Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu: How One Family Changed the Face of Fighting

"It's like chess, if you had a million pieces. It's a game, and the game is using your body to dominate another person's body with technique and leverage."

-Joe Rogan, commentator for the Ultimate Fighting Championship, former U.S. Open champion in tae kwon do, and brown belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu under Eddie Bravo.

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) is the magic bullet of martial arts. It focuses on chokes, joint locks, and achieving advantageous positions during grappling to neutralize your opponent's offense. If your technique is solid enough, you can disable people that are stronger, faster, and bigger than you.


Mitsuyo Maeda brought the art of Jiu-Jitsu from Japan to Brazil and taught it to Carlos Gracie, the eldest of several brothers. Carlos opened up a Gracie Jiu-Jitsu gym in 1925, but it was his youngest brother, Helio, that took the style and ran with it.

Helio Gracie (1913 – 2009) was always smaller and physically weaker than the rest of the Gracie brothers. In order to make up for his lack of size, Helio modified Jiu-Jitsu techniques to take greater advantage of leverage. Thus, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu was born (Onzuka).

BJJ is so brutally effective that 170lb. Royce Gracie (one of Helio's children) literally volunteered to step into a steel cage with over 220lbs. of steroids and spandex in Ken Shamrock at the very first Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).

Obviously Royce won; otherwise there would be no point in telling you this story. But it wasn't just any David and Goliath victory--it only took Royce Gracie fifty-seven seconds for to sink his nasty rear naked choke on Ken Shamrock. Here is an excellent video of Royce Gracie's nephews breaking down the fight and its techniques on YouTube, with clips from the original UFC 1 showdown:

Since that fateful match between Royce Gracie and Ken Shamrock, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu has become part of every modern fighter's arsenal--you simply cannot win in MMA without being able to apply or at least avoid submissions. A fighter that has never heard of a heel hook is like a math major that doesn't know long division.


On January 29, 2009, Helio Gracie died at 95 years of age. His last words were, "I created a flag from the sport’s dignity. I oversee the name of my family with affection and nerves of blood." 

 Sources:

Onzuka, Chris. "A Gracie Family Pictorial." Onzuka Brothers, n. d. Web. 14 Oct. 2011. <http://www.onzuka.com/graciepix.html>.


"Royce Gracie vs. Ken Shamrock UFC 1 (Gracie Breakdown - Classics)." Video. Rener Gracie. GracieBreakdown, 2010. Web. 14 Oct 2011. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSS9CuuPvQg>.


Rogan, Joe. "PODCAST #132 - Bert Kreischer, Brian Redban." The Joe Rogan Experience. 22 Aug 2011.