Why Brazilian JiuJitsu?
The History of Brazilian JiuJitsu
Kimura
Santana
Carlson Gracie
Legacy

Why Brazilian JiuJitsu?
The most important factor that differentiated Brazilian jiu-jitsu from Judo and Japanese Jiu-Jitsu was that BJJ put extreme focus on ground fighting. While Japanese Jujitsu and Judo do incorporate training in ground fighting (newaza), with some schools favoring ground techniques over throwing, no Japanese schools, with the exception of Kosen judo, put as much emphasis on ground techniques as is done in BJJ. Some, if not the majority, of BJJ schools overlook throwing techniques entirely. Such training regime is responsible for the great advances in ground fighting introduced by Brazilian jiu-jitsu. In addition, like Judo, Brazilian jiu-jitsu encourages "randori" or free sparring against a live, resisting opponent. Thus, students have an opportunity to test their skills and develop them under realistic conditions, with minimal risk of injury. Overall, while most Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu techniques can be traced back to Judo and their predecessors, the major difference is that BJJ stresses the importance of gaining a dominant position over an opponent before attempting a submission; most BJJ schools teach "position before submission". One of the things that separates Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu from other martial arts is the importance of competition. Sparring is considered essential to a student's progression. This is a "live" martial art where one can go 100% in training without fear of injuring his or her opponent. Many say that this constant training against live, fully resisting opponents sets it apart from other traditional martial arts. 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 almost full power, resembling 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. This practice of live training, officially called Randori but commonly known as "rolling" in BJJ circles, is considered by many BJJ practitioners to be the major factor differentiating combat sports (ex. BJJ, Judo, Boxing, Wrestling) from traditional martial arts (ex. Karate, Tae Kwon Do, Aikido, Traditional Ju-Jitsu). Technical knowledge is judged by the number of techniques a person can perform, and the level of skill with which he performs them. This allows for smaller and older people to be recognized for their knowledge though they may not be the biggest and strongest fighters in the school. It is a distinctly individual sport, and practitioners are encouraged to adapt the techniques to make them work for their body type, strategy, and level of athleticism. The ultimate criterion is the ability to execute the technique successfully, and not stylistic compliance.

The History of Brazilian JiuJitsu
The creator of Gracie Jiu-Jitsu, Carlos Gracie is the third generation descendent of an immigrant from Scotland. Born in 1901 to Gastão Gracie, a Brazilian scholar and politician, Carlos was the smallest and skinniest of five brothers but was never defeated by his younger brothers. His younger brothers were Osvaldo, Gastão, Jorge and Helio (born 1913). He was raised in a wealthy family, and he became a student of Maeda when he was 19 when Maeda settled in Brazil. Maeda had made a name for himself in Brazil through his fighting exploits, and had opened up a school. Allegedly, it was Carlos' father who introduced Carlos to Maeda. Eventually, Carlos taught his brothers jiu-jitsu. At that time in Brazil, there was no technique for fighting besides boxing and Capoeira. Only Jiu-Jitsu had grappling techniques for fighting. From Carlos on to his brothers, Oswaldo, Gastao, Jorge, and Helio, they made a name for the family by fighting in several demonstrations and street fights using Jiu-Jitsu. Carlos only took one year of lessons from Maeda. (Maeda once went back to Japan). Later on he learned from Brazilian instuctor assistants, and then combined all the techniques to create Gracie Jiu-Jitsu as a fighting technique. Interesting, a japanese martial arts magazine article about Maeda referred to Maeda's style or school in Brazil as "Parasuits." (This was the phonetic japanese translation). Carlos Gracie opened up the first jiu-jitsu academy in Belem in 1925. His most famous fight was against a Japanese named "Giomori." Carlos tied with his larger opponent according to Carley Gracie. Reylson Gracie, in an interview, said that Carlos and "GeoOmori" fought twice; "once by the rules, the second time no holds barred. Both times they tied." Carlos Gracie died in 1994 at the age of 92. As Maeda challenged other schools, Gracie Jiu-Jitsu players also challenged other schools. Carlos spent all of his time establishing Gracie Jiu-Jitsu and let his brothers do the fighting with other schools to improve their technique. Notably, Helio defeated all challengers and became the strongest fighter. (Note: Helio only had two losses: one to Kimura and one to Valdemar Santana, Helio's own student in his later years.) At the age of 17, Helio first stepped into the ring in Frontao against a boxer named Antonio Portugal. Helio won in 30 seconds. He also defeated a Japanese Judoka, Namiki, in 1932. This was the first jiu-jitsu/Judo match of his career and also the first time he wore a gi during a fight. Helio ended the fight with Namiki in his guard when the bell rang a only seconds before Namiki submitted. Helio won fights against Japanese Judo players, Miyake and Kato (pronounced "Kado" in Japanese). He fought Kato twice. Their first match, at Maracana Stadium, was called a draw. In the second match, held in Ibirapuera Stadium in Sao Paulo, Helio choked Kato unconscious. This footage in on one of the Gracie in action video tapes. He also tied with Yatsuichi Ono. Eventully, a local (Brazilian) Japanese group decided to employ the most powerful judo player in attempt to defeat Helio.

Kimura
Won the all-Nippon Championship before and after the war. Kimura is considered one of Judo's great Judokas. He created "pro" judo in 1949, but failed in his activities and went to Hawaii, U.S. and became a prowrestler. He started international prowrestling at his hometown but lost to "Lidosan" at the "fight of the century." Like Maeda, he went to Europe and the US, and found his way to Central America and went to Brazil. In 1952, at the gym next to the largest soccer stadium in Rio, the fight began. The rules were based on using judo gi's (No strikes). Invincible Helio was 45 years old, 63 kilos. Kimura at 93 kilos. Kimura, with his powerful physique, easily threw Helio. Kimura quickly commenced with the ground game (newaza). Kimura and Helio rolled on the ground as Kimura jockeyed for position and a submission. Helio did his best to defend against the onslaught from one of Judo's greatest fighters. Kimura tried different submissions to force Helio's submission. Helio refused to submit and fought to escape Kimura's punishing attacks. Helio struggled valiantly against his larger opponent as Kimura tried different submissions. For the first 2 minutes, it was a tie, but Helio was constantly on the losing end. After 15 minutes, Helio conceded defeat. The first defeat in Helio's life was handed to him by Kimura. The decisive arm lock technique used by Kimura was named the "Kimura Lock" and even now known to Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu players, to praise Kimura's ability. It's been said that after the fight, Kimura invited Helio to visit the Kodokan in Japan. Helio declined. Even to this day, Helio speaks of great admiration of Kimura and appear proud to have faced one of Japan's greatest Judokas, Masahiko Kimura. The Jiu-Jitsu Maeda taught disappeared in Japan completely, but it flourished on the other side of the world in Brazil. The competition (fights) with the other schools Maeda had in Europe, US, and Central and South America was carried on in the name of vale tudo. A japanese martial arts journalist wrote, "Perhaps one day, G r a c i e J i u - J i t s u will come home and compete in the fighting rings in Japan." This has come to pass as Rickson Gracie, Royler Gracie, Renzo Gracie, Jean Jacques Machado, and other Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu fighters have fought in Japan.

Santana
In what is considered the longest jiujitsu match in history, Helio Gracie battled former student Valdemar Santana, a powerfully built stone cutter. Waldemar was a student of the family for twelve or thirteen years. He fought more than 20 times for the Gracie academy. He had a falling out with Helio Gracie, and they decided to settle their differences by fighting each other Vale-Tudo. According to Rorion Gracie, Helio's son, Santana had betrayed his teacher, Helio and denigrated Helio publicly in a newspaper. On May 24, 1957 at the Brazilian headquarters of the YMCA in central Rio de Janeiro, the media and the new medium of television were present to capture Helio's fight with his student Waldemar Santana. Waldemar stayed away from Helio when the match started. Eventually, Helio took Waldemar to the ground and ended up putting Santana in his guard. Helio took his time and occasionally unleash a barrage of strikes at Waldemar's head hoping for Waldemar to make a mistake. One photograph shows Helio driving his elbow at Waldemar's head from the guard. Santana played the waiting game and also threw his own punches. As Santana sensed Helio was becoming exhausted, Santana then took the fight to Helio. He maneuvered his massive frame on top of Helio forcing Helio to bear Santana's weight. Santana also started headbutting Helio in the cheek which forced Helio's eye to swell shut. Helio used heel kicks to Santana's kidneys to wear Santana down. Two hours had gone by as the two men struggled on the ground. Three hours and forty-five minutes into the fight, the two men separated and were kneeling; both gasping for air. Santana reached his feet and kicked at helio's head which connected. Helio went down from the blow and the fight was finally over.Helio had lasted 3 hours and 45 minutes before losing the contest. This vale tudo match was to be his last fight.

Carlson Gracie
With Valdemar Santana's victory over Helio Gracie, the son of Carlos Gracie entered the ring at the young age of 17 to defend the honor of his family and the family name. He took revenge for his family clan and defeated Valdemar, which won him the respect and title of "King." Carlson was to meet Santana in the ring six times. He won four times, and two matches were draws. Carlson fought a total of eighteen Vale-Tudo fights. There was one time in Bahia (North Brazil) against Euclides Pereira, and the referees decided to give Pereira the victory. Carlson doesn't think he had lost. He also fought a Brazilian champion, Passarito, who trained in Judo, Luta Livre, and Boxing. Carlson fought Passarito four times. Carlson won 3 and drew once with Passarito. Carlson's hardest acknowledged fight was against Ivan Gomes. He described Gomes as a "monster." This extremely tough fight had three-ten minute rounds, and would only stop if a fighter fell out of the ring. Gomes weighed in at 98 Kg (215 lbs), and Carlson was 73Kg (160 lbs). But Carlson was in really good shape, if it wasn't for that, he stated that he would have lost. Afterwards, Gomes became Carlson's student and became "world champion" in Carlson's words.Carlson reigned during the 1960s, and he is considered by Fabio Gurgel as one of the four champions of the Gracie clan

Legacy
The great vale tudo jiujitsu taught by Rolls Gracie is still alive today, Rickson and his protege Royler are keeping it alive in the NHB ring. Jacare, Pedro Sauer, Sergio Penha, Crolin Gracie and others have become successful teachers, but like everyone else they seem to be training their students primarily for sport jiujitsu. Only in the last couple of years have young jiujitsu fighters turned their attention to vale tudo. Perhaps if the sport [vale tudo competition] remains popular then Jacare, Crolin Gracie, Sauer, Carlinhos and others will forget about sport jiujitsu and return to the jiujitsu they learned from Rolls in the golden age of vale tudo jiujitsu and a new generation of jiujitsu lutadors will emerge who have devoted their lives to vale tudo and they will dominate the sport just as Rickson, Bhering, Rolls and the other legends did once upon a time." Carlos Gracie taught his brothers, and Helio distinguished himself as the champion of the Gracie brothers through his fighting exploits. He is also acknowledged as having a big influence on the development of Gracie Jiu-Jitsu. He altered techniques his brother taught him due to his small stature and relative weakness. He made them less reliant on strength and refined the techniques to maximize leverage. He said he couldn't get out of certain positions he was taught by his brother so he had to invent techniques to allow him to escape those positions. The male descendents of the Gracie clan are all taught the family fighting art and encouraged to represent the family in the "Gracie Challenge," an ongoing invitation to accept challenge matches to prove their fighting art's superiority. Two notable Gracie fighters are Helio's sons Royce and Rickson. Royce helped to popularize Gracie Jiu-Jitsu (aka Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu) in the US, Japan, and around the world through his successful fights in the Ultimate Fighting Championship Royce, a slim six foot man, entered the ring like his father before him, to challenge fighters from different fighting styles such as boxing, wrestling, shootfighting, karate, muay thai kickboxing, etc. He often fought larger opponents in a tournament setting where he fought elimination bouts. Rickson has became the acknowledged current champion of the Gracie clan. He is considered the best jiu-jitsu fighter alive, as well as one of the top NHB fighters. Carlson Gracie has continued his family's tradition by creating sports jiu-jitsu and a stable of NHB (no-holds barred) fighters. He is considered the father of sports jiu-jitsu. After he retired from the ring, he embarked on promoting sports jiu-jitsu. However, sports jiu-jitsu had its critic in Helio. He was an outspoken critic of sport jiujitsu, and very few of his top blackbelts competed in sport jiujitsu during the early years of the sport. Helio apparently saw his art as a form of self-defense and not sport. Judo's founder Jigoro Kano had similar sentiments of his creation. However Carlson was able to attract corporate sponsors to support teams of jiu-jitsu fighters so they could train full-time in essence as professional athletes. During the seventies Vale Tudo was still popular in Brazil as fights were televised. During the 1980s, vale tudo waned and jiu-jitsu fighters (lutadors) focused their efforts on sports jiu-jitsu competition. In 1991, the long feud between the Luta Livre style and Jiu-Jitsu style heated up and resulted in a showdown between the two styles. Luta Livre was a style designed for the ring. Some consider it a response to jiu-jitsu. A group of fighters came together to pool their knowledge to improve their technique and to answer jiu-jitsu's successful ground game. However, the jiu-jitsu camp lacked the experienced vale tudo fighters to meet the Luta Livre challenge. It seemed that Helio's criticism was right after all. Carlson Gracie took up the challenge for the jiu-jitsu camp. He quickly assembled and personally trained a team consisting of Murilo Bustamante, Fabio Gurgel (age 21) from Romero "Jacare" Cavalcanti, Wallid Ismael, Marcelo Bhering, who still to this day has a reputation as being one of the toughest NHB fighters. Wallid Ismael was matched with Eugenio Tadeau, Gurgel vs. Denilson Maia, Bustamante vs. Marcello Mendes, and Behring vs. Hugo Duarte. The only fight that didnt take place was Behring vs. Duarte. Behring was shot and killed prior to the event. These triumphant jiu-jitsu fighters are still competing in sports jiu-jitsu and vale tudo with the sudden world-wide interest and popularity of NHB fighting. Fabio Gurgel has his own academy and has competed in sports jiu-jitsu and also NHB. The irrepressible Wallid Ismael is fighting for the Carlson Gracie team of NHB fighters as well as competing in sports jiu-jitsu. Bustamante is also a noted sports jiu-jitsu lutador and has entered and successfully fought in the ring. He defeated Jerry Bohlander, the American shootfighter (Lion's Den member) by knockout. Bustamante had also drew with the massive world-class American wrestler Tom Erickson in the now defunct MARS fighting championship. Gurgel fought and lost to judges' decision to perhaps one of the most dangerous NHB fighter alive, Mark Kerr, a huge world-class American wrestler nicknamed the "specimen" for his tremendous physical development and athletic ability. Gurgel had great heart to fight in a tournament where in the finals, he had to meet Kerr who outweighed him by 70 lbs. Another notable Gracie fighter from Carlos' side of the family is Renzo Gracie. He truly exemplifies the Gracie ethos and has fought in the rings of the US, Brazil, and Japan. He labels himself as the "Gracie" who can also strike besides just using jiu-jitsu in the ring. He has defeated UFC champion Oleg Taktarov by knockout in the one and only MARS event.