The history of Brazilian jiu-jitsu starts with a Japanese judoka, Mitsuyo Maeda, who settled in Brazil in the 1910s. He taught Carlos Gracie, who passed the method on to his brothers, including Hélio. The family adapted it so a lighter fighter could dominate on the ground, proved it in challenge matches against other styles, and showed it to the world at the first UFC in 1993. Historians still debate parts of this story, and it is worth knowing which parts.
Maeda, the traveling judoka
Mitsuyo Maeda trained at the Kodokan, the school founded by Jigoro Kano. In the early 20th century he went abroad with other judoka to promote the method. He passed through the United States, Europe and Latin America, taking on wrestlers and boxers in challenge matches that were often paid. He became known as "Conde Koma".
Outside Japan at the time, judo was still often called "jiu-jitsu". That blurry vocabulary explains the name of the Brazilian art, and the confusion today with Japanese jiu-jitsu.
Maeda settled in Brazil around the middle of the 1910s, in Belém, in the north of the country. That is where he met the Gracie family.
Carlos Gracie and the handover
Carlos Gracie trained under Maeda as a teenager. How long and how intensely is debated. Some historians think the training was short and that Carlos also learned from Maeda's students. What is certain is that Carlos then taught his brothers and opened an academy in Rio de Janeiro in the mid-1920s.
Other students of Maeda built their own lineages. The best known runs through Luiz França and then Oswaldo Fadda, who taught in working-class neighborhoods of Rio. So BJJ is not only a family affair, even if the Gracies dominated how its story was told.
Hélio and leverage
Hélio Gracie was the youngest and slightest of the brothers and could not rely on strength. According to the family account, he reworked the techniques to make them work without power: longer levers, more patient positions and attacking from guard on your back. He is often credited as the father of the style, a claim other family members have qualified.
What really set the Gracie school apart at the time was its focus on real fights. The family issued public challenges to representatives of every style. The results served as advertising.
1951: Hélio vs Kimura
The most famous fight of the era put Hélio Gracie against the Japanese judoka Masahiko Kimura at Rio's Maracanã stadium. Kimura was heavier and younger, and one of the best judoka of his time. He threw Hélio several times, controlled him on the ground and applied ude-garami (entangled arm lock). Hélio refused to tap. His corner threw in the towel to avoid a worse injury.
BJJ kept the winner's name for that lock: the kimura. The fact that Hélio's loss is told as proof of courage says a lot about the culture of the art.
The growth years in Brazil
From 1950 to 1990 the art grew in Brazil. The next generation taught it, including Carlson and Rolls on Carlos's side and Rickson and Royler on Hélio's. They also tested it against other styles in vale tudo fights ("anything goes"). Sport competition slowly took shape, with points rules close to today's.
The belt system settled on the colors we know: white, blue, purple, brown and black. It has nothing to do with judo belt colors, and the way it works today is explained in our guide to BJJ belts.
1993: UFC 1 changes everything
Rorion Gracie, Hélio's son, moved to the United States and co-founded a tournament with no weight classes and almost no rules. The first UFC took place in Denver in November 1993. His brother Royce, slim and wearing a gi, submitted all three of his opponents that night, every one of them heavier. The audience saw that a ground fighter could beat a bigger boxer or wrestler.
The effect was immediate. BJJ academies opened everywhere, and every MMA fighter now had to learn to defend on the ground. The link between grappling sports and MMA is covered in judo for MMA.
Building the sport
The Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Confederation was founded in the mid-1990s on the initiative of Carlos Gracie Jr. The international federation, the IBJJF, followed in the early 2000s. It runs the world championships and sets the rulebook most tournaments follow today. Scoring and banned techniques are covered in our guide to IBJJF rules.
What this history says about BJJ today
Two legacies still show on the mats. The first is the obsession with what works against resistance: in BJJ, you spar in every class. The second is the idea that the smaller person can win if they are patient and well positioned, which explains why guard sits at the center of the game.
If you teach, tell this story with its nuances, Luiz França included. Your students will get a more accurate picture of what they practice. They will also learn to distrust stories that are too simple, which is a good habit on the mat and off it. For where the art stands today, our Brazilian jiu-jitsu page covers the full picture.