“It’s not even clear what jiu-jitsu is because it’s always changing,” Drysdale explains in new video. “And that’s the only thing that’s been consistent about the word jiu-jitsu since it’s been introduced to the West – it’s never stopped changing.”
The term “Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu” itself reveals an interesting paradox: Brazilians in Brazil don’t call it that. As Drysdale notes,
“It would be like going to China asking for Chinese food. Like, no one asks for Chinese food in China.”
The martial art we now recognize as BJJ has its roots in Japanese judo. Originally, the Japanese term “jiujutsu” broadly meant martial arts and could refer to various combat systems. When Jigoro Kano developed judo, he incorporated elements of jiujutsu along with sumo, wrestling, and western philosophy. Initially, many still referred to this new art as jiujutsu, creating confusion that would follow the art across continents.
The Gracie family, particularly Carlos Gracie, would eventually claim a direct lineage from Mitsuyo Maeda, a renowned judoka who brought the art to Brazil. However, Drysdale suggests this lineage may have been fabricated or at least exaggerated. According to Drysdale, Carlos Gracie likely trained under one of Maeda‘s students, Jacyntho Ferro, a name conspicuously absent from BJJ lineage charts today.
“From the very beginning, the Gracies lied about their lineage,” Drysdale states, “which was ethically questionable but undeniably effective in marketing their martial art.”
The Gracies’ approach to competition further illustrates their strategic approach to promoting their art. When Helio Gracie faced Japanese judoka Yasuhiro Ono in the mid-1930s, the Gracies instituted rules that limited Ono‘s throwing techniques. Despite these advantages, witness accounts suggest Ono thoroughly dominated the match, throwing Helio approximately 32 times and securing an arm lock that forced Carlos to intervene to prevent injury.
Yet the Gracies claimed moral victory.
“They agreed to wear shorter sleeves, which took away a lot of the throwing techniques that Ono was accustomed to,” Drysdale explains. “Second, the match only ended upon verbal submission.”
Drysdale describes this approach bluntly: “The Gracies had no chance taking on the vastly superior Japanese judo fighters. And so they carefully crafted rule sets to where even if they got ragdolled for 30 minutes, they still somehow came out on top.”
This pattern of rewriting rules would become a hallmark of the Gracies’ approach. By 1975, Carlson Gracie had developed a rule set that would form the foundation of modern sports jiu-jitsu. In this system, throws were worth only two points rather than instant victory, and points could also be earned by achieving dominant positions on the ground.
“That’s why I argue Brazilian jiu-jitsu was really born in 1975,” says Drysdale.
The ultimate marketing triumph came with the creation of the UFC in 1993. Rorion Gracie organized the event specifically to showcase his family’s art, using his smaller brother
