After taking root in Japan, Jiu-Jitsu became the first martial art style. The samurai clans in Japan adopted jiu-jitsu as their own traditional style to defeat their opponents, regardless of whether the situation required striking, throwing or grappling. After years of constant practice and application of these techniques developed into other martial arts styles, such as judo, aikido, karate, etc.

The Japanese wanted to keep Jiu-Jitsu “in house” because of the influx of foreigners. So they broke it up into different arts to try and disguise it from the foreigners. The Japanese had to disguise the true Jiu-Jitsu art so they would not be defeated.

Jiu-Jitsu comes half a world away to Brazil

We fast forward to the early 1900’s in Brazil. During this time period in Japan, jiu-jitsu goes dormant. The Japanese government was eager to set up a Japanese colony in Brazil. To help lead this venture, they sent over a man named Esai Maeda, also known as "Count Koma".

Gastão Gracie, a Brazilian politician, befriended Maeda and helped him and his new venture. As a show of gratitude, Maeda agreed to teach Gastão's eldest son Carlos the secrets of the Japanese martial art; Jiu Jitsu. Maeda happened to be a former champion back in Japan and proved to be a very effective teacher as well.

Carlos, a skinny little teenager, trained under the watchful eyes of Maeda for the next few years. As fate would have it though, in 1923 Maeda returned back to his homelands and left Carlos all alone with no master.

Carlos, needing someone to train with, had taught his younger brother Helio the art. Together, these resilient brothers morphed Jiu Jitsu more and more each day into something that would eventually change the martial arts world forever. Neither Carlos nor Helio were men of great size or strength. Especially Helio, a frail boy who weighed around 140 pounds or so. Because of this, they based many of their modifications on position and leverage rather than size and strength. The concept behind their creations were that a smaller, weaker man could effectively win in a fight against a bigger, stronger man.

The mean streets of Brazil acted as very good testing grounds for these new modifications. Tested over and over again in challenge matches and professional Vale Tudo (No holds barred) fights, these new fighting techniques proved to be the most effective form of self defense around.

The Gracie Family, led by Carlos and Helio, basically evolved the martial art style into an almost unstoppable dynamo. They would accept challenges against their style from anybody. From the average street person in Rio to International Judo champions from Japan, the style prevailed against all others. The beauty of jiu-jitsu is that it never stopped evolving, continuously adapting to the demands of its surrounding environment.

Eric Williams began wrestling at 9 yrs of age.  Growing up on a wheat and cattle farm along the Kansas/Oklahoma border made for a good wrestling environment.  The strong work ethic from the farm combined with a love for technical wrestling knowledge led Eric to 7 national wrestling titles.  At the early age of 15, Eric was selected to the Olympic 200 project (a select team of 200 Olympic hopefuls who traveled to the Olympic training center for specialized training and instruction).  The Olympic dream never came to fruition though.  Eric was also an accomplished tailback in football, leading the state in rushing yards 3 consecutive years in a row (with personal desires to wrestle and play football in college).  A cervical injury playing football would lead to a “broken neck” and a paralyzed left arm.  Eric was told he could never compete in athletics again.  It would be 1 ½ years before Eric’s arm began to function again. Two weeks later he returned to wrestling and won another national championship (pinning everyone in his weight).  Although the doctors said he was supposed to stay out of wrestling, the Olympic fever was back again. The “if you set your mind to it, you can do anything” attitude was back in play.

It would be only 6 months before tragedy strikes again.  The wisdom of “mind and body” proved more powerful than just “setting your mind to it”.  Eric re-injured his neck and the left arm became paralyzed again.  “You really messed up this time” the doctors informed him.  “Now you will never get the use of your arm back”.  Defeated, Eric would retire from all athletics and give up on the Olympic dream.  The daily rituals which were taken for granted for so long (i.e., buttoning up one’s shirt, putting toothpaste on a tooth brush, going for a swim) were now supposed to be life long challenges. 

Eric shifted his focus to his academics.  The plan of attending college on a sports scholarship was gone.  Another year passed with a paralyzed left arm.  It would be God’s will that he receive the full use of his arm again in 1983.  The blessing of an academic scholarship to Oklahoma State University replaced the athletic scholarship as well. 

Eric began studying Karate at the age of 12 and continued his study of Karate, Tae Kwon Do, and Moo Do Kwon during college and after graduating college (eventually achieving the black belt in Karate).  Eric had moved to Houston, Texas after college to pursue an internship in international affairs with the Institute for International Education.  With the arm functioning at a near normal level, Eric decided to endeavor into Thai Boxing “just to stay in shape”.  Full contact sports were still “off limits” according to the physicians.  However, hitting Thai pads and some light sparring “surely couldn’t hurt if one was careful”. 

•Driving 45 minutes to an hour in Houston traffic seemed a small price to pay to get to attend the Thaiboxing classes.  One year into the Thai training, the instructor, Tim Mousel, found out that Eric used to wrestle.  Tim said, “oh man, you have got to see these submission holds Guru Dan Inosanto taught me.  They would go great with your wrestling.”  Eric was infatuated with the holds Tim had learned from Guru Inosanto, Larry Hartselle, and Yuri Nachamora.  Eventually Tim asked Eric, “let’s start a submission grappling class.  There isn't anyone around doing it, so we will just have to combine your wrestling with the Shoot Wresting submissions.  We can all grow together.”

“But I can’t”, stated Eric.  “I will get too wrapped up in it and end up grappling myself…..end up hurting my neck again…..I never want to be paralyzed again”.  The torch had been lit again.  Eric consulted a neurologist just to see what he thought.  Again, the Neurologist determined that it would be too risky to participate in contact sports.  After a few months though, Eric could not stand the temptation and Mousel’s Self-Defense Academy began teaching the first submission grappling class in Houston with Eric instructing.

Mixed Martial Arts had begun!  Tim teaching Thaiboxing, boxing, and JKD and Eric teaching the takedowns, body control, and rudimentary submissions.  It was a small, rugged class.  The third student to join was a skinny 130 pound, fifteen year old kid named Hai Nguyen.  “I was sure he would quit” Eric told his wife.  Hai’s training partners in the class consisted of a 235 lb. power lifter and Stanley Phillips (a 200 lb. ex-Army Ranger who served in Vietnam).  However, Hai proved to be a very determined young man.  12 years later, Hai now teaches with Eric at Elite Mixed Martial Arts.

A couple of months after starting the submission grappling class, the first UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) was held.  The sight of Royce submitting everyone really got us hooked.  Eric began traveling to seminars around the state and going to California to train Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.  “We would go learn as much as we could in a week, take great notes, then come back and drill the techniques for hours” stated Eric.

In the early days, the only Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu schools were in California and one in New York.  Eric got the privilege of training with Royce Gracie, Rorion Gracie, Rickson Gracie, and the Machado Brothers.   In 1995, Rigan Machado invited Eric to join the Machado Competition team and participate in the Pan American BJJ championships.  Mark Lyons, a Machado brown belt, had a big influence on the way Eric approached BJJ during this time.  Eventually, Carlos Machado would move to Dallas and it was a much celebrated shorter distance to train.

That was B.C. (before children).  Blessed with a new baby girl and boy and working 80 hours per week did not leave opportunity to travel to Dallas to train.  Eric began fighting NHB fights and was 3-0.  Guy Mezger, who was fighting in the UFC and Pancrease, came to the school and trained one day.  Guy and Eric hit it off and Guy asked Eric to start fighting in Japan.  It would be with great deliberation and reserve that he would pass up the opportunity.  “It would have been a great opportunity for me personally, but my family would have suffered,” stated Eric.  My wife and I had 6 month and 18 month old babies at home who needed me financially, emotionally, and physically.  Even without another neck injury, it would have been too much of a toll for my family.

Around this same time, a young black belt named Pedro Alberto moved to Houston.  He would eventually take over teaching the submission arts at Mousel’s and Eric became his student.  Leaving the Machado team was difficult but traveling was no longer an option given the young children and jobs.  Eric’s new BJJ instructor, Pedro Alberto, proved to be a great instructor and a great friend.

Hai, Ed Liem, another students of Eric’s submission grappling class, and Eric flourished under the tutelage of Pedro.  Pedro brought a new type of game to the table. He taught his students the same way he was taught by Sylvio Behring and Roberto Traven, he taught the concepts of BJJ - not just the moves. The fluidity in Pedro’s technique was what the Brazilians called “jinga”, something that we were lacking.

Two years passed and Pedro returned to Brazil to accept a job with a prestigious law firm in Saul Paulo, Brazil.  The original plan of continuing a PABJJ program at Mousel’s fell through following a disagreement between Tim and Pedro near the end of Pedro’s stay.  Eric, who to this day considers both Tim and Pedro good friends, was caught in the middle of the disagreement.  With great melancholy , Eric would end up moving to a different location to teach BJJ. 

Elite Mixed Martial Arts has been the host to several BJJ world champions who have come to Houston to vacation America and share some of their BJJ “secrets”.  World/Mundial Champion Black belts Ze Mario Accord “Esfiha” and Felipe Silva have taught extensively at our school in Houston.  Early in 2006, we hosted BJJ brown belt "Beto," then later that year Octavio Couto Jr "Ratinho" came to teach. For the beginning of 2007 Ratinho has come back to stay for several months.

When the guys from Brazil are not able to visit, we at Elite travel to Brazil to train.  Frost Murphy, a brown  belt instructor teaching in Baytown, trained for 6 months in Rio.  While in Rio, we train at the BRASA TEAM’s academies with Octavio Couto Jr. “Ratinho”, Felipe de Costa, Vinny Campelo, Muzio de Angeles, and others.

Now you know what our BJJ family looks like, why not be a part of it. We have your spot reserved!!! Schedule your Free Lesson right now!!!

Learning that 95% of any real street fight will end up on the ground, the Gracie brothers concentrated on developing the most effective grappling art form to date. The result of the past 70+ years of this development has become known as Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Even though the roots of the art stem from the traditional Japanese form of Jiu Jitsu, the Gracie family's effective renditions have proven to the world that it is to be considered a form of it's own.

Click on the lineage link to find out where Elite Martial Art’s lineage begins and where the instructors are on the “Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Family Tree”.

You can see the evolution of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu being practiced by fighters in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, Pride, and numerous other mixed martial arts events. The ground fighting seen in those events are BJJ techniques.

Now you know how BJJ was founded come experience it first hand with a certified instructor at Elite Mixed Martial Arts. Learn the art now just in case the 95% takes you down.

Don’t hesitate, schedule your FREE LESSON now!