Gamebred Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Academy

"Jiu-Jitsu is the gentle art. It's the art where a small man is going to prove to you, no matter how strong you are, no matter how mad you get, that you're going to have to accept defeat. Thats what Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is." -Saulo Ribeiro

The History of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu

Jiu-Jitsu, which means gentle art, is the oldest form of martial art. It originated in India more than 2000 years before Christ. It was created by monks who could not use any type of weapons to defend their lives against barbarian attacks. It spread through China, and eventually took root and was elaborated on in Japan becoming the first martial art style. The samurai clans in Japan adopted Jiu-Jitsu as their own traditional style to defeat an opponent regardless if the situation was striking, throwing or grappling. With the passing years, they split the techniques and developed other martial arts styles, such as judo, aikido, karate, and most of the other martial arts that we have today.

Helio Gracie, a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) legend began to adapt the traditional Japanese sport form of Jiu-Jitsu. Because he was a small man in stature (only 135 pounds), his intent was to adjust the techniques to be more reliant on leverage, timing, and technique instead of power and force. This would allow a smaller or weaker person to defend themselves against a larger or stronger attacker. With the knowledge that more than 95% of confrontations end in a clinch or on the ground, this art has become one of the most effective self defense systems in the world today.

In the early 1990's, no hold barred competitions, such as the "Ultimate Fighting Championship," became very popular in the United States. These early competitions pitted style VS. style, or martial art VS. martial art against each other and the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu fighters consistently defeated other martial artists trained in other styles. Because of this, virtually every martial arts academy has added some form of BJJ to their curriculum.

It can easily be said that Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is the most effective hand to hand combat art available today, and it is the fastest growing martial art worldwide.