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It teaches that a smaller, weaker person can successfully defend against a bigger, stronger assailant by using leverage and proper technique-most notably by applying [[joint-locks]] and [[chokehold]]s to defeat the other person. BJJ training can be used for sport grappling tournaments ([[Brazilian Jiu-jitsu gi|gi]] and [[no-gi]]) and [[mixed martial arts]] (MMA) competition or self defense.<ref name=\\\"mma\\\">Edward, Chad. \\\"[http://www.azcentral.com/sports/azetc/articles/1030mma.html Untangling a sport that transcends style]\\\", October 30, 2007, azcentral.com, \\\'\\\'The Cincinnati Enquirer\\\'\\\'.</ref> [[Sparring]] (commonly referred to as \\\'rolling\\\') and [[Aliveness (martial arts)|live]] drilling play a major role in training, and a premium is placed on performance, especially in competition, in relation to progress and ascension through [[Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu ranking system|its ranking system]].


== Origin ==
The art began with [[Mitsuyo Maeda]] (aka Conde Koma, or Count Coma in English), a member of the then-recently-founded [[Kodokan]]. Maeda was one of five of Judo\\\'s top groundwork experts that Judo\\\'s founder [[Kano Jigoro]] sent overseas to demonstrate and spread his art to the world. Maeda left Japan in 1904 and visited a number of countries giving \\\"jiu-do\\\" demonstrations and accepting challenges from [[wrestling|wrestlers]], [[boxing|boxers]], [[savate]] fighters and various other martial artists before eventually arriving in [[Brazil]] on November 14, 1914.

Jiu-jitsu is known as more than just a system of fighting. Since its inception in 1882, its parent art of judo was separated from older systems of Japanese jujutsu by an important difference that was passed on to BJJ: it is not solely a martial art: it is also a sport; a method for promoting physical fitness and building character in young people; and, ultimately, a way ([[Do (Way)|Do]]) of life.<ref name=\\\"stanlei13\\\">{{cite book

Maeda had trained first in [[sumo]] as a teenager, and after the interest generated by stories about the success of judo at contests between judo and jujutsu that were occurring at the time, he changed from sumo to judo, becoming a student of Kano\\\'s Kodokan judo.<ref name=\\\"stanlei1\\\"/> He was promoted to 7th dan in Kodokan judo the day before he died in 1941. [http://goo.gl/EZNZt]


At age fourteen, [[Hélio Gracie]], the youngest of the brothers, moved in with his older brothers who lived and taught Jiu-Jitsu in a house in Botafogo, a neighborhood of Rio de Janeiro. Following a doctor\\\'s recommendations, Hélio would spend the next few years being limited to watching his brothers teach as he was naturally frail.

One day, when Hélio Gracie was 16 years old, a student showed up for class when Carlos was not around. Hélio, who had memorized all the techniques from watching his brothers teach, offered to start the class. When the class was over, Carlos showed up and apologized for his delay. The student asked that Hélio continue being his instructor.  Over time, Hélio Gracie gradually developed Gracie Jiuf Jitsu as an adaptation from Judo, as he was unable to perform many Judo moves.<ref name=\\\"Gracie History | Gracie Academy\\\">[http://www.gracieacademy.com/history.asp Gracie History | Gracie Academy]</ref>

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Outside Japan, however, this distinction was noted even less. Thus, when Maeda and Satake arrived in Brazil in 1914, every newspaper announced their art as being \\\"jiu-jitsu\\\" despite both men being Kodokan judoka.<ref name=\\\"stanlei13\\\"/>

It was not until 1925 that the Japanese government itself officially mandated that the correct name for the martial art taught in the Japanese public schools should be \\\"judo\\\" rather than \\\"jujutsu.\\\"<ref>editor-first=Alexander </ref> In Brazil, the art is still called \\\"Jiu-Jitsu\\\". When the Gracies went to the United States to spread their art, they used the terms \\\"Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu\\\" and \\\"Gracie Jiu-Jitsu\\\" to differentiate from the already present styles using similar-sounding names. \\\"Jiu-jitsu\\\" is an older romanization that was the original spelling of the art in the West, and it is still in common use, whereas the modern [[Hepburn romanization]] is \\\"jujutsu.\\\"

The art is sometimes referred to as Gracie Jiu-Jitsu (GJJ), this name was trademarked by [[Rorion Gracie]], but after a legal dispute with his cousin [[Carley Gracie]], his trademark to the name was voided.<ref>[http://bulk.resource.org/courts.gov/c/F3/217/217.F3d.1060.98-16386.98-15672.html Carley Gracie et al. v Rorion Gracie et al. - Docket Numbers 98-15672, 98-16386] [[United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit]]</ref> Other members of the Gracie family often call their style by personalized names, such as Charles Gracie Jiu-Jitsu or Renzo Gracie Jiu-Jitsu, and similarly, the [[Machado family]] call their style Machado Jiu-Jitsu (MJJ). While each style and its instructors have their own unique aspects, they are all basic variations of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Today there are four major branches of BJJ from [[Brazil]]: [[Gracie Humaita]], [[Gracie Barra]], [[Carlson Gracie|Carlson Gracie Jiu-Jitsu]] and [[Alliance Jiu Jitsu]]. Each branch can trace its roots back to [[Mitsuyo Maeda]] and the [[Gracie family]].

More recently, the name \\\"jitz\\\" for the art has been gaining currency as a casual layman\\\'s term, especially in the USA.<ref>[http://bjjnation.com/bjj/jitz-did-he-just-say-that/ “Jitz”. Did he just say that???], BJJ Nation, April 26, 2011</ref>