History

Alliance Jiu-Jitsu was founded in 1993 by Romero “Jacaré” Cavalcanti along with Fabio Gurgel, Ale...

The Abu Dhabi Combat Club (ADCC) Submission Wrestling World Championship was founded in 1998 by S...

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu has found an important role in law enforcement and military training worldwid...

The belt system in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu has undergone significant evolution since its adoption fro...

For much of its history, earning a BJJ black belt was a rare achievement, often requiring decades...

Police departments worldwide have adopted Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu as part of defensive tactics traini...

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu revolutionized mixed martial arts. Early UFC events revealed that grappling w...

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu has steadily seeped into popular culture, largely thanks to its association w...

Japan’s Pride Fighting Championships, active from 1997 to 2007, was one of the most influential M...

In some regions, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu has been introduced as part of prison rehabilitation initiat...

When the Ultimate Fighting Championship launched in 1993, most fighters represented striking arts...

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu has been widely adopted by military organizations around the world as part of...

For years, the BJJ community has speculated about the art’s inclusion in the Olympic Games. Suppo...

Elite military units around the world have long sought effective close-combat systems, and BJJ ha...

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu’s global reputation was cemented in the early UFC events of the 1990s. Royce ...

As the practitioner base aged, the IBJJF recognized the need for divisions tailored to older athl...

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu has increasingly been adopted by law enforcement and civilian self-defense pr...

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu reached the United States in the 1980s, largely through seminars conducted by...

The Campeonato Brasileiro de Jiu-Jitsu, often referred to as the “Brasileiro,” is Brazil’s premie...

Carlson Gracie, the son of Carlos Gracie, was a pivotal figure in shaping modern competitive BJJ....

Carlson Gracie, known for his aggressive and innovative style, formed his own team after breaking...

Checkmat was founded in 2008 by Leonardo Vieira, a former Alliance competitor and one of the most...

The rise of professional BJJ leagues marked a turning point in the sport’s evolution. While tradi...

Modern BJJ exists in a constant dialogue with other grappling arts. The cross-training era, which...

Submission-only competition emerged as a response to criticisms of point-based tournaments, where...

BJJ first arrived in Europe in the 1990s, brought by Brazilian instructors who settled in countri...

The origins of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu lie in classical Japanese jiu-jitsu, a collection of martial t...

Eddie Bravo emerged as a major innovator in no-gi jiu-jitsu after submitting Royler Gracie at ADC...

In BJJ’s early decades, belt promotions were highly subjective, often based on personal relations...

The rules of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu competition have changed dramatically over time. Early matches o...

The earliest BJJ academies were established by the Gracie family in the 1920s and 30s. Carlos and...

The first dedicated BJJ school in the United States was the Gracie Academy in Torrance, Californi...

Before professional leagues and major streaming deals, early superfight series showcased elite gr...

For decades, Brazilian athletes dominated the IBJJF World Championships. That changed in 2007 whe...

The inaugural IBJJF World Jiu-Jitsu Championship, also known as the Mundials, was held in Rio de ...

The first major international BJJ tournament outside Brazil was held in the United States in the ...

Few topics spark as much heated debate in the BJJ community as gi versus no-gi training. Advocate...

The first official Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Academy was founded in Rio de Janeiro in 1952 by Hélio and Ca...

Gracie Barra was founded in 1986 by Carlos Gracie Jr. in Barra da Tijuca, Rio de Janeiro. What be...

Once planted in Brazil, jiu-jitsu flourished. Throughout the mid-20th century, BJJ spread across ...

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu arrived in Australia during the 1990s, brought by traveling black belts and e...

BJJ’s arrival in Japan was, in a way, a “homecoming,” since the art evolved from Japanese judo an...

BJJ was introduced to the UK in the early 1990s through seminars led by visiting Brazilian instru...

The International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation (IBJJF) was officially formed in 2002 under the ...

When the first Ultimate Fighting Championship was held in 1993, it forever changed martial arts. ...

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, before YouTube existed, instructional tapes and DVDs were a li...

BJJ owes much of its foundation to Kodokan judo, which emphasized throws, pins, and groundwork (n...

As BJJ spread internationally, particularly in the United States, wrestling became a major influe...

While the United States became the first major hub outside Brazil, BJJ quickly spread to other re...

Before social media, online forums like Sherdog, The Underground, and dedicated BJJ boards played...

For much of its early history, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu was male-dominated, with limited opportunities...

Rivalries have been central to BJJ’s competitive culture, pushing athletes and teams to innovate....

Although BJJ began as a primarily adult-focused practice, children’s programs developed as the ar...

The roots of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu can be traced back to Kodokan Judo, the school founded by Jigoro...

Before settling in Brazil, Mitsuyo Maeda embarked on a remarkable journey that took him across th...

The story of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu cannot be told without Mitsuyo Maeda, a Japanese judoka and priz...

While no-gi grappling had always existed, the early 2000s saw an unprecedented surge in its popul...

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) traces its roots to the early 20th century, when Japanese martial arts ...

While the Gracie family dominates the popular history of BJJ, other important lineages developed ...

The COVID-19 pandemic had a profound impact on Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. With close-contact training d...

FloGrappling, launched in 2015 as part of the FloSports network, revolutionized BJJ coverage. By ...

In the early days, most practitioners balanced training with other jobs. As the sport professiona...

Traditional tournaments dominated BJJ competition for decades, but the 2010s saw the rise of supe...

For much of its early history, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu was a male-dominated practice. That began to s...

Rolls Gracie is often remembered as one of the most innovative and influential members of the Gra...

Russian sambo, a martial art developed in the Soviet Union, has influenced Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in...

Social media has been one of the most powerful forces in the global growth of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu...

Children’s BJJ programs started to appear as the art became more mainstream in the 1990s and 2000...

In BJJ culture, the word “creonte” is used to describe someone who switches teams, often viewed a...

The Abu Dhabi Combat Club (ADCC) Submission Wrestling World Championship was created in 1998 by S...

One of the earliest instructional books on BJJ was Gracie Jiu-Jitsu by Hélio Gracie, published in...

One of the defining traditions in the early development of BJJ was the Gracie Challenge. Througho...

The International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation (IBJJF) was founded in 1994 by Carlos Gracie Jr....

For decades, leg locks were viewed with suspicion in traditional BJJ, often dismissed as “cheap m...

Today, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is both a martial art and a global spectator sport. Professional athle...

Rickson Gracie is one of the most celebrated figures in BJJ, often described as the embodiment of...

No-gi grappling represents a major evolution in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. By removing the traditional ...

The explosion of online video content in the 2000s transformed how BJJ was learned and shared. Be...

In its early decades, BJJ was taught primarily as a self-defense system, rooted in the philosophy...

Vale tudo, meaning “anything goes,” was a Brazilian combat sport that predated modern MMA and ser...