The Surprising Origin Of The Term “Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu”

Today, almost everyone around the world knows the art as Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, or simply BJJ.

But according to Cesar Gracie, the story behind that name is much more interesting than many people realize.

For many years, especially in Brazil, the art was commonly known as Gracie Jiu-Jitsu. That made sense. The Gracie family had become the most famous representatives of the style, with Carlos Gracie and Helio Gracie playing major roles in developing, teaching, and spreading the system that would later explode worldwide.

However, when Jiu-Jitsu began spreading in the United States, the name became more complicated.

Cesar Gracie explained in an interview that Rorion Gracie, one of the key figures behind the early spread of Gracie Jiu-Jitsu in America and the co-founder of the UFC, had trademarked the term “Gracie Jiu-Jitsu.” This meant that other family members, including his cousins, could not freely use the same name for their own academies, instructionals, or teaching businesses without potentially facing legal issues. Public sources also describe “Gracie Jiu-Jitsu” as a trademark associated with Rorion Gracie and his organization.

According to Cesar, that trademark situation forced other Gracie family members to find another way to describe what they were teaching.

He said:

“I think if Rorion hadn’t pressed that, we’d be calling everything Gracie Jiu-Jitsu today.”

Cesar then explained that Renzo Gracie played a major role in popularizing the alternative name.

Because the term Gracie Jiu-Jitsu was legally sensitive, Renzo began using the name Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu instead. It was a way to identify the art’s origin, separate it from Japanese Jiu-Jitsu, and avoid the problems connected to the trademarked Gracie Jiu-Jitsu name.

Cesar stated:

“So it was really Renzo Gracie that kind of put the moniker Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, because he was trying not to deal with the Rorion lawsuits and everything like that, because he had trademarked Gracie Jiu-Jitsu.”

According to Cesar, one important moment came when Renzo released an instructional videotape under the name “Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu by Renzo Gracie.”

He explained:

“So Renzo made a videotape and said, ‘Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu by Renzo Gracie,’ and it went on there. So it became Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.”

That detail is fascinating because, as Cesar points out, people in Brazil did not usually call the art “Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.” In Brazil, it was known as Gracie Jiu-Jitsu, or eventually just Jiu-Jitsu.

Cesar said:

“In Brazil, it’s not called Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. It’s Gracie Jiu-Jitsu, and then finally just Jiu-Jitsu.”

In other words, the name Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu became popular mainly outside Brazil, especially in the United States. It was a name created for an international audience, at a time when the art needed to be explained, marketed, and separated from both traditional Japanese Jiu-Jitsu and the trademarked Gracie Jiu-Jitsu brand.

That is why the modern term BJJ, short for Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, became the name most academies use today.

It is ironic. The art became famous because of the Gracie family, yet many Gracie family members could not simply market their own teaching as Gracie Jiu-Jitsu because of the trademark issue. So instead, the broader and more neutral term Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu took over.

Renzo Gracie, one of the most beloved and influential members of the Gracie family, may therefore have played a major role in giving the art the name by which the entire world now knows it.

Today, whether people train gi, no-gi, self-defense, MMA grappling, or sport Jiu-Jitsu, most of them simply call it BJJ.

But according to Cesar Gracie, if things had gone differently with the Gracie Jiu-Jitsu trademark, we might all still be calling it Gracie Jiu-Jitsu today.