Brazilian Jiu Jitsu History

The following is a brief history of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu from the Gracie Academy website;

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 modern Jiu-Jitsu would be brought to life again. Japanese Jiu-Jitsu (practiced as Judo) was introduced to the Gracie family in Brazil around 1914 by Esai Maeda, who was also known as Conde Koma. Maeda was a champion of Jiu-Jitsu and a direct student of Kano, at the Kodokan in Japan. He was born in 1878, and became a student of Judo (Kano’s Jiu-Jitsu) in 1897.

In 1914, Maeda was given the opportunity to travel to Brazil as part of a large Japanese immigration colony. In Brazil, in the northern state of Para, he befriended Gastão Gracie, an influential businessman, who helped Maeda get established. To show his gratitude, Maeda offered to teach traditional Japanese Jiu-Jitsu to Gastão's oldest son, Carlos Gracie. Carlos learned for a few years and eventually passed his knowledge to his brothers.

Helio Gracie, the youngest son of Gastão and Cesalina Gracie's eight children (three were girls), was always a very physically frail child. He would run up a flight of stairs and have fainting spells, and no one could figure out why.

At age fourteen, he moved in with his older brothers who lived and taught Jiu-Jitsu in a house in Botafogo, a borough of Rio de Janeiro. Following doctor’s recommendations, Helio would spend the next few years limited to only watching his brothers teach.

One day, when Helio was 16 years old, a student showed up for class when Carlos was not around. Helio, who had memorized all the techniques from watching his brothers teach, offered to start the class. When the class was over, Carlos showed up and apologized for his delay. The student answered, "No problem. I enjoyed the class with Helio very much and, if you don't mind, I'd like to continue learning from him." Carlos agreed, and Helio became an instructor.

The birth of Gracie Jiu Jitsu

Helio soon realized that due to his frail physique, most of the techniques he had learned from watching Carlos teach were particularly difficult for him to execute. Eager to make the techniques work for him, he began modifying them to accommodate his weak body. Emphasizing the use of leverage and timing over strength and speed, Helio modified virtually all of the techniques and, through trial and error, created Gracie/Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

In order to prove the effectiveness of his new system, Helio openly challenged all the reputable martial artists in Brazil. He fought 18 times, including matches against onetime world heavyweight wrestling champion, Wladek Zbyszko and the #2-ranked Judoka in the world at the time, Kato, whom Helio choked unconscious in six minutes. His victory against Kato qualified him to enter the ring with the world champion, Masahiko Kimura, the best Jiu-Jitsu fighter Japan has ever produced, and who outweighed Helio by almost 80 pounds. Kimura won the match but was so impressed with Helio’s techniques that he asked Helio to go teach in Japan claiming the techniques Helio presented during their bout did not exist in Japan. It was the recognition by the world’s best to Helio’s dedication to the refinement of the art.

At 43 years old, Helio and former student, Waldemar Santana, set the world record for the longest uninterrupted no-holds-barred fight in history when they fought for an incredible 3 hours and 40 minutes!

Widely regarded as the first sports hero in Brazilian history, Helio also challenged boxing icons Primo Carnera, Joe Louis, and Ezzard Charles. They all declined.

A dedicated family man who exemplified a healthy life-style he was the epitome of courage, discipline, determination, and an inspiration to people everywhere. A modern-day legend, Helio Gracie gained international acclaim for his dedication to the dissemination of the art and is recognized as the creator of Gracie/Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

The Machado connection
The following section covers the Machado connection;

The Machado Brothers have developed their system of Jiu-Jitsu (gentle art) over the last 25 years. The Machado Brother are Rigan Machado, Carlos Machado, John Machado, Jean-Jacques Machado, and Roger Machado. The Jiu-Jitsu they learned in Brazil has been refined by their clan into a modern and unique style which is increasingly popular in the United States.

Emanating from Brazil, their family has demonstrated the effectiveness of Brazilian Jiu_jitsu in many “no rules” tournaments. The Machado Brothers, advancing their spirit of a top-quality fighting style tempered with humility and friendship, have kept away from these types of violent and decisive exhibitions. They have demonstrated their superiority on the mat, winning numerous Brazilian championships and national and world titles in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Russian sambo and even western wrestling. The system is rooted in one-on-one ground fighting, achieving superior position for joint locks, chokes and strikes.

Since basing themselves in the United States, the Brothers have continued to develop their grappling style, branching out into all styles of grappling in search of new techniques and concepts. Rigan Machado remains unbeaten in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in more than 13 years of competition. He also placed second in the 1994 Sambo World Championships. The numerous victories of the Machado Brothers are amplified by the success of their American students. The Machado team has won more medals than any other American-based team and boasts five American-born and trained black belts, all top international competitors.

The Machados’ philosophy is not to prove or impose their system onto other styles or martial artists. Their main concern is to share what they have, always with their minds open for new ideas. This attitude has helped the Machados’ to establish themselves in the martial arts community and given them many friends and followers. Their attitude of balance is reflected not only in the way they fight, but also in the healthy lifestyle they have adopted since childhood. The Machado brothers remain very close and are a great example of how family is important. We here at Guerrero Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu follow the same philosophy. We stay away from politics and want our students to be the best possible citizens they can be.

The Australian Connection
John Will began his martial arts training in 1972.

With a basic grounding in amateur wrestling, Goju Kai Karate and Taekwondo. He first left Australian shores in 1975 to study the indigenous martial arts systems of South East Asia; with many of those years spent in Indonesia learning Pentjak Silat.

The next twenty five years have seen him take more than 30 overseas training trips; including stints in Thailand, Hong Kong, Japan, India, the U.S.A and Brazil. In ‘82, he entered and won gold in the first World Silat Championships held in Jakarta, the first and at that time, the only non-Indonesian to accomplish that.
His friendship with long-time training partner Richard Norton, opened many doors to him in the Unites States, that perhaps would have been closed to most people. So in the late 80’s, he began training with such notables as Benny Urquidez, Gene LeBell, Shuki Ron, Pete Cunningham, Rorion and Rickson Gracie and the Machado brothers.

In the late 80’s, a friendship with Rigan Machado allowed John to travel to and train in Brazil. There, he was exposed to a wide cross-section of Brazil’s best BJJ coaches, and so began his serious study of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. He was finally awarded the rank of black belt by Rigan and Jean Jacques Machado in 1998; making him one of the ‘BJJ Dirty Dozen’, the first twelve non-Brazilian BJJ black belts in the world.
Up until that time, John had taught Shootfighting, a street-oriented blend of Groundfighting and Stand-up work; but upon being graded to black belt under the Machado’s, he felt the time was right to promote and develop the Brazilian art here in Australasia. Hence, BJJ Australia, the Australasian branch of the Machado Organization, was formed. As national director for Machado BJJ, he has to this date, written three books on the art, with plans for more in the pipeline.

His schedule is a demanding one, even by international standards. John now conducts in excess of fifty BJJ seminars throughout Australia and overseas, each calendar year. He also works with law enforcement groups and Special Operations personnel to improve their arrest and control procedures. Between writing books, running seminars, travelling and training with the worlds martial arts elite, our three time winner of the Blitz – Martial Arts Hall of Fame Award, can still be found most often, at his schools in Melbourne and Geelong. His passion for teaching and getting ‘down to business’ remains undiminished.

With more and more of the country’s top instructors wanting to include an element of grappling in their course curriculum, his schedule if anything, is becoming busier. When asked what he enjoys most about his life as a martial artist, he replies “Teaching the art; the continual evolution of the art; and the great friendships we form along the way.”

His plans for the future include, more books, more travel, more training and more time with his family.

Schools throughout the Australasian region that are associated with John are listed in both the directory of Australia’s Martial Arts magazine – Blitz, as well as on this website..

John has recently published his journey of self discovery in a series of book called Rogue Black Belt

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