The “Gentle Art” can be traced back to its origin to Indian Monks from the 17th century. The concept was to use leverage and balance as self-defense against larger and more aggressive opponents. Around, roughly, the 1800s, Jiu-Jitsu began to spread throughout Southeast Asia, where it was finally introduced to Japan and gained large popularity. This produced one of the greatest Jiu-Jitsu masters in history.
His name is Esai Maeda Koma better known by “Conde Koma”. In 1915 the great Jiu-Jitsu master, Conde Koma, brought the “Gentle Art” to Brazil. Once he started teaching his first students Brazil Jiu-Jitsu was born. Koma’s star people was Carlos Gracie at the age of 15, where Carlos Gracie dedicated his live to the study and teaching of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. In 1925 Carlos Gracie opened his first gym with his family called the Academia Gracie de Jiu-Jitsu. After evolving the art more, It attracted Jiu-Jitsu students and masters from all over Asia to try come and learn the new twist that the Gracie family put on the existing art of Jiu-Jitsu.
After establishing Jiu-Jitsu in Brazil, the Gracie family decided to expand to the united states, and some European countries such as England. But when the Gracie family moved to the United States, they had trouble with their competition due to the large amount of karate studios. This prompted the Gracie family to challenge other Martial Arts claiming that the Gracie’s will not lose a fight, This caused them to put up $100k purse. Which gave them a great idea… the creation of The Ultimate Fighting Championship. This was when the sport really took off, and was put under the spotlight for the whole nation and most of the world to see its dominance.
BJJ has evolved since the creation of the ground fighting martial art by Helio Gracie in the early 20th century. Since that time, many marquee individuals and teams such as CheckMat BJJ have brought on the development of positions such as deep half-guard, x-guard, and many new submissions. With many new Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu artists studying and creating new moves from gyms such as official CheckMat BJJ affiliate Orange County Jiu-Jitsu, the future looks promising.
