Academy of Combat: Christchurch Martial Arts

The history of mixed martial arts really began with the challenge matches fought against all-comers by Japanese Jiu Jitsu expert Maeda in the early 1900s. Maeda was a very innovative student of Jigoro Kano, the founder of judo and had come to the USA to try and establish judo in the USA. Experiencing a great deal of prejudice against the Japanese he emigrated to Brazil from where he often fought challenge matches against all-comers around the world. It was his involvement in these challenge matches that led him to modify many of the techniques of judo so that they became more practical and useful in real fights, Maeda insisted on calling his method Jiu Jitsu.

Gastao Gracie, a Brazilian of Scottish descent, befriended and helped Maeda. In return for his assistance Maeda offered to teach Gastao's sons Jiu Jitsu. Gracie family embraced the art with a fanatical fervour, becoming very proficient, developing their own techniques and modifications and challenging other martial art styles to test the skill. In order to determine the strongest fighting method Vale Tudo, meaning " anything goes", matches were held in which striking and grappling were permitted. The Gracie family's method of Jiu Jitsu triumphed and continued to develop and grow in popularity.

Maeda's involvement with the Gracie Brothers was probably no more than four years due to his commitments for establishing a Japanese colony. It would appear that the bulk of the technique and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu was developed and discovered by the Gracies themselves over the years. The training methodology philosophy and strategies for the use of Jiu Jitsu in real combat imparted by Maeda formed a very strong foundation for the development of this extremely practical fighting method.

The Gracie Brothers had several advantages that accelerated the development of their passion. Four of the sons became heavily involved with Jiu Jitsu, this provided a continual source of training partners with whom to practice and develop the techniques. The brothers in turn had large families who became students and teachers and this tradition continued into the modern era. They also had the advantage of time, teaching Jiu Jitsu for a living they had plenty of time to develop the techniques and they did not have the restrictions of tradition to slow them down.

The mixed martial arts competition record for Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is unequalled by any other fighting method in the world. When Brazilian Jiu Jitsu came to the US in the 1980s the era of mixed martial arts truly began to get worldwide recognition. The Machado Brothers, a top Brazilian fighting clan, along with several other highly ranked Brazilian fighters moved from Rio de Janeiro in Brazil to Los Angeles in California in the late 80's and early 90's. Since that time, and the greater exposure of BJJ to the elite of the world's martial arts community, the style has enjoyed skyrocketing growth and notoriety.

Several renowned Australasian fighters and martial artists, along with high profile martial arts stars such as Chuck Norris, Steven Segal and Gene LeBell, are now hard-core BJJ aficionados. Norris even built a special studio on the permanent set of Walker - Texas Ranger, and imported one of the Machado brothers as his personal and full-time trainer.

BJJ has since spread to several other countries, including Australia, New Zealand and Japan. BJJ Australia, our national body, is headed up by Mr John Will, the first Australian to be awarded a black belt and full international coaching status, in the Brazilian system. BJJ Australia is part of a growing international family of no-nonsense BJJ fighters.

Initially Brazilian Jiu Jitsu completely dominated the mixed martial arts matches. Gradually though exponents of wrestling who had also complemented their training with kickboxing and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu techniques began to become competitive. As the sport developed and practitioners became exposed to greater levels of competition the methods of martial arts that provided the strongest competitive advantage began to emerge. This evolution has led to a combination of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, wrestling, kickboxing (Muay Thai) and boxing providing these best all round competitive advantage.

Mixed martial arts competition are now commonplace worldwide with the most prominent competitions being the Japanese Pride and the UFC of the USA.

The first mixed martial arts competition in New Zealand was promoted by Geoff and Leonie of the Academy of Combat in Christchurch, August 1996 and the Academy continues to train people in all aspects of mixed martial arts and BJJ whether for fitness, confidence, self-defence or even competition. The emphasis is on the development of a high technical ability and understanding, together with the self-development and fitness aspects.