Not All BJJ Is BJJ

Author: Bret Gordon

Without question, one of the most popular martial arts in the world is Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. With such a widespread community it's only natural that certain misunderstandings and misconceptions arise, the biggest of which is that Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is a single art and all schools that claim BJJ teach essentially the same material. 

To understand why BJJ is not a single art but rather a myriad of systems, each with their own emphasis, curriculum, and requirements, we have to dig a little into the history of BJJ and its Judo origins.

The general history of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is fairly well-known. Maeda Mitsuyo brought Kodokan Judo (then commonly known as Kano Jujutsu) to Brazil, where he taught Carlos Gracie, Sr., among other students (including Oswaldo Fadda, whose legacy I won't be able to even touch on in this article). Carlos would go on to teach the rest of his family, including his younger brother Helio who would be instrumental in helping the art gain notoriety. While Helio is best known for adapting the techniques of Kano Jujutsu to focus on ground fighting, widely believed to be due to his physical stature and ailments, Carlos had no such ailments and continued to teach the art in its entirety. Like Kano before him, he attached his name to the art and thus, Gracie Jiu Jitsu was born. 

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What does that actually mean, "to teach the art in its entirety?" Understanding that Gracie Jiu Jitsu was in essence Kano Jujutsu (Kodokan Judo), we only need to look at the parent system to see what the art entails. While Judo is primarily known for its Olympic component, the complete art encompasses both standing throws and ground fighting. Judo teaches self defense against grabs, punches, guns and knives. The demonstration below from 1956 shows a side of Judo most forget to acknowledge. 

Of course, you can argue that because Kodokan Goshin Jutsu wasn't finalized until 1956, and the Gracie Academy was first opened in 1925, that what the Gracies learned from Maeda was a more sport-oriented version of the art closer to what we commonly see now. Then again, this video of Helio Gracie demonstrating many of the self defense techniques of the system would suggest otherwise. 

But what does this have to do with Brazilian Jiu Jitsu not being a single art? Well, it used to be. It wasn't until the art spread worldwide that individual factions would deviate from the source. Due to environment, training goals, and personal preferences, the art of BJJ began to take many forms. While most schools still heavily emphasized ground fighting as the staple of BJJ, certain lineages like that of Reylson Gracie (son of Carlos Gracie, Sr.) held to the contention that the art taught by Carlos was indeed a complete system not so different from its parent art of Kodokan Judo. In the video below, I personally demonstrate many of the traditional Gracie self defense techniques as a member of Reylson's branch of Jiu Jitsu. 

I'm sure this looks different to what most are accustomed to from Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Traditional Gracie Jiu Jitsu has no berimbolos, imanari rolls, or inversions. The art most know today as Brazilian Jiu Jitsu was developed in the sporting arena. Just like randori and shiai are integral parts of Judo, regular rolling and competition are inseparable from BJJ. This leads to a heavy emphasis on constant innovation and technical modification in an effort to gain an advantage over one's opponent. In theory, this technical arms race should help progress the art but context changes things. When you remove the risks of striking, kicking, weapons, and multiple attackers, strategies and techniques that would never work otherwise find their way into the art. One only needs to watch modern MMA to notice many of the flashy techniques seen in tournaments are cast aside in favor of strong grappling fundamentals, with a focus on gaining a dominant position to finish the fight. 

Many of the older generation Gracies, including Helio, Royce, Reylson, and Rickson have been outspoken in their condemnation of the direction the art has gone. Some make the distinction that "Gracie Jiu Jitsu" is the traditional self defense art while "Brazilian Jiu Jitsu" is the sport. However, the distinctions and delineations are much greater. I'd actually contend that there are dozens of arts under the Gracie or Brazilian Jiu Jitsu banner, separated by a common name. 

If one was to say they had a black belt in Japanese Jujutsu, the logical next question is which system? Is it Daito Ryu, Hakko Ryu, Danzan Ryu, etc.? Japanese Jujutsu is not an art in and of itself, but a classification of systems that originate or stem from Japan and tend to focus on throws, takedowns, joint manipulation, and strangulations. Brazilian or Gracie Jiu Jitsu, in my opinion, should be looked at in the same manner, as a family of systems that all stem from Brazil and the Gracie family. To dive deeper in the topic, we need to define what styles and systems are, and what separates them.

Put simply, styles are groups of systems that share a common methodology. Karate, Jujutsu, Taekwondo, Kung Fu, etc. are all styles. Goju Ryu, Wado Ryu, Kito Ryu, Tenjin Shinyo Ryu, Jidokwan, Chung Do Kwan, Wing Chun, Bai He Quan, etc. are all systems. Each system has its own curriculum, training methods, rank requirements, and traditions. If we extend that classification, Gracie/Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is a style, and just off the top of my head several individual systems would be:

• Martial Jiu Jitsu - Reylson Gracie
• Gracie Barra - Carlos Gracie, Jr. 
• 10th Planet Jiu Jitsu - Eddie Bravo
• Machado Jiu Jitsu - Carlos Machado
• Gracie University - Rener Gracie
• JJGF - Rickson Gracie​
• ​And so on...

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Every affiliation and organization is indeed its own system of BJJ/GJJ, with their own curriculum, training methods, rank requirements, and traditions. Despite multiple organizations using the term Gracie Jiu Jitsu or Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, there is no universal ranking structure, no universal curriculum, no universal requirements. Just as rank in Daito Ryu would not automatically translate to rank in Hakko Ryu, rank at Gracie Barra doesn't automatically translate to rank in 10th Planet. In contrast, one can actually hold separate rank in multiple systems of BJJ/GJJ. A famous example would be Joe Rogan, who earned his 10th Planet black belt several months before earning his black belt from Jean Jacques Machado. I myself have two very different ranks in BJJ/GJJ - a black belt in Gracie Jiu Jitsu from Reylson Gracie and a blue belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu from my teacher, Steven Hatfield. ​

Some systems of BJJ/GJJ focus on self defense. Some focus on sport. Some focus on training in the gi. Some focus on no-gi. Some have a strict curriculum and rank requirements. Some promote based on competitive success. Each system is unique, and even the way they teach specific techniques may vary from system to system. It's time we start realizing that GJJ/BJJ has grown to encompass a wide array of systems and treat them as such, because not all BJJ is BJJ...

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