About

Gracie Jiu Jitsu, also commonly known as Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu or BJJ; is a martial art and combat system that focuses on grappling and especially ground fighting. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu was formed from Kodokan Judo ground fighting (newaza) fundamentals that were taught by a number of individuals including Mitsuyo Maeda. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu eventually came to be its own combat sport through the experiments, practices, and adaptation of Judo through Carlos and Helio Gracie(who passed their knowledge on to their family)

BJJ promotes the concept that a smaller, weaker person can successfully defend themselves or another against a bigger, stronger, heavier assailant by using proper technique, leverage, and most notably, taking the fight to the ground, and then applying joint locks and chokeholds to defeat the opponent. BJJ training can be used for sport grappling tournaments and in self-defense situations.

Gracie Jiu Jitsu gained widespread popularity outside of Brazil after the inception of the UFC in 1993 due to the dominance inside the octagon of Royce Gracie, defeating numerous experts in various martial arts including boxing, karate, kung fu and wrestling. Between 1993 and 1994, he was the tournament winner of UFC 1, UFC 2 , UFC 4, and fought to a draw with Ken Shamrock in the championship match in the Superfight at UFC 5 Royce Gracie popularized Brazilian Jiu JItsuand revolutionized mixed martial arts with his results contributing to the movement towards grappling and ground fighting in the sport.

At Hunter Valley Jiu Jitsu our lineage is Mitsuyo Maeda > Helio Gracie > Royce Gracie > Luke Beston > Ernest Lapornik