The most traditional form of BJJ taught in Overland Park is gi jiu jitsu. It is a style that was popularized by a Japanese man named Mitsuyo Maeda in the early 1900’s. Misuyo was a martial arts expert that traveled the globe looking to find challenges to his prowess as a martial artist. He traveled through the US, South America and Europe before finally settling in Brazil where he met Carlos Gracie. Gracie was a brother to 8 other siblings who developed the same love for the martial arts that we all share today. The smallest of the Gracie brothers, Helio Gracie, was a technical genius responsible for many of the developments of modern-day jiu jitsu. Skip forward to 1993, and Royce Gracie has entered the first-ever Ultimate Fighting Championship, an event pitting the worlds best martial arts masters against each other. His dominant performance launched the Gracie name and their jiujitsu to new heights in the martial arts world and is responsible for its popularity and success today. Right here in Overland Park, we are a direct descendent of the Gracie Jiu Jitsu lineage. From Carlos and Mitsuo came Rolls Gracie, from Rolls came Romero Calvalcanti, from Romero came Raul Jimenez, and from Raul, our lead instructors Charlie Tietgen, and Fernando Herrera.