Bachiller

History of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu

The Jiu-Jitsu of today is a multi-faceted method of self-defense and dynamic sport whose true origin is not fully known.It is widely accepted that the origin of Jiu-Jitsu techniques are the culmination of many ancient forms of combat.

One of the most accepted theories as to the origins of Jiu-Jitsu is that this form of combat originated with the AncientGreeks.Six centuries before the earliest Japanese record of unarmed combat, a martial sport similar to Jiu-Jitsu existed in Greece. This grappling and striking martial art was called the Pankrateon, meaning the all powerful art. Introduced into the Olympic games of Greece in 648 B.C., it was practiced until 400 A.D.The Pankrateon art was part of the basic training of the Greek warriors under Alexanderthe Great, and many of the Pankrateon champions were, in fact, soldiers. It is now believed that when the troops of Alexander invaded India in 326 B.C. that at least part of the unarmed martial form was left behind with local warriors.

It is widely accepted that systemized martial art techniques came from India through Buddhism as Dharma introduced Buddhism and Boxing in the Shaolin templebuilt in the center of China.It is believed that the early development of Jiu-Jitsu came from the Buddhist Monks of northern India who were constantly assaulted by bandits as they journeyed through India.Because the use of weapons is discouraged by the religious and moral values of Buddhism, the Buddhist Monks had to develop an effective method of hand-to-hand combat.The Buddhist Monks combinedtheir knowledge of the human body to laws of physics such as leverages, momentum, balance, center of gravity, etc. to create a powerfully effective art of self-defense.

There are other theories that also support the idea of Jiu-Jitsu coming from China such as the story of Chin Gen Pinh, a Chinese monk, who went to Japan with knowledge of a grappling art that he taught to three masterless samurai(Ronin)The three Ronin continued studying the art and it became Jiu-Jitsu. Another theory says that there were many forms of wrestling in China and that one of them, Chikura Karube that was developed around 200 B.C., later became Jiu-Jitsu.

There is also the theory that Jiu-Jitsu is Japanese and is essentially another version of the story of Chin Gen Pinh, yet in this version he introduced theRonin to Kempo, an early form of Jiu-Jitsu that consisted of strikes and very little grappling.In this version it is the Japanese who took this form of Kempo and transformed it into Jiu-Jitsu.What is definitively agreed upon is that the Japanese are responsible for transforming jiu-jitsu into an effective and refined grappling system of combat and defense. The earliest recorded use of the wordjiu-jitsu occurred in 1532 by the school Takenouchi Ryu but it was also known as Yawara, Hakuda, Kogusoko and various other names.

The Japanese form of Jiu-Jitsu was originally an art designed for warfare during the feudal system and with the end of the feudal system the need for jiu-jitsu in warfare decreased.It is at this point that Jiu-Jitsu began to take its first steps in transforming from anart of defense in combat to the sport and method of self defense it is today as it began to be modified to be more suitable for practice. At this time there was a practitioner of Jiu-Jitsu named Jigoro Kano (1860-1938) who began to develop a system of jiu-jitsu called judo that allowed for safe and realistic practice of the martial art.This was beneficial because it allowed practitioners of Kano’sjudo to practice more frequently and significantly increase their abilities in the art.

Due to Kano’s preference for emphasizing the importance of take downs and throws, the practice of judo did not emphasize the ground work and eventually practitioners of Kano’s Jiu-Jitsu/Judo became weak in the ground work.In actuality, Kano’s Judo was made up of many styles of Jiu-Jitsu as well as styles...