I agree... It's naive for Gracie to say that the Japanese forgot their own style, for as we all know, the martial arts is constantly changing (whether in techniques or principle) to its environment and time.
While the samarai still wore armor, strikes weren't as necessary. In later years, imperial gaurds wore lighter garments and strikes were more prevalent... This DOES NOT mean that they simply forgot how to fight grapple... It was modification.
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The sage experiences without abstraction,
And accomplishes without action;
He accepts the ebb and flow of things,
Nurtures them, but does not own them,
And lives, but does not dwell.
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