Why is it BJJ, not Gracie JJ?...

[Great Sage]

Why is Gracie Jiu Jitsu now referred to as Brazilian Jiu Jitsu? Technically, isn’t Gracie Jiu Jitsu just another style or refinement of Jiu Jitsu? In other words, Brazil didn’t develop a martial art that was culturally their own — the style came from one family, the Gracies.

For instance, if I learn karate and add my own personal refinements, does that make my style Sage Karate? It’s still karate... I merely inserted my individuality. Should Jiu Jitsu practiced in America be called “American” Jiu Jitsu?

[Lost Ronin]

Essentially, you are right, all BJJ has a connection to the Gracie family, and BJJ is not really an original style, but a different version of Japanese Jujutsu (according to some it's got more Kodokan Judo in it than Jujutsu.) But anyways, more people than just the Gracies teach BJJ, for example the Machados, Nueva Uniao, etc. Although it is essentially the same style, they focus on different techniques and tactics. Nueva Uniao team members have some interesting flying ankle locks and their style of BJJ is very acrobatic. While Gracie Jujitsu itself focuses more on gi-grappling and position jockeying in competition (No gi is also a part of their curriculum, but they focus a lot on jacketed wrestling.)

In other words, everyone is practicing the same style (Brazilian Jujitsu) but not Gracie Jujutsu, because that is the style that the Gracie family taught. They just call it BJJ for simplicity's sake. This sort of stuff happens in Karate styles all the time, the arts may focus on different aspects, but they call themselves karate because there is a similar foundation they share.

[Thai Bri]

Gracie Jiu Jitsu isn't referred to as Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. The former is from the Gracie family, the latter inspired by them. I would imagine there isn't a tremendous amount of difference.

[CHOKE UK]

From my experience, there is quite a difference.

Mainly in the "way" it is taught.

Some of the bjja schools are not quite the same.

And when you say gracie jui jitsu,
that is again broken down into slight variations,
dependant upon which brother/cousin Gracie runs that club.

I can only speak forthe Rickson school, and his main difference is the way in which he teaches.

We I have rolled with many fromother bjja schools.
And they take pride in showing you the vast amount of techniques they know,
that I have never even seen before,
We can still comfortably beat them.

They seem to go more quantity rather than quality.

[Great Sage]

Originally posted by Thai Bri
Gracie Jiu Jitsu isn't referred to as Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. The former is from the Gracie family, the latter inspired by them. I would imagine there isn't a tremendous amount of difference.

That's what I mean... All Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is from Gracie Jiu Jitsu so why would it be called Brazilian? It's still Gracie Jiu Jitsu, essentially. If we all practice Gracie Jiu Jitsu and somehow tweak it to our needs here in the United States, does it automatically become American Jiu Jitsu? Are the Brazilians suggesting that they're creating new Jiu Jitsu each time they favor Jiu Jitsu techniques?...

[CHOKE UK]

The gracies control their jui jitsu.

They have control of new techniques, way its taught, applications etc.
But the bjja was effectively any jui jitsu in brazil that wasnt directlt controlled by the Gracies.
So it's seperate, they can change or practice in the way they see fit with no effect on gracie jui jitsu.

But there are also splinter groups within the gracie camp !

[Great Sage]

Hmm... Thanks for the input Choke... That explains a lot... I'd like to join some sort of BJJ camp in the future.

[doubleouch]

Gracie's have a copyright on the name (gracie JJ) so no one else can use it even if they wanted to.

[CHOKE UK]

Originally posted by doubleouch
Gracie's have a copyright on the name (gracie JJ) so no one else can use it even if they wanted to.

correct.

And rightly so in my opinion.

[Toudiyama[NL]]

Can also be because the BJJ founders weren't considered good enough to teach by the Gracies
Or the Others broke away from the Gracies the latter usually because of politics or finances

Gracie must be the biggest MA family in the world though

[JaredExtreme]

The main difference between BJJ and GJJ is that GJJ will cost you about $50 dollars a month more than BJJ.

[Toudiyama[NL]]

50 dollars amonth total would already exceed what I'm willing to pay Let alone 50 $ extra
How much would you pay for BJJ and how often can you train for that amount?

[Hakoko]

Rorion, trademarked the name "Gracie Jiu-jitsu in the 80's. That is why, he is the only one that can use the name "Gracie Jiu-jitsu. However, "Rickson Gracie Jiu-jitsu, Renzo Gracie Jiu-jitsu, Ralph Gracie Jiu-jitsu, etc. can be used, Rorion has the legal trademark name. In Brazil, it's just "jiu-jitsu." In the U.S. because of all legal issues, it's Brazilian Jiu-jitsu. Doesn't really matter, it all comes from the same place.

[JaredExtreme]

Gotta pay for that pure water !!

[SweepEm]

I believe that the trademark name was done in the 90's by Rorion. There was a real ugly law suit between Carley and Rorion Gracie in the courts. I was at this year's Pan Ams and I saw both Carley and Rorion Gracie in the same building and wonder if this is the first time both guys have been in the same room, besides a court room.......

the history of how BJJ came about has been chronicled quite extensively.

Here's what's on BJJ.org:

In the mid-1800's in Japan, there were a large number of styles ("ryu") of jiu-jitsu (sometimes spelled "jujitsu"). Techniques varied between ryu, but generally included all manner of unarmed combat (strikes, throws, locks, chokes, wrestling, etc.) and occasionally some weapons training. One young but skilled master of a number of jiu-jitsu styles, Jigoro Kano, founded his own ryu and created the martial art Judo (aka Kano-ryu jiu-jitsu) in the 1880's. One of Kano's primary insights was to include full-power practice against resisting, competent opponents, rather than solely rely on the partner practice that was much more common at the time.

One of Kano's students was Mitsuo Maeda, who was also known as Count Koma ("Count of Combat"). Maeda emigrated to Brazil in 1914. He was helped a great deal by the Brazilian politician Gastão Gracie, whose father George Gracie had emigrated to Brazil himself from Scotland. In gratitude for the assistance, Maeda taught jiu-jitsu to Gastao's son Carlos Gracie. Carlos in turn taught his brothers Osvaldo, Gastão Jr., Jorge, and Helio.

In 1925, Carlos and his brothers opened their first jiu-jitsu academy, and Gracie Jiu-Jitsu was born in Brazil.

At this point, the base of techniques in BJJ was similar to those in Kano's Judo academy in Japan. As the years progressed, however, the brothers (notably Carlos and Helio) and their students refined their art via brutal no-rules fights, both in public challenges and on the street. Particularly notable was their willingness to fight outside of weight categories, permitting a skilled small fighter to attempt to defeat a much larger opponent.


They began to concentrate more and more on submission ground fighting, especially utilizing the guard position. This allowed a weaker man to defend against a stronger one, bide his time, and eventually emerge victorious.

In the 1970's, the undisputed jiu-jitsu champion in Brazil was Rolls Gracie. He had taken the techniques of jiu-jitsu to a new level. Although he was not a large man, his ability to apply leverage using all of his limbs was unprecedented. At this time the techniques of the open guard and its variants (spider guard, butterfly guard) became a part of BJJ. Rolls also developed the first point system for jiu-jitsu only competition. The competitions required wearing a gi, awarded points (but not total victories) for throws and takedowns, and awarded other points for achieving different ground positions (such as passing an opponent's guard). After Rolls' death in a hang-gliding accident, Rickson Gracie became the undisputed (and undefeated!) champion, a legend throughout Brazil and much of the world. He has been the exemplar of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu technique for the last two decades, since the early 1980's, in both jiu-jitsu competition and no-rules MMA competition.

Jiu-jitsu techniques have continued to evolve as the art is constantly tested in both arenas. For example, in the 1990's Roberto "Gordo" Correa, a BJJ black belt, injured one of his knees, and to protect his leg he spent a lot of practice time in the half-guard position. When he returned to high-level jiu-jitsu competition, he had the best half-guard technique in the world. A position that had been thought of as a temporary stopping point, or perhaps a defensive-only position, suddenly acquired a new complexity that rapidly spread throughout the art.

In the early 1990's, Rorion Gracie moved from Brazil to Los Angeles. He wished to show the world how well the Gracie art of jiu-jitsu worked. In Brazil, no-rules Mixed Martial Art (MMA) contests (known as "vale tudo") had been popular since Carlos Gracie first opened his academy in 1925, but in the world at large most martial arts competition was internal to a single style, using the specialized rules of that style's practice.

Rorion and Art Davie conceived of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. This was a series of pay-per-view television events in the United States that began in 1993. They pitted experts of different martial arts styles against each other in an environment with very few rules, in an attempt to see what techniques "really worked" when put under pressure. Rorion also entered his brother Royce Gracie, an expert in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, as one of the contestants.

Royce dominated the first years of the UFC against all comers, amassing eleven victories with no fighting losses. At one event he defeated four different fighters in one night. This, from a fighter that was smaller than most of the others (at 170 lbs, in an event with no weight classes), looked thin and scrawny, and used techniques that most observers, even experienced martial artists, didn't understand.

In hindsight, much of Royce's success was due to the fact that he understood very well (and had trained to defend against) the techniques that his opponents would use, whereas they often had no idea what he was doing to them. In addition, the ground fighting strategy and techniques of BJJ are among the most sophisticated in the world. Besides the immediate impact of an explosion of interest in BJJ across the world (particularly in the US and Japan), the lasting impact of Royce's early UFC dominance is that almost every successful MMA fighter now includes BJJ as a significant portion of their training.