Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
Jiu-Jitsu BrasileiroA Brazilian ground-fighting art built on joint locks and chokes; it lets technique control a stronger opponent.
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BrazilCharacter & Origin
Training
Who It Suits
Organisation & Competition
What the style is built from
Editorial rating on a 0–3 scale, based on how much room each area gets in ordinary training.
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Catalogs & Databases for Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
About Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
Brazilian jiu-jitsu emerged in Brazil in the 1920s, when the Gracie family reworked the judo and jujutsu brought to the country by the Japanese master Mitsuyo Maeda. The decisive shift was not in the techniques but in the emphasis: the Gracies built the system around ground fighting and around letting a smaller, weaker person control a larger one. The logic is simple. On the ground, strength and reach lose part of their advantage because position decides. BJJ therefore teaches a hierarchy of positions — from guard to half guard, side control, back control, mount — and only from a dominant position do the finishes come: chokes and locks on the elbow, shoulder and knee.
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Training happens both in the kimono (gi) and without it (no-gi); grips on the fabric change the game enough that the two are practised separately. The core of a class is full-resistance sparring, “rolling”, which is safe precisely because a partner can tap at any moment. This allows training against full resistance without repeated blows to the head. The belts are white, blue, purple, brown and black, with stripes between them; for adults the IBJJF sets minimum times at blue (2 years), purple (1.5 years) and brown (1 year), so the path to black takes at least 4.5 years. Actual times vary and are usually longer. The competition scene is broad (IBJJF and others), and BJJ is at the same time one of the three pillars of modern MMA.
History
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu emerged from the judo that Mitsuyo Maeda (1878–1941), a Kodokan judoka, brought to Brazil. Maeda arrived in Brazil in 1914 and founded his first academy there in 1921. In 1917 the fourteen-year-old Carlos Gracie saw his demonstration in Belém. According to the family version Maeda taught him directly, according to another version his student Jacyntho Ferro did. The brothers Carlos, Oswaldo, Gastão Jr. and Hélio Gracie developed the art around 1925. A parallel line is formed by Luiz França and his student Oswaldo Fadda. The name jiu-jitsu is an older transcription of the Japanese 柔術: judo was then often called Kano jiu-jitsu, and in Brazil the name remained. Rorion Gracie left for the United States in 1978 and in 1993 co-founded the UFC competition. Royce Gracie won UFC 1 (12 November 1993), UFC 2 and UFC 4. In Pride in 1999–2000, Kazushi Sakuraba defeated Royler, Royce, Renzo and Ryan Gracie.
Technique
BJJ rests on fighting on the ground and on finishing techniques: chokes and locks. The main positions are guard, side control, knee-on-belly, mount, back mount and north-south. Takedowns from wrestling and from sambo are allowed, and a feature of its own is pulling guard, which judo and wrestling do not use. The IBJJF rules award 2 points for a takedown, sweep and knee-on-belly, 3 points for a guard pass and 4 points for mount and back mount, and the position must be held for 3 seconds. A nearly completed position gives an advantage. Strikes, kicks, knees and elbows are forbidden. The list of forbidden techniques has 26 items, and the validity of the ban depends on age and belt. The IBJJF has allowed the heel hook and knee reaping since 2021 only in no-gi for adult brown and black belts, while sport sambo forbids heel twisting.
Training
The basis of training is rolling, sparring at full speed and strength against resistance, supplemented by drills with a cooperating and a non-cooperating partner and by positional sparring. Training is done in the gi and without it (no-gi). We have not been able to document in the sources when a beginner first spars and how a lesson is divided. In an American survey of 56 mostly experienced competitors, 82.1% trained at least six hours a week. According to a survey of 1,140 practitioners from 62 countries, 77.6% of injuries occur in sparring, and the knee (27.1%) and shoulder (14.6%) are most often affected. A study of tournaments in Hawaii reports 9.2 injuries per 1,000 starts, most often the elbow in an arm lock.
Ranks and progression
Adults (from 16 years) progress through white, blue, purple, brown and black belts, and above these are red-and-black (7th degree), red-and-white (8th degree) and red (9th and 10th degree). Children from 4 to 15 have 13 belts in groups of grey, yellow, orange and green. Belts up to brown are divided by four stripes, the black belt has 6 degrees, and the first can be requested after 3 years in the black belt. The IBJJF prescribes a minimum time of 2 years at blue belt, 1.5 years at purple and 1 year at brown, so from white to black belt there are at least 4.5 years. The minimum age is 16 for blue and purple belt, 18 for brown and as a rule 19 for black, and the adult world champion at brown belt may receive it from 18. The belt is awarded by the teacher, and the IBJJF recognises it only if its deadlines and registration are met. Brown and black belts without prior registration are provisional for 2 years.
Who it suits
The IBJJF has competition divisions from 4 years: Mighty Mite (4–6 years), Pee Wee (7–9), Junior (10–12) and Teen (13–15). Children’s bouts last 2 to 4 minutes depending on age. Next come Juvenile (16–17 years), Adult (18–29) and the Master categories from 30 years up to Master 7 from 61. Women compete in separate divisions with their own weights and wear an elastic shirt under the gi. The basic idea of BJJ is that a smaller and weaker person can defend against a bigger one thanks to leverage and position. A survey of practitioners linked a higher risk of injury with regular competing, higher age and higher belt. In a Brazilian study of 193 practitioners, adolescents aged 12–17 had 0.59 injuries per person, adults up to 30 had 1.37 and older ones 1.94.
Competition
According to the IBJJF, an adult match in the gi lasts 5 minutes for white belt, 6 for blue, 7 for purple, 8 for brown and 10 for black. It ends by submission, otherwise points decide, then advantages and penalty points. Men in the gi have nine weight classes from Rooster (up to 57.5 kg) to Ultra Heavy, plus an open class. The main IBJJF competitions are the world championship in the gi and, since 2007, in no-gi, the Pan Championship and the European Open. Alongside point-based tournaments there are submission-only competitions, for example EBI. Since 1998 the ADCC has been held in Abu Dhabi, founded with the BJJ instructor Nelson Monteiro: in the first half of the match no positive points are awarded, pulling guard is penalized, and it has also been won by wrestlers, for example Mark Kerr. BJJ is not in the Olympic program.
Gear
Under IBJJF rules the gi must be a single colour, white, royal blue or black, and the jacket, trousers and collar must not differ in colour. The fabric must be woven and not so thick or stiff that it hinders the opponent's grip. The collar may be at most 1.3 cm thick and 5 cm wide. The jacket reaches the thigh, the sleeve with the forearm extended ends at most 2 cm from the wrist, and its opening is measured at 7 cm during the check. The trousers may end at most 2 cm above the ankle bone. A painted gi is forbidden except for an academy or sponsor logo in the patch areas, and patches must be cotton and sewn on. The belt is 4 to 5 cm wide and has the colour of the rank with a black end, or a white or red one for black belts. It is wrapped twice around the waist and the ends hang 20 to 30 cm. Women may wear elastic trousers under the gi that are shorter than the gi trousers, otherwise only briefs are worn under the gi. In no-gi, the shirt or rashguard must be black, white or black and white with at least 10 % of the belt colour, or entirely in the belt colour. Shorts reach at least to mid-thigh and at most to the knee, with no zippers, buttons or exposed drawstrings, and women may wear tight compression trousers.
Philosophy
In clubs people take their shoes off before stepping onto the mat, practitioners line up by belt and the teacher is addressed as coach or professor. Partners greet each other before and after sparring. Strict hygiene is typical: a clean gi, covered wounds, short nails. According to a training survey, skin infections are among the most common medical diagnoses. The red belt is for those who fundamentally influenced the art. The IBJJF awards the tenth degree only to pioneers from the Gracie family: Carlos, Oswaldo, George, Gastão and Hélio. Conduct in competition is governed by the IBJJF Coach and Parent Code of Conduct. Coaches and parents must stay seated during the match, may speak to the athlete only inside the competition zone and must not comment on the referee. Offensive gestures, inappropriate remarks to opponents, referees and spectators, and banging on the panels are forbidden. For children in the Mighty Mite and Pee Wee categories one coach or legal guardian is allowed, in the Junior and Teen categories none. Violations risk removal or suspension of membership. US-resident black belt applicants and heads of registered academies must pass a background check. Doping controls follow the WADA list of prohibited substances and are run by the US agency USADA.
Styles and schools
Brazilian jiu-jitsu is not divided into styles in the Japanese sense, but into family and team lineages. Carlson Gracie (born 1932) was the first to lead group classes, until then jiu-jitsu had been taught individually, and he allowed poorer students to train for free in exchange for full commitment and competing. The teams Nova União, BTT and American Top Team came out of his lineage. A legal dispute within the family was fought over the name Gracie Jiu-Jitsu. In 1997 a jury ruled that Rorion Gracie has no valid trademark rights to the bare name Gracie Jiu-Jitsu, whereas his 1989 trademark with the logo of two figures in a triangle is valid. The dispute was also dealt with in 2000 by the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (Gracie v. Gracie). The lineage of Luiz França and Oswaldo Fadda, from which GF Team grew, remains disputed. It was long considered a branch independent of the Gracies, but the historian Robert Drysdale found no evidence that França learned directly from Maeda.
Today
BJJ has no single governing organization. The main tournaments are run by the IBJJF, based in Rio de Janeiro and founded in 2002 by Carlos Gracie Jr., while the nonprofit SJJIF from Los Angeles, for example, has its own competitions. The Brazilian lineage branches into schools such as Gracie Humaitá, Gracie Barra, Carlson Gracie and Alliance, and the Gracie family uses the name Gracie jiu-jitsu. The idea that BJJ is directly classical Japanese jujutsu does not match the sources: Maeda and his companion Soshihiro Satake were both judoka from the Kodokan, and Maeda learned catch wrestling even before Brazil. Hélio Gracie later also learned catch from Orlando “Dudú” da Silva, who submitted verbally in a match against him on February 2, 1935. Jiu-jitsu clashed with luta livre from the match of Carlos Gracie with Manoel Rufino dos Santos in 1931 to the Desafio of 1991 on Rede Globo, where of three matches held jiu-jitsu won all.
In culture
David Mamet, author and director of the film Redbelt (2008), discovered Brazilian jiu-jitsu after moving to the US West Coast, and his teacher Renato Magno appears in the film. For the film John Wick: Chapter 2 (2017), Rigan Machado taught Keanu Reeves new jiu-jitsu movements for three and a half months. The actor Tom Hardy won the REORG Open Jiu-Jitsu Championship in England in August 2022, with the proceeds going to support soldiers, veterans and emergency workers. Hardy is a trustee of the REORG organization. Royce Gracie won the first UFC in 1993 and, according to Britannica, showed that technique and leverage can defeat larger opponents, which helped establish Brazilian jiu-jitsu in MMA. ESPN Films announced in July 2023 the documentary series Gracie about the history of the family, directed by Chris Fuller, with Guy Ritchie among the executive producers. Mark Zuckerberg won a gold and a silver medal in May 2023 at his first jiu-jitsu tournament in Redwood City.
Did you know
The match between Hélio Gracie and Masahiko Kimura took place on 23 October 1951 at the Maracana stadium in Rio. Hélio Gracie weighed 139 pounds, the Japanese Masahiko Kimura 210. In the second round Kimura applied an armlock, and Carlos Gracie ran onto the mat and stopped the fight. According to an article in Graciemag, contemporary newspapers show Hélio's arm unbroken, contrary to what Kimura wrote in his later autobiography. Carlson Gracie fought eighteen vale tudo matches and lost only one, on points, to Euclides Pereira. On the beaches of Rio he accepted challengers, but only held them and never submitted them. Royce Gracie drew with Ken Shamrock at UFC 5 (7 April 1995), and his match with Kazushi Sakuraba at Pride Grand Prix 2000 lasted ninety minutes in rounds of fifteen minutes, until his father Hélio threw in the towel. The first IBJJF World Championship took place in February 1996 at the Tijuca Tenis Club in Rio, where it was held until 2007 before moving to Long Beach, California. In 2000 BJ Penn became the first foreigner to win the black belt division at the World Championship.
Styles & Branches
Frequently asked questions
What is Brazilian jiu-jitsu?
Brazilian jiu-jitsu is a martial art focused on ground fighting ending in a choke or a joint lock. It developed in Brazil from Kodokan judo. Strikes, kicks, knees and elbows are prohibited in IBJJF competitions.
What is the difference between jiu-jitsu and BJJ?
Japanese jujutsu is a collective term for old schools of unarmed combat, from which Jigoro Kano created judo. Brazilian jiu-jitsu emerged from Kodokan judo and kept the older spelling jiu-jitsu. It focuses on ground fighting, and competitions are won by submission or on points.
What is the difference between judo and jiu-jitsu?
Judo is decided mainly by a throw and has time-limited ground fighting, while Brazilian jiu-jitsu scores positions on the ground and is won by submission. Judo is an Olympic sport, Brazilian jiu-jitsu is not.
What belts are used in Brazilian jiu-jitsu?
According to the IBJJF rules, adults progress through white, blue, purple, brown and black belts, followed by red-and-black, red-and-white and red belts. A brown belt can be obtained from age 18, a black belt from 19. Children aged 4 to 15 have their own grey, yellow, orange and green belts, each in three versions: with a white stripe, without a stripe and with a black stripe.
What are BJJ techniques?
BJJ is built on positions and finishes. The main positions are guard, side control, knee-on-belly, mount, back mount and north-south, and the finishes are chokes and joint locks. IBJJF rules award 2 points for a takedown, sweep and knee-on-belly, 3 points for a guard pass and 4 points for mount and back mount.
Similar styles
Selected by overlap in the style profile, not by historical lineage.