Part I
The simple fact is, that there could not have been Brazilian Jiu-jitsu, or Russian Sambo for that matter, without the work and vision of Jigoro Kano. He laid both the technical, scientific and philosophical foundations of these systems. Moreover, and perhaps, more importantly, Kano had the social and political connections and influence to turn his personal jiu-jitsu project into a national movement that subsequently spread around the world. Furthermore, he was the instructor of Mitsuyo Maeda, also known as “Count Koma” who in turn is given the credit for teaching Carlos Gracie, somewhere around 1917, and sowing the seeds that grew into the Brazilian Jiu-jitsu we know today.
Despite the early attempts, whether intentionally or not, by many Brazilian Jiu-jitsu proponents to obscure the origins of Brazilian/Gracie jiu-jitsu, no one now days can really argue that Brazilian Jiu-jitsu is not really a kind of “Judo” and that Mitsuyo Maeda was not and had always been a top Kodokan Judo representative and disciple of Jigoro Kano. Therefore, if you use the Asian idea of “the lineage” then Brazilian Jiu-jitsu linage leads directly back to Jigoro Kano and his system. Furthermore, this path, back to Kano, is in no way long, complicated or convoluted.
The Gracie family and the many other individuals who also contributed to the development of what we call today “Brazilian Jiu-jitsu” (but who are often not given credit or remembered) where able to train directly with many first generation Japanese immigrants and travelers who came to Brazil after being taught by Kano or his protégés.
Mitsuyo Maeda was perhaps the most accomplished and internationally famous of these Japanese Judo/Jiu-jitsu exponents that came to Brazil around the turn of the 20th century and into the 1920s, but there were lots of others.
Men such as Geo Omori; Omori, according to some sources, was teaching Jiu-jitsu in Rio de Janeiro as early as 1909, well before Maeda’s influence began, and was a very well-known fighter and teacher in his own time. So much so that one researcher refers to him as Brazil`s first “Jiu-jitsu superstar”. Furthermore; other examples must include the Ono brothers who were also quite prolific Jiu-jitsu instructors from that period and in the Soa poulo region. Not to mention, Takeo Iano in the north of Brazil and Kuzuo Yoshida in Bahia province. Their influence has largely been forgotten or neglected in modern times but they too were a direct link back to Kano and his “jiu-jitsu modernization movement” that was sweeping Japan in that era.
This “jiu-jitsu modernization movement”, as I call it, was part of a kind of national craze that Japan went through starting at the end of the 19th century. The Japanese wanted to rediscover and preserve their traditional martial arts as cultural treasures but also as practical tools for the greater glory of the emerging modern Empire of Japan.
Not that long before, the traditional Japanese martial arts (“Bujitsu” or “Budo”) had been very looked down upon as useless archaic relics of a feudal past and where in danger of dying out as Japan rushed headlong to industrialize and adopt western ideas and technology. This resurgence of interest was not confined to jiu-jitsu alone but was largely inspired by Kano’s “Judo” movement; because of his political influence, upper class connections and his role as a career educator at the highest levels. However, a lot of diverse martial arts benefited from the new national martial arts craze and often looked to the “Judo” movement as a role model for success in the modern era.
In fact, many modern incarnations of classic Japanese martial arts adopted the “Do” suffix as Kano had done with his “jiu-jitsu”, replacing the “jitsu” with the “Do” in order to add a modern ethical and educational dimension. Hence, “ken-jitsu” (art of the sword) became “Kendo”(way of the sword). Aiki-jutsu under ushiba became Aikido and so on and so forth.
Even an essentially foreign martial art like Okinawan Karate (or Okinawan “Te”) was also introduced into mainland Japan at this time and was whole heartedly adopted and absorbed into the martial arts crazed Japanese culture. Karate became so associated with Japanese culture that most people do not realize that it was virtually unknown on mainland Japan until the 1920s. This demonstrates how quickly a martial art could spread and grow in the Japan of this era also becoming hugely popular both nationally, and eventually, internationally.
Karate had unabashedly adopted Judo innovations like the training “gi” and the belt system (Kyu/Dan system of grading and ranking) along with standardized curriculums and organizations. Kano for his part had helped and encouraged Funokashi (The original founder of Karate on main land Japan) to stay in Japan and invited him to teach at the Kodokan.
Funososhi for his part clearly emulated Kano and reproduced his success to a large degree. Funocoshi started by training with various old masters on Okinawa and trying to collect and preserve their “Te” kata and teachings then synthesize them into one modernized system. He too changed the name of his new karate into a more modern philosophic form. Funokoshi was perhaps not the very first to use the ideograms meaning “empty hand” as opposed to the earlier “China hand” to spell his “Karate” but he certainly popularized it and also added the “Do” to create modern Japanese Karate-Do. This demonstrates how influential Kano and his ideas where as they influenced a lot of martial arts and not just jiu-jitsu. This in turn influenced the entire culture.
Judo and Kano (along with the often historically neglected European Dr. Blalz) had spear headed this resurgence of interest in traditional martial arts. Kano had made a point of cultivating the interest and support of the upper classes who’s tastes where then imitated by everyone else. Thus Judo was becoming the predominant martial art in Japan practiced by the upper and lower classes alike. Among his students, Kano had not one but two who became Prime minister of Japan and numerous other Admirals, generals and high state or academic officials.
Kano even encouraged women to train in Judo which was quite controversial in that era and is another example of how his ideas where very inclusionary and often ahead of their time. The police and military had of course adopted “Judo” because of its proven effectiveness over the other traditional schools of jiu-jitsu and unarmed combat systems but it was also becoming a physical education requirement in the schools and the universities where it became an immensely popular activity and even a team sport.
Where once Kano had difficulty finding a jiu-jitsu teacher in his early days (and had to inquire among the “bone setters” which many jiu-jitsu teachers had turned to for employment) training halls or “Judo Dojo” where now springing up everywhere in Japan as the nation embraced this new modern expression of the traditional samurai spirit. If the old traditional martial arts had been elitist or exclusionary with their often clannish secrecy the new Judo was for everyone, so now thanks to Kano everyone could harness and feel the power of the ancient samurai warrior, to the benefit of the people and the nation.
Hence, there were literally millions of people being trained in Japan and Judo/jiu-jitsu was starting to spread slowly around the world as well, in both “official” (both the Kodakan and the botokukai could issue government recognized Dan grades, teaching and dojo licenses) and many “unofficial” and “personal” interpretations and would eventually become the world’s most practiced and influential martial art.
This many people could not be involved in a national craze without it branching off into various incarnations. For Example, major police departments had their own exclusive on-site Dojo that developed specific curriculum for police officers. moreover, there where innumerable private dojo catering to the needs or interests of one group or another. Even among the more orthodox Judo practitioners different Dojo became specialists in different areas such as the Kyoto Dojo that became renowned for its ground work.
Thus, Judo “did not remain the expression of a single school of thought”. This early “Judo movement” had not yet become overly rigid, regimented, standardized or sportified and there were plenty of diverse opinions and approaches to the syllabus, curriculum and even purpose of this new jiu-jitsu.
For example, within the sportive approach to Judo there were various sets of sport competition rules that were used by different individuals and organizations. Kosen Judo still survives in Japan today as a university team sport. Kosen Judo has very different rules and techniques from conventional modern Judo and is a direct descendant of the Botokukai’s approach to Judo.
Even the rivals of Kano`s Kodokan among the traditional jiu-jitsu schools had to modernize and adopt some of his methods if they were going to be able to compete for students and survive in this new era of open competition and practical applications. Thus, even many of the traditional schools that where on some level opposed to “judo”, where becoming judo-fied whether they wanted to use the term or not.
Some of these traditional schools challenged the Kodokan and at least one, the “Fusen-ryu” under Tannabe, did so successfully enough that it forced further evolution of Judo. Some of these alternative versions of “Judo” would die out in Japan while others would become recognized as quasi-separate styles in their own right. Therefore, we cant lose sight of the fact that Russian SAMBO and Brazilian Jiu-jitsu are just regional or national expressions of this process that began in Japan with Kano.
A good example of this is the Police curriculum which came to be called “Taiho-jitsu”. Some of these incarnations of Judo would find political favour for a time. (such as at the Botukukai, which was the Japanese national martial arts governing body which was overseen by the Royal family and military so that’s its Judo department emphasized a lot more ground work and real world unarmed combat.) However, all these alternative visions of judo where “aligned with the Kodokan (and Kano) on general principles” and owed there inspiration, proliferation, effectiveness and perhaps most importantly-prestige to Kano and his original work of synthesising and testing the effective techniques of the ancient Jiu-jitsu ryu into one coherent and complete system that became popular with the upper classes and government.
In other words Kano Democratized Jiu-jitsu and brought it out of the dark ages and into the open where it could be turned into a modern highly respected science of attack and defense. Such a huge body of techniques were being revealed and developed that no one could be an expert in them all and it was natural for specialties to develop. Nevertheless, Few in Japan would argue officially that they were not building on Kano’s work or under the very large “judo” umbrella.
Nevertheless, in faraway Brazil Japanese Jiu-jitsu instructors where free of growing political interference, sport standardization and cultural rigidity. They could teach what and how they wanted as could their local students who tented to have very different cultural expectations as to what jiu-jitsu should be used for. Thus, the result was an even more “unofficial” and “free market” approach to jiu-jitsu in Brazil that appears to have been controlled by the “grass roots” practitioners and fighters at the bottom and not imposed from above by politicians and bureaucrats. This was becoming the norm in Japan as that nation came more and more under the sway of a Fascist controlled government and the limits of free thinking or expression that went along with it. What was Japan’s loss would become Brazil’s gain.
Most North Americans don’t think of Latin America as having much Asian cultural influence but Brazil had a wave of Japanese immigration that was much larger than anywhere else in the world and the local population got the benefit of all that jiu-jitsu/Judo knowledge that came with it.
In fact, I was surprised to learn that outside of Japan itself, Brazil has more people of Japanese ancestry than anywhere else in the world. These are important factors in understanding why jiu-jitsu got an early and solid foundation in Brazil, and the man that was responsible for there being so many skillful jiu-jitsu teachers coming out of Japan (when just a generation before jiu-jitsu was dying out in the mother land) was unquestionably Kano.
For my part, I embrace this perspective and make sure my students know that while Kano did not personally transplant his system to Brazil he did found the jiu-jitsu modernization movement (“Judo”) that directly led to the development of Brazilian Jiu-jitsu. Furthermore, he did personally send Mitsuya Meadea and other instructors originally to North America, at the request of President Roosevelt, to spread his art to the west. Most importantly, his original vision was very broad and inclusionary where all jiu-jitsu that could be governed by his scientific principles had a place in “Judo” and the sport version was only a minor sideline.
Hence, kano always wanted his system to spread and the once popular myth in Brazil, that Carlos Gracie was exclusively taught some secret method of traditional Jiu-jitsu by Mitsuyu Meadea in violation of Imperial decree, does not hold up well against the historical record. What is far more likely, is that this huge influx of Japanese immigrants brought with them all these diverse “official” and “unofficial” versions of “Judo” that were being developed during the most fertile, freewheeling and experimental period of Judo’s evolution.
For example, In Japan at this time, there were still plenty of classical jiu-jitsu practitioners that “switched” over to Kano’s Kodokan method because of its prestige or the political necessity of government licensing and control of instructors. Not to mention the need to try and preserve and increase their knowledge and real live fighting skills. Many people now wanted to move Jiu-jitsu out of the past and into the future.
The Kodokan at this time had become a kind of jiu-jitsu graduate university. Many of these jiu-jitsu practitioners where younger masters in their own right and while seeing the advantages of Kano’s organized, systemized, practical and government endorsed approach where still not going to entirely abandon their own preferred and proven methods. This was actually the excepted norm if we look at the biographies of many of Kano’s outstanding first generation disciples.
Such figures as the legendary Kodokan fighter Siogo had been an aki-jiu-jitsu practitioner before becoming perhaps the Kodokan’s most feared fighter. His famous throw the “mountain storm” is thought by many researchers to be a personal technique known only to him and never part of the standard Kodokan curriculum. Even count Koma was thought to be one of these classical jiu-jitsu masters turned Kodokan affiliate in order to explain why what he taught Carlos Gracie seemed so different from modern Judo.
Historically significant instructors such as Yukio Tani, who was perhaps the most significant figure in the founding of Jiu-jitsu/judo in England, did not start out as a Kodokan man but still had a great deal of success as a fighter and traveling showmen. Tani was well established in England when he first met Kano there and decided to affiliate with him. This demonstrates well the very far reaching influence of Kano and is Judo movement.
This inclusionary absorption and hybridization process was far more wide spread and common then modern judo people are aware of or want to admit. Even with in the Kodokan itself this practice seems to have been the norm and I was surprised by some of the characters and versions of Judo my research revealed.
There were top Kodokan men like the mysterious Ryohei Uchida who while seeming to stand for everything Kano was against since he was a “ultranationalist” (fascist) and spy was still promoted to 4th Dan in 1909 (a very high grade for that period) and was allowed to represent the Kodokan internationally.
“in 1906, Uchida returned to East Asia, continuing his nefarious activities and sadly, using Kodokan Judo dojos as his base for espionage. Uchida first established a Kodokan dojo in Seoul, Korea. It is safe to say that Uchida was not teaching the Kodokan judo of Kano but his own mixture of the Uchida ryu system (his father had been a jiu-jitsu and martial arts master) of weapons and lethal jujutsu techniques, with perhaps a few Kodokan Judo throws added.”
Hence, how many “personal” versions of “Judo” where developed at this time as the modern training methods and scientific principles of Kano where combined with the once secret techniques and real world fighting experiences of even more ancient schools of jiu-jitsu and fighters? Furthermore, how many of these incarnations ended up in Brazil along with the massive wave of immigration?
Kano had always encouraged this on a certain level and could not do it all himself, he had envisioned his Kodokan as a repository of all practical Jiu-jitsu knowledge, (and even the less practical and theoretical aspects of traditional jiu-jitsu where to be preserved in the form of kata). Jiu-jitsu masters who did not want to be absorbed into the Kodokan where still included in the “movement” and invited to teach their methods at the Kodokan. The best example could be Tanabe of the Fusen-Ryu who’s jiu-jitsu fighters had given the Kodokan one of its few defeats because of their superior ground work.
“Kano originally intended for the Kodokan to be a place where all systems of jujutsu could be preserved. And early on, weapons training was even encouraged at the Kodokan. Kano wanted to formulate a syllabus and curriculum which would allow jujutsu to be taught in a more modern and effective manner. The Kodokan was to be a place where students could gain a basic knowledge of many styles of jujutsu-which the teaching syllabus of judo contained-and then move on to the specific system of their choice for in-depth study.”
-William Durbin, from his article: “The lost Art of Kodokan Judo: Jigoro Kano’s Self-Defense System Has Been Replaced by Sport Judo.
What happened to this golden age of jiu-jitsu evolution and the incredible body of practical knowledge that it produced? In a phrase; it was gobbled up by the double headed hydra of government oversite and regulation, along with sportification that for better or for worse needed rigid standardization if it was to grow and spread in an orderly useful way.
Powerful political bodies like the Botukokai which was heavily influenced by the militarists vied with the Kodokan for political and organizational control of judo and its millions of practitioners. The increasingly Fascist government saw the martial arts as another tool of indoctrination and social control. Single minded competition, replete with violence, disrespect for the individual and high rates of injuries was seen by the Fascist as a way to foster their twisted version of the samurai spirit and militaristic agenda. Kano was very much against this, but as an individual, even a very influential one, there was only so much he could do perhaps a much safer watered down sport was the lesser of two evils that those times demanded.
However, In Brazil these original methods could freely mix and mingle completely free of government regulation, licensing, interference and standardization which was starting to strangle off the free expression of Judo/jiu-jitsu in Japan. The “Official” version of the development of Gracie/Brazilian jiu-jitsu is a very simple story of MITSUYA MEADA teaching Carlos Gracie this secret method as an act of friendship. That keeps things simple, in a linage way but the truth is probably a lot more complicated and mundane.
With all this diverse jiu-jitsu information and techniques coming into Brazil it would have been foolish for professional jiu-jitsu instructors and fighters to ignore it. Therefore, it comes as no surprise to me that some sources site Carlos Gracie has having trained with various other instructors early in his career. The fact of this kind of practical thinking and training should give no one any concern and only because of the mythologification of the origins of Brazilian Jiu-jitsu does it produce any controversy.
Helio Gracie himself, the man often cited as the “creator of Brazilian Jiu-jitsu” had at least one well documented and close Japanese Friend and training partner who was also a high level Judo practitioner. Furthermore, within the Gracie family the Brothers often went in different directions and came into contact with a lot of different instructors, fighters and methods.
The best example must be of George Gracie known as “The Red Haired Cat”. George Gracie had a profound influence on the development of Brazilian Jiu-jitsu but despite being the most prolific fighter of the original Gracie brothers has had his role largely obscured or forgotten.
George Gracie was a true professional fighter who led a nomadic lifestyle traveling far and wide throughout Brazil in search of the best fights. When away from his brothers and their students who did he train with to prepare for all these matches? George Gracie obviously fought and learned from a lot of different people directly and indirectly.
Many, now little remembered, instructors would at one time be affiliated with the Ono brothers or another Japanese instructor but later claim allegiance to a high profile fighter like George Gracie so there was plenty of opportunities for cross fertilization.
The glue that held it all together was the emphasis on real fighting that was the most powerful evolutionary factor but it is a safe bet that everyone the Gracies trained or fought with was a product of Kano’s judo movement in one way or another. They gained the benefits of Kano’s original idea of Judo being an inclusionary movement based on practical experience and experimentation, not just theories or individual performance with in the very narrow confines of the sport application. In Brazil, separate Ryu where not introduced or did not survive, it was all “jiu-jitsu”. However, to say “it was all jiu-jitsu” is really to say that it was all Kano Jiu-jitsu.
I think this is important because Kano is probably the most influential martial arts instructor in history and worthy of the universal respect he is awarded. Nevertheless, this often does not include acknowledgement of his pivotal role in the development of Brazilian Jiu-jitsu and just how powerful, comprehensive and influential his original system was.
Ergo, it was Kano who envisioned a complete revolutionary system of “Jiu-jitsu” that was unified by principles and a repository of all practical Jiu-jitsu knowledge. Looking at today’s so very narrow surviving version of Judo I can understand why so many people have a hard time with these facts. However, it was not so very long ago when this was common knowledge. Let’s look at what Moshe Feldenkrais, a pivotal figure in the development of Judo in France, had to say in the 40s.
“Modern Judo has been built up by Professor Jigoro Kano out of the ancient Ju-jitsu systems. The essential aim of these was to overwhelm the opponent. Judo is planned to make men fit both in body and mind, making use of all the knowledge of attack and defense accumulated in nearly twenty centuries by Ju-jitsu experts, methodically arranged into a single system and based on a single principle. Judo includes Ju-jitsu and is superior to it in every respect.”
Thus, I believe it’s clear that Brazilian jiu-jitsu was once the best modern expression of Kano’s Jiu-jitsu before it too became overly sportified. This is certainly true on a technical level but we must not forget that Kano built his system around ethics and not just techniques, sport or fighting.
Kano may have turned to over standardization and a restricted curriculum later on as he battled fascist political forces that where trying to take over his beloved Kodokan and use judo as another tool of fascism. The real reasons for the changes he made to his Judo, that inextricably led to Judo’s decline into a mere sport are today quite obscure and worthy of historical investigations of their own.
Nevertheless, it should also be remembered that Kano was a true humanist who did not like war or the over nationalism of his times and his efforts to keep militarism and fascism out of the Kodokan are seldom discussed today. These were very dangerous and destructive social forces that were very powerful in his later years. This took great courage to resist …and thus it should be remembered that for Jigoro Kano ethics where something you actually live not something he just talked about… or worse yet, never talk about!
This lack of any ethical component unfortunately seems to be the standard these days in most Brazilian Jiu-jitsu Academies and Judo Dojo. Therefore, this might be a good time in the history of Brazilian Jiu-jitsu and Judo, to step back and reacquaint ourselves with some of Kano’s ideas and philosophies and what has happened to them. Therefore, I will continue to explore this in an upcoming post. For now let’s try to remember that for Kano or anyone else who has evolved beyond the petty ego gratification of the “sport” mind set, jiu-jitsu is not just something you do, it’s something that you live.