It's Judo

The big rage these days in martial arts is Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. I thought I knew where it came from, but I was very wrong.

The version that became the most famous is the one showcased in the early days of Ultimate Fighting. A guy named Royce Gracie dominated all the early UFC tournaments, defeating vastly larger opponents with apparent ease (they have since introduced weight categories).

The branch of the Gracie family that he is part of therefore got the most publicity. They have since trademarked their system with the name Gracie Jiu-Jitsu. Their founder was Helio Gracie, who trained well into his 90s, and passed away two years ago.

Most people assume from the name, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, that it came from Japanese Jujitsu. It did sort of.

Helio Gracie learned his art from his older brother Carlos. Carlos's side of the family has its own style.

Carlos learned it from Mitsuyo Maeda, who moved to Brazil from Japan. Maeda did not teach Jujitsu. He trained at the Kodokan in Japan, which is the home school of Jigoro Kano. Kano taught Judo, which he derived from Jujitsu. In the early years Judo was often called Kano Jujitsu. When Maeda moved to Brazil, the Brazilians already knew of Judo by the name Jiu-Jitsu.

So what we have is Helio created his own Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, after learning from Carlos who also created a type of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Carlos learned from Maeda, who was a Judo man. Maeda learned it in Japan at Kano's school, who created Judo from Jujitsu.

It's all really very simple.