3. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
Many credit Helio Gracie with the invention of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, but like anyone who discovers anything, he was influenced by those who came before him.
Geo Omori is credited with having opened the first Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu school in 1909, but the style of fighting hadn’t yet grown into what we know today. Omori’s martial arts was heavily influenced by Judo, which was a problem for Helio Gracie when he first began to train. Judo requires a great deal of strength to be able to throw your opponent, but Helio was a smaller guy and had trouble with this aspect of the martial art. He began to develop more ground techniques, and methods for a smaller man to incapacitate a larger opponent. This was the beginning of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.
When the Ultimate Fighting Championships first began, they were essentially infomercials for Gracie Jiu Jitsu schools. The Gracies wanted to prove that their martial arts style could defeat any other martial arts style in the world. They were right, and Royce Gracie proved that. After Royce conquered 3 of the first 4 UFC tournaments it had been made clear that any fighter who wanted to be legit needed to learn the art of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.
