Brazilian jiu jitsu schools can trace their roots to the early 1920s when the Gracie family began to learn jiu jitsu from a master visiting from Japan. Gracie Jiu-jitsu developed from the teaching Helio Gracie and his brothers received into a discipline that would allow a smaller fighter to best a bigger and stronger one. Helio continued to adapt the martial art techniques so that they became even more efficient and soon he was earning the respect of those around him.
As he grew more competent, Helio launched the origins of Gracie Jiu-jitsu in a succession of high profile competitions. In spite of not always winning these contests, Helio received acclaim for lasting a good deal longer than anybody thought he would be able to against more powerful and more experienced foes. In 1951 he fought Masahiko Kimura, then seen as the greatest jiu jitsu fighter in the world. Kimura claimed that if the contest lasted more than three minutes, then Helio should be proclaimed the winner; Helio lasted for thirteen. In 1955, the longest fight in the world happened when Helio fought off a combatant twenty years his junior and forty pounds heavier for three hours and forty minutes.
When Rorion Gracie, Helio’s son, departed Brazil to bring Gracie Jiu-jitsu to the United States, he planned to continue his father’s legacy. The Gracies wanted to found jiu-jitsu schools to share the martial art techniques that they had tailored after years of intense study with the rest of the world, and America was the perfect place to do so. Though Rorion at first struggled in setting up his Brazilian Jiu jitsu school, he gained ever larger numbers of students primarily by issuing the Gracie challenge. This was a call to any combatant of any discipline to meet him in hand-to-hand combat in order to see whose field was stronger.
Gracie Jiu-jitsu truly arrived in the 1990s. Mixed martial arts tournaments were becoming an exciting new event, and in 1993 the Ultimate Fighting Championship was held. This tournament pitted fighters of different disciplines against each other in order to determine not only which fighter would be the ultimate victor, but which fighting style would prove to be the most effective. Royce Gracie took the Gracie name and made it immortal by winning the first UFC, and a total of three of the first four events. Everyone in the sporting world soon knew the Gracie name, and it became synonymous with victories against larger and stronger opponents.
Of all the martial art disciplines out there, Gracie Jiu-jitsu is probably the most well known. It was a long hard road, going from Japan to Brazil, then to California and finally the rest of America and the world. Jiu-jitsu academies all over the world have students who have signed up based on watching what Royce Gracie did in the Ultimate Fighting Championships, and then from learning about what his ancestors accomplished.
For those who have watched UFC and want to learn more about martial arts, especially Brazilian jiu jitsu, there is a lot of information to be found on the internet. Jiu jitsu is becoming very popular because of MMA fighting. It uses a lot of holds and ground moves that make it idea for practically any person.
