The history of Jiu Jitsu is a fascinating subject, one with many implications for the present-day martial art. However, it’s also full of unanswered questions and polemics – one of them being about the complex BJJ lineage. Luckily enough, Robert Drysdale has undergone through some heavy, 3 years worth of research on this topic for his up-and-coming „Closed Guard: The Origins Of Jiu Jitsu In Brazil“ movie and book.

We’re sure that you’ll find the lineage and our conversation about it with Robert Drysdale interesting!

 

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As I argue in my book, lineages are overly simplistic and arbitrary ways of recounting history. For these reasons, I was hesitant to publish one. I decided, however, that simplistic as they may be, they can help tell the narrative of Jiu-Jitsu in Brazil in a more complete way. What I have included below may prove incomplete (and perhaps incorrect) in the future. Also, as it would be impossible to name all of the instructors, I decided to stick to the ones whose lineages were most influential. Additionally it should be noted that the size of the rectangles or the order of names does not reflect the relevance of these characters in the overall history of Jiu-Jitsu in Brazil. Lastly, given what is available in print, this is as close to an accurate Jiu-Jitsu lineage as we can get. #Bjj #jiujitsu #berkut #acamma #grappling #history #documentary #film #nogi #gi #fight #mma #ufc #closedguard

A post shared by Closed Guard (@closedguardfilm) on Sep 25, 2020 at 3:29pm PDT

BJJEE: The lineage is, arguably, incomplete. What are the missing links to it? Is there something that is „painfully“ missing; so much so, that it could (theoretically) change the way we look at the entire lineage right now?

Robert: Based off what is published, I can’t really think of anything that would drastically change the lineage. The only things that may prove aspects of this lineage incomplete is that people like Luis França and Carlos Gracie may have had other instructors as well (same with other characters of the lineage). People learn from many sources, including training partners and videos (books, in those days). So the whole discussion is complex. There is much speculation about who Maeda taught. Did Count Koma really teach Bianor Oliveira? Mario Aleixo? Carlos Gracie? Luis França? Donato Pires dos Reis? Possibly, but we need more conclusive evidence before we can say so. This is standard in historical research. We know for a fact that he taught Jacyntho Ferro, Waldemar Lopes, Raphael Gomes, Guilherme DelaRocque and Dr. Matheus Pereira because we can verify these relationships quite easily.

So who is Jacyntho (Jaicyntho) Samphaio Ferro, who was one of Carlos Gracie Sr.’s Jiu-Jitsu instructors.

He is a critical figure in the early development of jiujitsu whose name is not widely known. A competitive cyclist, boxer, Greco-Roman wrestler, and weightlifter he was also one of Mitsuyo Maeda’s early students in Belem, Brazil.
He began studying jiujitsu under Maeda in 1915. Along with Donato Pires dos Reis, he was a contemporary, and accounts of the time suggest, an instructor of Carlos Gracie Sr. Considering Grandmaster Carlos would go on to create a jiujitsu dynasty, Ferro most definitely deserves mention.
One of Maeda’s top students he was well-respected in his time, but he did not create his own lineage and is thus rarely mentioned in modern histories. Source: Old School Jiu-Jitsu

This video from Chadi discusses the life and career of Judoka Jacyntho Ferro, Maeda’s student, and how fragile our martial art history truly is.