Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in Liverpool and Sydney

In our Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) class, you will learn how to take down and throw an opponent. We teach the essential skills of Machado Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, from takedown to submission. Machado Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is a ground fighting method that emphasizes position, control and submissions using chokes, arm locks and leg locks. It also teaches you to dominate and control an opponent positionally as well as all the escapes to these positions. You will also learn how to submit your opponent using a variety of finishing holds, such as chokes, arm locks, shoulder locks, leg locks and more. We are official representatives of Carlos Machado Brazilian Jiu Jitsu with a long and respected history.

Jiu-Jitsu, or "gentle art," is the oldest of the martial arts. It originated in India more than 2000 years before Christ as a method of defence for monks who could not use any type of weapons during barbarian attacks. It spread through China and took root in Japan, becoming the first martial art style. The samurai clans in Japan adopted Jiu-Jitsu as their own traditional style to defeat an opponent.

Japanese Jiu-Jitsu champion Esai Maeda moved to Brazil in 1914 where he was key in establishing a Japanese immigrant community. His efforts were aided by Gast'o Gracie, a Brazilian scholar and politician. To express his gratitude for Gracie's assistance, Maeda taught the Brazilian's oldest son Carlos the ancient martial arts technique. Carlos taught these techniques to his four brothers, which resulted in the first Gracie Jiu-Jitsu academy in Brazil in 1925. Teaching the art was their passion.

In the following decades, Carlos's family became the driving force that refined the art into the form we see today. Rio de Janeiro became a proving ground for the no-rules fighting (known as Vale Tudo) strategy and technique. BJJ schools popped up everywhere and a sporting aspect was developed that helped the art grow tremendously. It became obvious that almost all fights, with limited or no rules, ended up being contested on the ground.

The Machado Brothers (cousins of the Gracies) have developed their own system of Jiu-Jitsu over the last two decades. They have refined their Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu into a modern and unique style which is increasingly popular in the United States. The system is rooted in one-on-one ground fighting, achieving superior position for joint locks, chokes and strikes. Their family has demonstrated the effectiveness of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in many no-rules tournaments. They have demonstrated superiority on the mat by winning numerous Brazilian championships and national and world titles in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Russian sambo and even western wrestling. 

BJJ was brought to Australia by John Will who was a pioneer of the Martial Arts. He discovered BJJ in the late 80's and brought it to Australia after meeting the Machado Brothers overseas. He is considered one of the Dirty Dozen; one of the first dozen non-Brazilian BJJ Black Belts ever awarded. One of his students was Anthony Lange, up in Sydney, and this is where Chief Instructor Elvis Sinosic started his BJJ journey after discovering BJJ in the pages of Bliz magazine (owned and operated by John B Will at the time). Elvis started training in the art of Machado Jiu Jiu Jitsu. Though there were many BJJ and Grappling competitions happening around, the first every official AFBJJ Pan Pacific Championships occurred in 1998. Chief Instructor Elvis won the Blue/Purple (back then due to the limited number of competitors was a combined division) Open Division, winning the highest ranked division here in Australia.