Not being one to let up, Keenan Cornelius is continuing his campaign that American Jiu-Jitsu is not only different than Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu but, in fact, older than BJJ.
Check out the case Keenan’s latest argument about AJJ with quotes from his new podcast, Dojo Storm.
The Origins of American Jiu-Jitsu
In the debut episode of Keenan Cornelius’s new podcast, Dojo Storm, he just had to keep talking about American Jiu-Jitsu. This time, he claimed that AJJ pre-dates BJJ, and he had some historical facts to prove it.
On the podcast, Cornelius stated that Mitsuyo Maeda taught in the United States. This was true, as Maeda did teach Judo in the US before traveling to Brazil.
Master Maeda went on the request of the Japanese Legation, who asked the Kodokan to send Judo instructors to the US.
“Maeda went to America, 1904, and he introduced Teddy Roosevelt, the f*cking president of the United States to Jiu-Jitsu. Theodore Roosevelt has many quotes about how Jiu-Jitsu is so awesome. The entire American police force was being taught American Jiu-Jitsu through Maeda and his student Yamashita, and all of their students that they trained in America.”
President Teddy Roosevelt was a student of Yamashita Yoshitsugu, the first Judoka to receive the 10th-degree red belt rank.
AJJ Gained Popularity in the US?
Keenan Cornelius further explained that a unique American Jiu-Jitsu grappling style started developing in the US through the sharing of techniques between Judo, Jiu-Jitsu, and catch wrestling practitioners.
“So, there was all sorts of fights between the judo guys, the Jiu-Jitsu guys, the catch wrestlers. What ended up happening was a melding of the techniques. Catch wrestling kinda became the American verWsion of Jiu-jitsu, but they still called it Jiu-Jitsu.”
“I’m not saying Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu doesn’t exist. It does. I’m just saying American Jiu-Jitsu did exist.
Literally, it’s there, the word American Jiu-Jitsu, all throughout 30 years from 1900 to 1930s. You can no longer claim as a marketing tactic that Brazilians are the originators of Jiu-Jitsu as it is today.”
Why Didn’t AJJ Take Off?
You’re probably wondering if American Jiu-Jitsu existed prior to BJJ, then why didn’t it expand. Keenan Cornelius claims that this was due to World War II. Anti-Japanese sentiments in the US were growing and so was the propaganda against anything Japanese or Asian culture related.
“All of their cultural impact that had made so much ground was basically erased because of the propaganda of the state. They feminized it. They were like: “Oh, it’s for girls. Jiu-Jitsu is for women.”
Keenan went on to reiterate his point that AJJ did exist prior to the creation of BJJ. He also lashed out at the marketing tactic that Brazilians use as being the originators of Jiu-Jitsu.
“I’m not saying Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu doesn’t exist. It does. I’m just saying American Jiu-Jitsu did exist. Literally, it’s there, the word American Jiu-Jitsu, all throughout 30 years from 1900 to 1930s. You can no longer claim as a marketing tactic that Brazilians are the originators of Jiu-Jitsu as it is today.”
Personal Opinion: Does it Matter?
Keenan Cornelius did make some points on his podcast about the history of AJJ and provided some evidence. However, does it really matter and does anyone really want to passionately debate this topic(aside from Keenan)?
An Americanized form of Jiu-Jitsu did exist, but it wasn’t honed and promoted like Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. It’s unfortunate that things played out that way, but that’s what happened.
Modern Jiu-Jitsu is constantly evolving and everyone has their own unique style. Keenan can keep going on about AJJ if he wants, but at the end of the day it’s all just Jiu-Jitsu.
Bobby is martial artist for almost 20 years with a BJJ black belt under Professor Sergio Miranda. He is also a karate black and former combat sports athlete, who loves all things grappling.