HISTORY OF BJJ IN 1914 ESAI MAEDA (A CHAMPION OF JAPANESE JIU-JITSU)  BEFRIENDED GASTÃO GRACIE, AN INFLUENTIAL BUSINESSMAN, WHO HELPED MAEDA GET ESTABLISHED. TO SHOW HIS GRATITUDE, MAEDA OFFERED TO TEACH JUDO TO GASTÃO’S OLDEST SON, CARLOS GRACIE. CARLOS LEARNED FOR A FEW YEARS AND EVENTUALLY PASSED HIS KNOWLEDGE TO HIS BROTHERS. ONE BROTHER NAMED HELIO GRACIE SOON REALIZED THAT DUE TO HIS FRAIL PHYSIQUE, MOST OF THE TECHNIQUES HE HAD LEARNED FROM WATCHING CARLOS TEACH WERE PARTICULARLY DIFFICULT FOR HIM TO EXECUTE. EAGER TO MAKE THE TECHNIQUES WORK FOR HIM, HE BEGAN MODIFYING THEM TO ACCOMMODATE HIS WEAK BODY. EMPHASIZING THE USE OF LEVERAGE AND TIMING OVER STRENGTH AND SPEED, HELIO MODIFIED VIRTUALLY ALL OF THE TECHNIQUES AND, THROUGH TRIAL AND ERROR, CREATED GRACIE/BRAZILIAN JIU-JITSU. ...read more