| Every other day in Washington, DC, the nation's capital, | | | | missions. One of Kano's students, Mitsuyo Maeda, |
| a woman is forcibly raped. The typical reaction among | | | | eventually settled in Brazil where Maeda met Gastao |
| females in the past might be to avoid "bad areas," not | | | | Gracie. They became friends and Maeda taught |
| to walk or jog alone at night, etc. -- essentially giving in | | | | jujutsu to Gastao's son, Carlos. |
| to the legitimate fear that comes with living in a | | | | Carlos had a brother named Helio, who was so frail |
| crime-ridden city. This, however, does not have to be | | | | and sickly he was not permitted to study jujitsu until a |
| your response. Over the last two decades, Mixed | | | | moment of fate came knocking at his door. Carlos, the |
| Martial Arts has exploded on the scene, and there are | | | | jujitsu instructor, was absent one day when a student |
| a variety of disciplines that women can use to | | | | showed up for class, and Helio agreed to teach the |
| neutralize sronger and larger male attackers. For | | | | student. When the day's instruction ended, the student |
| instance, the essence of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ) is the | | | | informed Carlos that from then on he wanted to learn |
| idea that the smaller person, through the use of proper | | | | under Helio. Helio began not only teaching jujitsu, but he |
| technique and ground defense, can defeat bigger and | | | | also refined the techniques, creating something unique, |
| stronger opponents. This is not merely a theory, but | | | | now known and studied worldwide as BJJ. When you |
| has been applied in practice again and again. | | | | consider the roots of this martial art -- its development |
| The roots of BJJ can be found in the last quarter of | | | | over time by those considered weak, frail, and sickly, |
| the nineteenth century, when Jigoro Kano, a weak, | | | | it's easy to understand why self-defense via BJJ is so |
| sickly Japanese man, started studying jujutsu to | | | | effective, regardless of a person's size or strength, |
| improve his physical condition. Kano created a system | | | | and why as such it is the perfect martial art for |
| that became so popular that in the early 1900s, he | | | | women who want to walk the streets with confidence. |
| spread the word internationally through goodwill | | | | |