Brazlian Jiu-Jitsu

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, also known as Gracie Jiu-Jitsu, is a variant of jujitsu that was developed in Brazil during the mid-20th century by the Gracie family.

A Japanese judoist, prizefighter, and member of the Kodokan (later banned for his prizefighting activities) named Mitsuo Maeda emigrated to Brazil in the 1910's and was helped greatly by a Brazillian politician named Gastão Gracie. In return for his aid, Maeda taught Judo to Gastão's son Carlos, who then taught the art to his brothers, including Hélio Gracie, who (with Carlos) is generally regarded as the originator of Brazillian Jiu-Jitsu as a style of Judo distinct from the Kodokan's.

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu became internationally prominent in the martial arts community in the 1990s, when Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu expert Royce Gracie won several Ultimate Fighting Championships against experienced and much larger opponents using the style.

BJJ inherited an emphasis on using offbalancing, leverage, and the opponent's own power, as well as a good deal of technique from Kodokan Judo, especially from the regional variant called "Kosen Judo", which emphasized ground grappling and was heavily influenced by Kito-ryu jujitsu.

Since that time there has been considerable divergence between Judo and Brazillian Jiu-Jitsu, although some argue that the difference is more in the culture and the moral goals of the arts than in the physical principles and techniques of the two arts.

The main difference is that Judo emphasizes throws, while Jiu-Jitsu emphasizes submission. Judo does not allow leg-locks and also has a much higher amount of referee intervention during matches (the competitors are often returned to the standing position, while Jiu-Jitsu allows its participants to patiently work towards a submission).

Factors which contributed to the divergence include the Gracies' desire to create a national martial art, the influence of Brazillian culture, the non-participation of the Gracie schools in sport judo, the postwar closing of the Kodokan (which was only allowed to reopen on the condition that emphasis be shifted towards sport), as well as the Gracies' own additions to the body of technique and opinions regarding self-defense, martial arts and training methods, and, more recently, the influence of mixed-martial-art competitions such as the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu emphasizes ground fighting techniques and submission holds involving joint locks and chokeholds. The premise is that most of the advantage of a larger, stronger opponent comes from superior reach and more powerful strikes, both of which are largely negated if wrestling on the ground; and if either fighter wants the fight to go to the ground, it will. Once the opponent is on the ground, a number of maneuvers (and counter-maneuvers) are available to manipulate the opponent into suitable position for the application of a submission hold.

Submission holds typically involve getting an inescapable grip on an opponent's limb which allows one to pull it to the point where the joint will break if pulled any more. This can cause intense pain, and typically results in the opponent re-assessing their will to continue the fight. Alternatively, one could apply a chokehold (or more accurately a strangulation), cutting off blood to the brain, causing unconsciousness within seconds.

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu's emphasis on joint locks and maneuvering rather than strikes means that one's technique can be practiced at full speed and full power, identical to the effort and technique used in a real fight. Training partners can resist and counter just as they would in an actual fight, providing valuable real-world experience should the techniques ever need to be applied in an actual fight.

In modern times, many forms of sport fighting have come into vogue. During competition, these styles award points for attacking with certain techniques. For example, a competitor may be awarded 2 points for kicking his or her opponent in the body and 3 points for kicks delivered to the head. Coinciding with Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu's considerable surge in popularity, many tournaments now disallow striking in favor of grappling.

The rules for these contests reward points to a competitor that has obtained a position considered to be advantageous. In the event that no combatant was submitted outright, the winner will be determined by these points. Such rules help to avoid the stalemates often seen in judo when contestants go to ground.

The main emphasis in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is to dominate the opponent through skillful application of technique and force them to quit (submit). By using the techniques of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, a smaller practitioner, male or female, can control much larger and stronger opponents and actually force that larger opponent to submit.

Belt ranking in BJJ is quite different from most other forms today. There are only 5 belts as follows; white, blue, purple, brown, and black. Average time to black belt is approximately 10 years. There are no tests to "cram".

When you can defeat most white belts, you are awarded your blue belt. When you can defeat most blue belts, you earn your purple belt, etc. This is very different to many sport-oriented systems (WTF Taekwondo is the most often cited example for this) where the student is tested every few weeks and awarded their black belt in 1.5 to 2 years without ever testing their actual combat effectiveness against other fighters.

This makes for the debatable practice within these styles of awarding black belts to children. In Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, the belt is a ranking of a fighter's skill as demonstrated in head to head contests and tournament competition. (see also Kyokushin Kai karate)