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WHAT IS BRAZILIAN JIU JITSU?
The story of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu begins back in the early 1900's. The Japanese
government was eager to set up a Japanese colony in Brazil. To help lead this venture,
they sent over a man named Esai Maeda, also known as "Count Koma".Gastão Gracie, a
Brazilian politician, befriended Maeda and helped him and his new venture. As a show
of gratitude, Maeda agreed to teach Gastão's eldest son Carlos, the secrets of the
Japanese martial art; Jiu Jitsu. Maeda happened to be a former champion back in Japan,
and proved to be a very effective teacher. Carlos, a teenager, trained under the watchful
eyes of Maeda for the next few years. As fate , in 1923 Maeda returned back to his
homelands and left Carlos alone with no master.
The story of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu begins back in the early 1900's. The Japanese
government was eager to set up a Japanese colony in Brazil. To help lead this venture,
they sent over a man named Esai Maeda, also known as "Count Koma".Gastão Gracie, a
Brazilian politician, befriended Maeda and helped him and his new venture. As a show
of gratitude, Maeda agreed to teach Gastão's eldest son Carlos, the secrets of the
Japanese martial art; Jiu Jitsu. Maeda happened to be a former champion back in Japan,
and proved to be a very effective teacher. Carlos, a teenager, trained under the watchful
eyes of Maeda for the next few years. As fate , in 1923 Maeda returned back to his
homelands and left Carlos alone with no master.
Carlos Gracie and his master "Count koma"
THE CREATION PROCESS
Carlos, needing someone to train with, had taught his younger brother Helio the art.
Together, these resilient brothers morphed Jiu Jitsu more and more each day into
something that would eventually change the martial arts world forever. Neither Carlos
or Helio were men of great size or strength. Especially Helio, a frail boy who often
weighed around 140 pounds or so. Because of this, they based many of their
modifications on position and leverage rather than size and strength. The concept
behind their creations were that a smaller, weaker man could effectively win in a fight
against a bigger, stronger man.
The mean streets of Brazil acted as very good testing grounds for these new
modifications.Tested over and over again in challenge matches and professional Vale
Tudo (No holds barred) fights, these new fighting techniques proved to be the most
effective form of self defense around.
Carlos, needing someone to train with, had taught his younger brother Helio the art.
Together, these resilient brothers morphed Jiu Jitsu more and more each day into
something that would eventually change the martial arts world forever. Neither Carlos
or Helio were men of great size or strength. Especially Helio, a frail boy who often
weighed around 140 pounds or so. Because of this, they based many of their
modifications on position and leverage rather than size and strength. The concept
behind their creations were that a smaller, weaker man could effectively win in a fight
against a bigger, stronger man.
The mean streets of Brazil acted as very good testing grounds for these new
modifications.Tested over and over again in challenge matches and professional Vale
Tudo (No holds barred) fights, these new fighting techniques proved to be the most
effective form of self defense around.
Helio Gracie, training with older brother Carlos
THE GRACIE FAMILY
Learning that 95% of any real street fight will end up on the ground, the Gracie brothers
concentrated on developing the most effective grappling art form to date. The result of
the past 70+ years of this development has become known as Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Even
though the roots of the art stem from the traditional Japanese form of Jiu Jitsu, the
Gracie family's effective renditions have proven to the world that it is to be considered a
form of it's own.
Carlos and Helio both had many children. These children were basically raised and taught
the art of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. To this day, you can find them continuing to prove the
effectiveness of this art in many of the most popular events in the world. Just to name a
few... Rickson Gracie holds an amazing undefeated record in over 400 Vale tudo fights to
date. Royce Gracie not only won the first Ultimate fighting championships ever, but
continued to go undefeated and won 2 more UFC's after after that! Royler Gracie, winner
of some of the most prestigious grappling tournaments in the world, continues to be a
top competitor everywhere.
Royce victorious at the UFC. Rickson
doing what he does best - winning
doing what he does best - winning
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