What is the deal about Machado family of Brazilian jiu jitsu?

Question

I thought the Gracie family (with the help of some judo promoters) invented BJJ, where did the Machado family come in?

Answer 1

The Machado's are cousins of the Gracies.

They learned from Carlos "Carlinhos" Gracie Jr. They took and added their own style to it.

Keep in mind Rigan Machado's style of BJJ is very different than his brother Carlos. Like anything else each group has it's own style.

But the Machados learned BJJ directly from the Gracies.

Sr. Mitsuo "Count Koma" Maeda → Carlos Gracie Sr. → Carlos "Carlinhos" Gracie Jr. → Rigan Machado/Carlos Machado.

Like any good self promoting Brazilian Jiujitsu group, they have their own style of BJJ that they call Machado Brazlilian Jiujitsu.

Technically all BJJ is originated from the Gracies, or at least other people then learning from it and modifying it or adding their own style to it. Just the Gracie's only want Gracies teaching "Gracie JiuJitsu".

So while the Machados are ranked under Carlos Gracie, they teach and promote Machado BJJ.

Similarly Eddie Bravo while ranked under Machado he teaches Greco Roman Jiujitsu or 10th Planet or whatever he prefers to call it this week.

Just promotion really... but the Machados are awesome, and like the Gracies if you have a instructor who is ranked and was directly instructed by a Machado or Gracie, then you got a good instructor.

Hope that is of some help.

Answer 2

Carlos Machado came to the states in 1990 and hooked up with Chuck Norris(this is not a Norris joke LOL) who really helped promote BJJ and the Machados style of BJJ-  Carlos Machado trained with the Gracie Family, mainly Carlos Gracie, but this also included Rickson, Rorion Helio etc...

In the mid nineties Carlos Machado moved to Texas and taught BJJ from the building that Chuck filmed Texas Walker Ranger.  This allowed him to be able to take part in choreographing BJJ scenes and to take part in episodes when needed.  Carlos has affiliate schools all over the US.  The Machado style is more traditional than some being taught for MMA these days, but don't get me wrong, it is extremely effective, position first styule JiuJitsu very similar to what you would see if you watched Rickson.

Answer 3

The art is sometimes referred to as Gracie Jiu-Jitsu (GJJ), but this name is trademarked by Rorion Gracie and specifically refers to the style taught by him and his selected teachers. Other members of the Gracie family often call their style by personalized names, such as Charles Gracie Jiu-Jitsu or Renzo Gracie Jiu-Jitsu, and similarly, the Machado brothers call their style Machado Jiu-Jitsu (MJJ). While each style and its instructors have their own unique aspects, they are all basic variations of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

It does say in there that when the Gracies went to the U.S. to spread thier art the system became known as "Brazilian Jiu-jitsu" and "Gracie Jiu-Jitsu"