Jiu jitsu was well stablished in Japan when Mitsuyu Maeda (head instructor from a traditional Japanese school) decided to start spreading his teachings around Europe and America.
He arrived in Brazil in 1914 and after that the sport’s history started to change.
Maeda was so confident on what he knew, he decided to prove the art was superior by challenging big names of different fighting modalities, like capoeira and boxing. He was able to defeat a 6.2ft 200+lbs Capoeira Master being only a 5.3ft 150lbs guy. Maeda took away his knife, took him down and ended the fight by submission, and that brought a lot of attention to Jiu-jitsu.
In 1917 he started teaching private lessons to Carlos Gracie because he was very good friends with their family. Carlos became passionate about the sport right away and decided to make jiu-jitsu his lifestyle.
Soon after, his brother Helio Gracie followed his steps and since Helio was a smaller guy with a fragile physique and health, he started to develop his own techniques based on leveraging the body weight of his opponents against his. And with time he realized this fighting style worked better on the ground.
With this new strategy (leverage + ground) he transformed Jiu-jitsu’s history, making it even more possible for less advantage competitors (weaker and smaller) to win agains bigger and stronger opponents. This new way of jiu-jitsu conquered fans around the world and became what we now know as “Brazilian Jiu-jitsu”.
Cicero Costha’s lineage is: Carlos Gracie > Helio Gracie >Rickson Gracie > Marcelo Behring > Waldomiro Perez >Roberto Godoi > Marco Barbosa > Cicero Costha.
From Brazil to USA
It’s undeniable the Brazilians are 100% responsible for the spread of Jiu jitsu in the US. Even though the Japanese art was already being taught here, it was when the Gracie family arrived in the late 70’s showcasing their techniques in fight challenges that the Brazilian Jiu Jitsu really started growing in North America.
The big rise of Brazilian Jiu jitsu was after the first Ultimate Fighter Championship (UFC) event, created by Rorion Gracie in 1993 to showcase the different styles of martial arts and decide which one was the most efficient in combat. In this event Royce Gracie, even though he was a smaller guy, won all his matches using only Brazilian Jiu jitsu techniques.
Afterwards the UFC became a smashing success, not just as an infomercial for Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu but also as a promotion all on its own. Royce’s victory sent a clear message to all American martial arts: RESPECT THE GROUND GAME.
Thanks to the sport’s power of unification and equality, our beloved Brazilian Jiu jitsu can be practiced and taught around the world to all people, kids and adults, men and women, and always promoting we are the same and that respect is the number one core value in this martial art. Since then, BJJ has been conquering more and more fans, practitioners and athletes that end up choosing the art as their lifestyle.
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