Today, BJJ is practised by millions of people, from children taking their first steps on the mats to elite competitors, martial artists and people simply looking to learn something new. It is a martial art, a sport, a system of self-defence and, for many, a lifelong pursuit of knowledge and personal development.

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But how did it begin? How did a Japanese grappling tradition become one of the most influential martial arts of the modern era? How did BJJ develop into an art YOU can even practice in Rhayader?

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The story is one of adaptation, experimentation, challenge and generations of people who continued to explore what was possible.

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Japanese Roots: The Origins of Jujutsu

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To understand Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, we must begin in Japan. For centuries, Japanese martial traditions developed methods of unarmed combat, including throws, joint locks, pins and techniques for controlling an opponent. These practices became known collectively through various traditions of jujutsu or jujitsu, although the methods and purposes differed between schools.

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Jujutsu developed in a society where martial training was closely associated with the needs of warriors. Its techniques included ways of dealing with opponents at close quarters, including situations where striking alone would be insufficient.

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Over time, these traditions evolved. Teachers refined techniques, developed training methods and passed their knowledge from one generation to the next. During the nineteenth century, Japan underwent profound social and political change. As the old warrior class declined, traditional martial arts faced the challenge of finding a new place in modern society.

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One of the most important figures in this transformation was Jigoro Kano.

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Jigoro Kano and the Birth of Modern Judo

 

In 1882, Jigoro Kano established the Kodokan in Tokyo, founding the system that became known as Kodokan Judo. Kano had studied traditional jujutsu, but he wanted to develop something broader than a collection of fighting techniques. He created a structured method of training that combined physical education, practical technique, controlled practice and personal development.

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Judo placed particular emphasis on throws, pins, joint locks and strangles, alongside the ability to practise against a resisting partner. Rather than relying exclusively on predetermined movements, students could test their skills through randori, or free practice.

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Two principles became central to Kano's philosophy: making the most effective use of one's physical and mental energy, and pursuing mutual welfare and benefit. These ideas would become important elements of judo's identity. Kano's system also provided a means of preserving and developing older grappling knowledge within a modern educational framework. His students travelled internationally, spreading judo and its associated techniques to new audiences.

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One of those students would play a significant role in the story of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

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Mitsuyo Maeda: From Japan to Brazil

 

Mitsuyo Maeda, also known as Conde Koma, was a Japanese judoka who travelled extensively, demonstrating his skills and participating in challenge matches against practitioners of different fighting styles.

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He left Japan in the early twentieth century and travelled through various countries before arriving in Brazil in 1914. Eventually, he settled in Belém, in northern Brazil. Maeda's travels exposed him to a variety of opponents, rules and fighting environments. His experience was not limited to formal judo competition, and his demonstrations and matches helped introduce Japanese grappling methods to audiences unfamiliar with them.

It was in Brazil that his story became connected with the Gracie family.

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The precise details of the early teaching relationships have been debated by historians. The traditional Gracie account identifies Maeda as the teacher who introduced Carlos Gracie to the art, while some researchers have argued that Carlos received instruction through Jacyntho Ferro, a practitioner associated with Maeda. What is clear is that Japanese grappling traditions were being taught in Brazil during this period, and that Carlos Gracie became one of the key figures in their subsequent development.

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The foundations were in place. What followed would transform the art.

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The Gracie Family and the Development of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu

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Carlos Gracie began studying Japanese grappling in Brazil and went on to teach his brothers, including Hélio Gracie. The family became central to the development and promotion of the fighting system that would eventually become known internationally as Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

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The early Brazilian practitioners did not simply preserve a static collection of Japanese techniques. They trained, experimented, competed and adapted their methods to the demands of their own environment.

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Ground fighting became a defining feature of the developing art. Practitioners explored how to control an opponent, establish dominant positions, escape disadvantageous situations and apply submissions through joint locks and strangles. Hélio Gracie became particularly associated with adapting techniques and teaching methods for practitioners who could not rely on superior size or physical strength. The popular account of BJJ's development often emphasises this contribution, although the art's evolution was the work of many people over several generations.

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The Gracie family also helped establish a culture of challenge matches, in which practitioners tested their methods against opponents from other martial arts and fighting backgrounds.

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These contests became an important part of BJJ's identity. They encouraged practitioners to question assumptions, examine what worked under pressure and continue refining their skills.

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It is worth recognising that the Gracies were not the only contributors to Brazilian grappling. Other teachers and lineages, including those associated with Luiz França, also played important roles in its development.

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Modern Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu emerged through a wider history of teaching, rivalry, collaboration and technical innovation.

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The Art of the Ground Fight

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One of the defining characteristics of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is its emphasis on grappling and ground fighting. Many martial arts place considerable emphasis on striking or throwing an opponent. BJJ explores what happens when a fight continues on the ground, where leverage, positioning, balance and control become especially important. Rather than relying entirely on strength, practitioners learn to use body mechanics and positional advantage to overcome resistance.

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A smaller person may be able to control a larger opponent by using appropriate technique, although size, strength, athleticism and experience remain important factors. BJJ does not make physical differences irrelevant; it teaches ways of working intelligently within them.

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A central idea is that position often determines opportunity. A practitioner first learns to survive difficult positions, escape, establish control and improve their position. From there, they can work towards a submission.

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The process involves constant problem-solving. Every movement creates possibilities and limitations, and every response changes the situation.

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The guard is a particularly distinctive part of BJJ. A practitioner on their back can use their legs and hips to control distance, disrupt balance, prevent advancement and create opportunities to sweep or submit an opponent.

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Over time, the guard developed into an extensive family of positions and techniques, becoming one of the major areas of innovation in modern BJJ. This technical depth is one of the reasons the art can be studied for a lifetime. Even experienced practitioners continue to discover new details, connections and possibilities.

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Vale Tudo and the Testing of Techniques

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Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu developed in a culture of challenge matches and vale tudo contests -Portuguese for "anything goes" - in which fighters from different martial arts backgrounds competed under relatively permissive rules. These contests helped establish the reputation of Brazilian grappling. They also provided opportunities to test techniques against opponents who were not necessarily familiar with ground fighting.

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The underlying question was simple: how well would a martial art perform against someone trained in something different?

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For BJJ practitioners, the ability to control an opponent on the ground and threaten submissions became a major part of the answer. But these contests also demonstrated the importance of understanding the wider context of fighting. Takedowns, striking, defensive awareness and the ability to transition between ranges all matter, particularly when the rules permit a broader range of techniques.

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Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu continued to develop as a specialised grappling art, while its practitioners increasingly explored how its principles could be applied within mixed martial arts.

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1993: Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Takes the World Stage

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A defining moment in the international history of BJJ came in November 1993, when the first Ultimate Fighting Championship took place in Denver, Colorado. The event brought together fighters from different martial arts backgrounds in a tournament designed to explore how different fighting systems performed against one another.

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Royce Gracie, representing the Gracie family's Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, won the tournament despite often facing opponents who appeared physically larger or more powerful.

His performances attracted worldwide attention. Audiences watched a fighter use positioning, leverage, control and submissions to overcome opponents whose training had prepared them for very different kinds of combat.

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The significance was not that BJJ had suddenly been invented, or that one martial art had answered every question about fighting. Rather, the event introduced a much wider audience to the effectiveness of ground grappling and submission techniques. It helped inspire a generation of martial artists to study BJJ and encouraged fighters to broaden their training.

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As mixed martial arts evolved, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu became one of its foundational disciplines, alongside wrestling, striking and other forms of grappling. The impact was enormous. What had developed over decades in Brazil was now becoming an international phenomenon.

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From Fighting System to Global Sport

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As BJJ spread, it developed a competitive structure of its own. Tournaments created opportunities for practitioners to test their technical ability against others, and organisations established rules, weight categories, belt divisions and championship events.

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The International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation, commonly known as the IBJJF, became one of the most prominent organisations in the sport, helping to establish major international competitions.

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The World Jiu-Jitsu Championship and other major events attracted competitors from an increasingly diverse range of countries and backgrounds. Competition accelerated technical development. Athletes refined existing techniques, created new variations and explored increasingly sophisticated approaches to positional control, guard play, passing and submissions.

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The sport also diversified. Traditional gi grappling, in which practitioners wear a kimono-style uniform, developed alongside no-gi grappling, which is practised in rash guards, shorts and other athletic clothing. Both forms share fundamental principles, but differences in grips, friction and available controls influence how techniques are applied. Today, BJJ encompasses a wide range of approaches, from traditional self-defence and recreational training to highly specialised competitive grappling.

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There is no single style that represents every academy. Different instructors and teams bring their own experiences, priorities and technical philosophies to the art. That diversity is part of what keeps BJJ evolving.

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Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Today

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Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is now practised around the world by people of many ages, backgrounds and levels of ability.

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For some, it is a competitive sport. For others, it is a means of learning practical self-defence, improving physical fitness, developing confidence or pursuing a challenging skill over many years. It can also provide something less easily measured: the satisfaction of learning, the friendships formed through shared effort and the sense of belonging that grows within a good academy.

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Children can develop coordination, confidence and an appreciation of discipline through age-appropriate training. Adults can continue learning, testing themselves and refining their understanding long after their competitive years have passed.

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The art is also attracting increasing interest from people who enjoy its intellectual side. BJJ is a continual study of movement, balance, leverage, timing and decision-making. A technique that initially seems complicated can gradually become understandable through practice, and familiar positions can reveal new possibilities as experience deepens.

There is always another detail to refine, another problem to solve and another perspective to explore.

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For all its technical complexity, however, BJJ remains something that is learned with other people. Training partners provide the resistance that makes learning meaningful, while cooperation and trust allow practitioners to develop safely.

 

The best academies understand that improvement is not simply an individual pursuit. Everyone contributes to the learning environment, and everyone has something to teach through their experience, questions and willingness to practise.

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More Than a Martial Art

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The history of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is a story of adaptation.

 

Japanese grappling traditions were refined through judo, carried across the world by travelling martial artists, developed by Brazilian practitioners and transformed through generations of training and competition. The art then spread internationally, influencing the development of modern mixed martial arts and establishing itself as a major grappling discipline in its own right.

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Yet its appeal extends beyond its history and technical effectiveness.

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BJJ teaches us to work with difficulty rather than simply avoid it. It encourages patience, because meaningful progress takes time. It teaches humility, because there is always more to learn. And it reminds us that physical strength is only one part of a much larger picture involving technique, understanding, adaptability and composure.

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Perhaps most importantly, it gives us the opportunity to learn alongside others. We make mistakes, help one another improve, overcome challenges and gradually develop skills that once seemed beyond us.

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At Mid Wales BJJ, we want to share that experience with our community. We believe the art has something valuable to offer children and adults alike, whether their ambitions involve self-defence, fitness, competition, personal development or simply the enjoyment of learning something fascinating.

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We honour the traditions that brought Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu to where it is today, while recognising that its story is still being written by the people who practise it. Every class is another opportunity to learn. Every training partner contributes to that journey. And every new student becomes part of the continuing story of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

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