood. I can remember getting into street
fights as a kid and having my opponent say "OK, no Kung fu stuff!"
thinking that if the other guy knew Kung fu, something terribly deadly
would happen. This couldn't be farther from the truth, and in 1993 we
would all find that out. To make a long and over-told story short,
Royce Grace, a thin Brazilian, was pitted against champions of Kung Fu,
Karate, Boxing, Kickboxing, Wrestling and a variety of other Martial
arts in a contest called the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Unlike the
American No Holes Barred contests of today, Royce had to fight up to 4
times in each tournament. There were no weight classes and Royce was
usually the lightest, sometimes being outweighed by 80 lbs. or more.
There were very few rules: no eye gouging, no biting, and no time
limits. Although this would be The United State's first look at
Brazilian Jiu-jitsu vs. other styles of Martial Arts, it was not the
first time a ground fighting style would have the opportunity to show
the superiority of Grappling vs. Striking alone.
In 1963, Gene
Labell (a Judo player) faced a champion Boxer named Milo Savage,
gaining a solid victory for Grappling enthusiasts everywhere. The
Ultimate Fighting Championship was the catalyst for Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
in the US, but after the initial boom of popularity, there would be a
whole new world of problems to face. The same entrepreneurial and
capitalist ideals that made America great would be a hindrance to the
authenticity and quality of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in the United States.
Carley Gracie (Carlos' son, Carlson's younger brother and Roll's older
brother) was the first to bring their Brazilian style of Jiu-Jitsu to
the U.S. The idea was born through his training of American Marines in
Rio (in the early 1970's) and by 1972, he was teaching Jiu-Jitsu in
California. Rorion was the next to come, opening his academy in
California and trade marking the Gracie name. This action would lead
to a huge problem in the family; Rorian was not allowing any other
members of the Gracie family to use the name, and was also accused by
family members of distorting the truth about the history of the art,
since he had claimed his father (Helio) was responsible for the birth
of the art.
I have found through the research of this book that
everyone has his/her own story, so it was most logical to go with
common denominators to find the truth. Carley would later challenge
Rorion to fight, as they had done when they were younger (Carley claims
to have defeated Rorion previously a total of eight times), but Rorion
preferred to battle it out in court. This was the second major split
in the Gracie family after the first split between Carlson and Helio,
but it would be the first of many to happen in the United States.
Rickson came to teach as well, along with the Machado Brothers (who are
related to the Gracie family as cousins), both eventually separated
from Rorion due to some sort of business differences. Actually, it was
Rickson (considered by many to be the champion of the family) who felt
he should be the first Ultimate Fighting Champion, but Rorion was in
control of the early UFC's and decided it would be Royce who would make
the point to the American public, and the rest is recent history.
Japanese and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
"What is the difference between Japanese (classical) Jiu-Jitsu (jujutsu) and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu?"
The
first and most important reason can be found in the art's history and
is primary to all others discussed afterward. When you research the
history of Brazilian Jiu-jitsu, you will understand that it came from
"Judo" in its time of renaissance. In the early 1900's, Judo was being
developed from a variety of Jiu-jitsu styles in order to make it the
most complete and effective martial art in the world. Some older
Jiu-jitsu schools only focused on one area of fighting (some practiced
primarily standing techniques) and had been left without a realistic
battlefield testing ground for hundreds of years. If you recall the
history of Judo's beginning, you know that it was made up of mostly
standing techniques at first, from Kito Ryu Jiu-jitsu and a few other
styles. This alone was not enough, so the groundwork of Fusen Ryu was
added, making it more complete. When you say "traditional" or
"Japanese" Jiu-jitsu, you are referring to only one of these Jiu-jitsu
styles, which is incomplete alone. When you say Brazilian Jiu-jitsu,
you are referring to the best techniques from a wide variety of styles.
Our
Jiu-Jitsu in the United States was underdeveloped compared to the
Jiu-Jitsu in Brazil. Only now are we beginning to catch up, and we are
still suffering from the inadequacies of the 'older' and more
traditional schools of Jiu-Jitsu in this country. To give you an idea
of what I mean, I'll tell you a little about my training. I earned a
black belt in a classical style of Jiu-Jitsu, which taught all the Judo
throws of the Kodokan and Aikijitsu (the grandfather of Aikido). It
was a great art, but one that could not be used on anyone with skill
effectively before complete mastery. I was subsequently defeated by a
student of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu who was only at blue belt level, while I
was a black belt in traditional Jiu-Jitsu. Why? Lack of realistic
practice is the reason. There was too much of: "you stay perfectly
still while I try an extravagant technique on you and you play along."
There are many techniques which is where Judo is great, and some
traditional schools teach techniques that were designed thousands of
years ago whose applications have not been modified or thought about
since. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is simple to learn, so simple that a
dedicated student of one year can easily beat martial artists of other
styles who have many years of experience.
Some styles of martial
arts spend hundreds of hours working on a rigid stance and one hundred
standing techniques that cannot possibly be mastered in a reasonable
amount of time. I once interviewed Royce Gracie and he gave a response
that supports this point quite well:
"We don't believe
in teaching a ton of moves every class and the student walking away
with limited knowledge. We prefer our students to know 20 techniques
at 100%, than 100 techniques at 20%."(Interview with Gene Simco for www.jiu-jitsu.net)
Brazilian
Jiu-Jitsu focuses on techniques that are easy to learn in a very short
period of time. The techniques taught in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu are also
effective and have been tested on knowledgeable martial artists who
are not cooperating. A small amount of simple but high percentage
techniques makes the difference. If all you do is practice five or six
techniques, you will be very good at them in a year or so, but if you
have to divide your time between a hundred or more techniques, you will
most likely be a jack of all trades and a master of none in a year's
time.
The differences in the two styles of Jiu-Jitsu are not
necessarily in the technique, but in the practice and application.
First of all, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu has a very sophisticated ground-game,
where Japanese Jiu-Jitsu places importance on standing techniques, as
does Judo. Judo as a sport does not allow leg locks, where Brazilian
Jiu-Jitsu does. Sport rules for Judo dictate that if a player has been
pinned by his/her opponent for twenty-five seconds, he or she will
lose the match. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu has no time restraints on ground
positions and stalling most often occurs while standing. Older styles
of Jiu-Jitsu (often spelled jujutsu or jujitsu) are usually preceded
with their style name or Ryu (the Japanese word for "style"). These
Ryu of Jiu-Jitsu were developed long ago and have no sport application
to allow them to develop technically. The lack of realistic practice
is what makes some styles ineffective or obsolete.
To really
understand the differences between Brazilian and Japanese Jiu-Jitsu,
one must research the history of both arts. In particular the birthing
of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu by Carlos Gracie, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu's
founder, who was an avid boxer. Most Japanese Jiu-Jitsu fighters were
studying traditional Karate strikes, which are much different from that
of a boxer. Maeda, the man who introduced Gracie to Jiu-Jitsu, was
also a student of Judo, which at the time was considered an updated
version of Jiu-Jitsu, or Kano 's Jiu-Jitsu. As discussed previously,
the Judo that the Gracie family was introduced to was a Judo whose
focus had turned to ground fighting in recent years. This ground
fighting came from only one style of Jiu-jitsu (Fusen Ryu), the other
styles that made up Judo had not focused on ground work, so as their
practice continued, they stayed to their traditional roots, which
considered mainly of standing techniques. While older styles of
Jiu-jitsu stuck to their core curriculums, Judo soon forgot about
experience and turned its attention to gaining world wide exposure as
an Olympic sport, which would eventually restrict the once great art
and cause it to focus once again on primarily standing techniques.
Maeda was also exposed to western wrestling, as he had encountered one
wrestler in particular at the West Point Military Academy in New York,
and had more experience fighting throughout Europe and the Americas
than any other Japanese fighter of that time.
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
is a progressive style of Jiu-Jitsu; once a technique is developed and
used in competition, other Jiu-Jitsu players begin to design counters
to that technique, and counters to those counters, which allows
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu to evolve freely. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu players do
not prepare for the untrained opponent; they assume that their opponent
may be more technical.
The problem with some 'older' styles of
Jiu-Jitsu is the same problem with old cars, or anything that has not
been updated or modified. I earned a black belt in Japanese Jiu-Jitsu
and now that I am at an advanced level of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, I notice
the similarities and differences. Some of the self-defense movements
are identical; it is typically in the groundwork (ne waza) where the
Judo or Japanese Jiu-Jitsu practitioner lacks ability. It is for that
reason I started training Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.
Comparing "old"
Jiu-Jitsu to "new" Jiu-Jitsu is like comparing old cars to new. Both a
Ford Model-T and a Ferrari will do the same job, but a Ferrari will do
it more efficiently. The ability of Jiu-Jitsu teachers can be
compared to the mechanics certified to work on these cars; if you take a
mechanic from 1910 and show him a Ferrari, some things would look
familiar, but he would not understand the new design and complexity of
the modern variation without proper training.
In the style of
"Japanese" or Traditional Jiu-Jitsu I learned, not much is technically
different. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu has more techniques on the ground
whereas Japanese Jiu-Jitsu has more standing techniques. What I like
now about having plenty of experience in both styles is that I feel it
has brought my technical level to a higher understanding. I know lots
of little details and "tricks" or "secrets" within the techniques that
you don't see anywhere. I think that although things improve in the
evolution of Jiu-Jitsu, you also lose some details that the "ancient"
schools sometimes hold "secret". Without proper modification, these
"secrets" don't mean much, but when you combine them with the refined
practice of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, you've really got something. As I get
higher in the ranks of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, I start to appreciate the
Model T. I'm not so embarrassed of my "old" Black Belt in Japanese
Jiu-Jitsu anymore, I'm actually learning to apply it. I know details
of arm locks and chokes that I don't see anywhere else. It is
important to note, however, that I attribute my ability to apply the
old Jiu-Jitsu to my advanced level in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.
The End
