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Jujutsu to Judo

In the late 1800's, Japan began a period of rapid, intentional westernization. A part of this process was abolishing the samurai class. By 1876, Feudalism was abolished, weapons were not allowed to be carried in public, and the stipends given to samurai by their feudal lords were abolished.

It's a common misunderstanding, but "jujutsu" was not a single art; it's instead a Japanese term that in use is more equivalent to the catch all term "martial arts". There were many forms of jujutsu, not necessarily having much to do with each other. And with the decline of the samurai class, there was also a decline of jujutsu. It was seen as associated with an unpopular underclass, a rough crowd, and outdated, primitive. It was also thought of as dying out, being associated with a different time.

This was certainly the view of the father of Jigoro Kano. Raised in an upper-class family by a businessman and an educator, in favor of the "progress" of westernization, Kano excelled academically, and was recognized for his intelligence, but faced bullying, and he perceived that to be due to his being weak[*].

So it was somewhat rebellious when Jigoro Kano began studying at age 17 under Fukuda Hachinosuke of the Tenshin Shinyo-ryu. This willingness to challenge established norms was a defining trait of Kano; he spent a lifetime innovating, and was at heart a free thinker.

Fukuda's school emphasized a mix of kata (pre-arranged forms) and randori (free sparring), but Kano particularly appreciated the latter for its practical applications. After Fukuda's death, Kano continued his studies with Iso Masatomo, another master of the Tenshin Shinyo-ryu style. When he passed away, he then studied with Iikubo Tsunetoshi of the Kito-ryu school, which specialized in throwing techniques.[*]

This story keeps going, and has many nuances to it--many books have been written, and many things are still only accessible in original Japanese sources. But to quickly move forward--Kano bridged the old world of jujutsu and a new, modern, scientific approach. He chose to prioritize focusing on live practice, not rehearsed forms. He chose to prioritize techniques that could both be effective for real world use, but safe to practice at full intensity. And he chose to focus on technical excellence as a priority. Keeping an open mind, he created an eclectic style that reflected these values. Kano's Jujutsu--later being named Judo, to reflect a more philosophical approach than a strictly technical approach--opened itself up to public challenges from other schools of jujutsu, and either beat them or absorbed their techniques. He famously even learned the fireman's carry from a western book on wrestling and adopted it into the cannon of Judo.

Judo was full of innovations. The concept of a "white belt/black belt" ranking scheme was invented in Judo--it was drawn from the ranking system of "Go", the famous ancient board game of the east. The concept of a "Gi", the standard uniform seen in many martial arts, was also an innovation conceived of within Judo. Both of these ideas spread widely to martial arts throughout Japan and around the world.

The effect of this new approach to martial arts re-legitimized the idea of martial arts within the new Japanese society. But Japan was not enough; Kano was a very cosmopolitan minded person. He believed Judo could change the world, and sent top students abroad to demonstrate and teach around the world.

One of those emissaries was Yoshiaki Yamashita, who ended up teaching Teddy Roosevelt (yes, the president of the united states) Judo. He had mats put in the basement of the White House and trained 3-4 times a week for some time, attaining his brown belt.

Another one of those emissaries was Mitsuyo Maeda, who traveled through the US, Europe, Mexico, fighting prize matches and honing his techniques, gaining the nickname "Conde Koma", "Count Combat"... and eventually settled in Brazil.

Judo to "Jiu Jitsu"

A quick note before we continue: "jujutsu" and "jiu jitsu" are both transliterations of 柔術. Informally, the older transliteration style "jiu jitsu", has become associated with the variation of Judo that evolved in Brazil in the early 1900s. This can be confusing for the newcomer, so, to state it clearly: Judo was an eclectic, novel art. It drew from various schools of Jujutsu, through the lens of a reimagination of what martial arts should be in the modern era, and how it should be trained. "Jiu Jitsu", when you see it spelled this way, refers to a style developed by students of Judo instructors in Brazil.

Why did this happen? While Judo is a famous word now known throughout the world, in the early 1900s, almost no one outside of Japan had ever heard of Judo. The traveling Japanese, when publishing in newspapers about their exhibitions, therefore often instead referred to what they did as "jiu jitsu", a term that was somewhat famous. This wasn't incorrect; "Kano's Jiu Jitsu" (jujutsu, using the spelling conventions of the time) was a natural term to the Japanese ear. It was perhaps less precise, but the nuances and the history didn't matter--getting the audiences to come in and watch these prize fights and demonstrations did.

The exact details of the story of jiu jitsu are fuzzy, as the Gracies were a very self-promotional family that have a history of being dishonest about their history. The best supported narrative we currently have is this:

Maeda, an early student of Judo, made it to Brazil. He founded a dojo, and taught some people. Jacyntho Ferro was one of those students, and apparently an assistant instructor to him. Jacyntho appears to have had a student named Donato Pires dos Reis. Carlos Gracie and a brother of his opened a dojo with Donato, as his assistant instructors.

Shortly after opening this dojo, within 3 months, there was a major falling out. That story is detailed elsewhere, and reflects poorly on the Gracies' character. Donato left. Within 2 years, we can see that the academy had been renamed to the "Academia Gracie". Carlos taught his brother Helio.

In other words, unlike is generally claimed, historical evidence seems to suggest that the Gracies did not learn directly from Maeda; if Carlos or his brother learned from Maeda at all, it seems to have been for a very short time. They likely did meet, but much more than that seems doubtful.

"Jiu Jitsu", as the Gracies called it, developed under them as a groundwork-focused variation of Judo, and specifically as a system with a strong focus on full unarmed combat; "Vale Tudo", an early form of MMA with almost no rules, was a common competition format in Brazil at the time, which gave an important crucible for the development of Jiu Jitsu, or as they later called it, "Gracie Jiu Jitsu".

One of the more famous highlights was when Helio Gracie challenged Masahiko Kimura, a famous visiting Judoka who is legendary in the history of Judo, to a fight.

He first faced a Judoka named Kato, and beat him (with a choke--though, after being thrown around and dominated for 30 minutes). He challenged Yamaguchi next, but Kimura accepted his challenge instead. The Gracies insisted on special rules that suited their own style--very soft mats to nullify throws from doing damage, no time limit, no points, and only submission or loss of consciousness counting as the end of the match.

Kimura dominated Helio standing, throwing him repeatedly--which is understandable, as aside from Kimura being legendary to this day in Judo circles, "Jiu Jitsu" under the Gracies seemed to have largely lost the standing techniques at the core of Judo--but for Kimura, used to giving concussions with the force of his throws, the mats were too soft to inflict damage. Realizing the match would not be finished with throws, he engaged him on the ground in the second round. He easily passed Helio's guard, dominating him on the ground, and got a shoulder lock on Helio.

Helio refused to submit, even as his shoulder began to take damage. His brother had to throw in the towel. (This would be mirrored in the next generation in the Renzo Gracie vs. Sakuraba fight in Japan). The move he was submitted with, known as gyaku-ude-garami in Judo, is well-known as the Kimura to this day in Jiu Jitsu. Helio later in life admitted that he also had been choked out at one point, but Kimura and the ref didn't notice, and he eventually came to.

Kimura was a respectable person when compared to Kato who tried to torment me. I was only a child in front of Kimura. He led me around by the nose. Of course he tried to defeat me though. I did not see any spite from his attitude. He asked me "Are you OK?" and loosened his arm when my ear started to bleed because his head lock was too strong.
--Helio Gracie

The next generation of Gracies, the sons of Helio and Carlos, carried forward the legacy of fighting, and of self promoting.

Rolls Gracie, son of Carlson, was considered the best of his generation, and cross trained broadly in Sambo, Wrestling, and Judo, whatever he could find. He was well loved. Sadly, he tragically passed away at 31 in a hang gliding accident. Notably, of the six people Rolls promoted to black belt, one of them was Mauricio Gomes. Mauricio Gomes married Reila Gracie, and their son, Roger Gracie (who took his mother's name), is to this day always brought up in Greatest-Of-All-Time discussions.

Rickson Gracie, son of Helio, took the family mantle after Rolls passed. He was widely regarded in his day, and many still think highly of him. Rickson is a bit of an enigma, though; he didn't fight many very good opponents. He liked to claim a 400-0 record, but he is known to have lost in Sambo--and it's known he didn't count that loss because he claims he didn't know the rules. There are other such examples. While generally regarded as a very skilled jiu jitsu fighter, his claimed record has been openly mocked by other in his family.

Rickson's brother Royce was chosen as the family representative for Jiu Jitsu in the first UFC tournaments. The UFC was actually founded by the Gracies as an advertisement for Jiu Jitsu. The opponents were selected for a style-vs-style tournament. Royce won, and it was successful in generting a ton of publicity. During this time, the Gracies were beginning to spread Jiu Jitsu in the US, in California.

There are many more stories in the history of Jiu Jitsu; the important thing to note is that when it reached the US, Jiu Jitsu started to change.

The Modern Era

Jiu Jitsu underwent a renaaisance in the US, and the US is now the center of the Jiu Jitsu world and has been for some time--and the Jiu Jitsu world is now far more international, growing throughout Europe, Australia, Asia, and beyond.

Many of the Gracies settled in California, which was at first the heart of the burgeoning Jiu Jitsu scene in the US. Renzo Gracie, also a famous fighter for the family (perhaps most famous for losing to Sakuraba in early MMA fights in Japan), established a famous gym in NYC, out of which came John Danaher, one of the most successful Jiu Jitsu coaches in the US. He and his students popularized and developed a strategy and a collection of techniques within jiu jitsu focused on leg submissions--in particular, without the gi, in a style called "no-gi", with a somewhat more permissive ruleset.

Of less importance, the Machados, cousins to the Gracies, brought Jiu Jitsu to the US as well. One of them brought Jiu Jitsu to Texas, teaching William Vandry, who was the first person I trained under, as a teenager, in Austin, TX.

Years later, after I moved away, Austin, TX became the current Jiu Jitsu Mecca, when John Danaher and his students moved there, along with an offshoot of former students who also established themselves in the area, founding a famous school known as The B Team, led by Craig Jones.

"Basically Just Judo"

After reading this history, I think it might be clear why I choose to strongly associate with the Judo roots of Jiu Jitsu, and why I avoid the term "Brazilian" Jiu Jitsu. Judo lost something in Brazil, when it became Jiu Jitsu. I aspire to connect the two back together again, taking the innovations from Jiu Jitsu and blending them back into the parent art.

These days, "Jiu Jitsu" has become more of a melting pot for submission grappling, and the primary hotbed of innovation in grappling today. It's an international community. The Gracies have largely disowned modern Jiu Jitsu, claiming their own jiu jitsu was the only "true" Jiu Jitsu. I'm happy to likewise separate from them. America has for some time now been the center of the Jiu Jitsu world, and Jiu Jitsu left the Gracies behind some time ago.

There's so much more to this story--from the history of catch wrestling, which Maeda encountered throughout the US and in the UK on his travels, and which the Gracies encountered later in Japan--up to the modern fusion of folkstyle wrestling and Judo talent in the highest levels of competition Jiu Jitsu. Keenan Cornelius, a famous competitor, calling his gym "American Jiu Jitsu", was another modern inflection point.

At this point, you may want to read more about my story; you can find that here.