Go back around 100 years – yes, only 100 years – and that is around the time that Brazilian Jiu Jitsu was born. While the exact origins of Jiu Jitsu are hard to pinpoint, it was well established in Japan by the 17th-century. During this time, warring clans fought regularly and the warrior class, known as bushi or samurai, honed their combat skills into art. Jiu Jitsu was a complement to sword fighting, offering a means of incapacitating armored opponents. Jiu Jitsu got innovated over the next few centuries, and arguably the innovation made by the Gracie family had the biggest impact.

BJJ is a sport that heavily evolved from judo – which was formerly known as Kano jiu-jitsu in Japan, or just jiu jitsu. The difference is BJJ revolves around the concept that a smaller, weaker person can successfully defend themselves against a bigger, stronger, heavier opponent by using leverage and weight distribution on the ground, and using a number of holds and submissions to defeat them.