How Japanese Martial Arts Were Invented and Exported

The Meiji Restoration of 1868 destroyed the samurai class but their unarmed fighting techniques, Jujutsu, evolved into modern martial arts like Judo, Karate, Taekwondo, and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Jigoro Kano (1860-1938) created Judo in 1882 by blending Jujutsu with Western science, opening the Kodokan in Tokyo. Judo became an Olympic sport in 1964. Ankō Itosu (1831-1915) fused Okinawan styles into Karate, and his student Gichin Funakoshi (1868-1957) introduced it to mainland Japan in 1922 at Kano's invitation, later founding the Japan Karate Association in 1949. Taekwondo, officially named in 1955 by General Choi Hong-Hi (1918-2002), mixes Taekkyon with Shotokan Karate learned in Japan; it became an Olympic sport in 2000. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu originated when Mitsuyo Maeda, a student of Kano, demonstrated Judo in Belém around 1917, inspiring Carlos Gracie to learn and later found the first Gracie school in Rio de Janeiro in 1925. His brother Helio Gracie is credited with refining techniques using leverage. Royce Gracie won the first UFC in 1993, proving BJJ's effectiveness. All these arts share roots in Japan's modernization.