From today’s standpoint, BJJ can be declared the winner based on its popularity, but the historical rivalry at points was as bitter and heated as they get.<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n We will look at what caused this clash, the technical differences between BJJ and Luta Livre, and how the whole drama played out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n BJJ\u2019s origin story is well-known and popularised by the Gracie family, who are credited with creating and spreading the style. The man who brought the initial skillset to Brazil was judo and jiu-jitsu master Mitsuyo Maeda, who met local businessman Gastao Gracie, the father of Carlos and Helio Gracie. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The two brothers learned from Maeda and eventually branched off, focusing more on ground fighting and creating their own style, which used more leverage and technique so smaller men could defeat stronger foes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Gracie clan and their students took on challenges from many other styles like Luta Livre, catch wrestling, judo, and striking styles and emerged victorious more often than not, spreading the fame of the style and gaining more and more popularity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The big step came with the expansion to America and the creation of the UFC, which initially aimed to showcase BJJ’s dominance over other styles. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The events were a resounding success, with the unassuming and inexperienced Royce Gracie winning three of the first four tournaments and cementing BJJ’s place as one of the premier martial arts on the planet and a fundamental part of MMA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Luta Livre means “wrestling” in Portuguese, although the word Luta translates to ‘fight’ and Livre translates to ‘free,’ meaning that the more proper translation can be ‘free fighting.’ The style was created by Euclydes “Tatu” Hatem, a catch wrestler who gradually started implementing new techniques and creating a complete fighting system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hatem trained with two accomplished wrestlers, Orlando Americo da Silva and Rufino dos Santos. He competed in catch wrestling from the 1930s to the 1950s and was unbeatable. <\/p>\n\n\n\n A historical match in that period is his fight against Geroge Gracie in 1940, in which Tatu defeated Gracie with a keylock (the reports of this fight and the results are disputed). <\/p>\n\n\n\n The win solidified Luta Livre as a legitimate martial art, and it thrived on the Vale Tudo scene because it encompassed equally all elements of the almost no-rules fights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The evolution of the style was continued by fighters such as Euclides Pereira and, most of all, Roberto Leitao. Leitao was a university professor in mechanical engineering but had a deep passion for martial arts and was at the forefront of Luta Livre in the 1970s. He even wrote a book on the biomechanics of fighting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While at the end of the heated rivalry between jiu-jitsu and Luta Livre, BJJ emerged victorious by winning more of the direct battles and producing the more prominent MMA champions, there have been more than a few world-class fighters coming from the Luta Livre school who trained under Leitao. <\/p>\n\n\n\n These are fighters like Marco Ruas, Pedro Rizzo, Renato Sobral, Jose Aldo, Darren Till, and Vicente Luque, among others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The biggest difference between the two styles is the attire. Brazilian jiu-jitsu<\/a> is done in the traditional gi, which is used and manipulated in almost every move. On the other hand, Lutra Livre has no uniform, just regular shorts, and an optional T-shirt. But in addition to the different techniques it allows, the gi was also a symbol of status.<\/p>\n\n\n\n An important distinction between the two styles throughout the 20th century was their accessibility to different classes of society. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The Gracie family were people of wealth and influence, and their style was practiced by those of the middle and upper classes. This was reinforced by the necessity to wear a special gi, which was expensive (and still is) and not affordable to many people at the time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n On the other hand, Luta Livre needed no special equipment and had a much lower entry cost. For a long time, it was considered that Luta Livre was for poor kids who could not afford to buy a gi. <\/p>\n\n\n\n This meant BJJ was taught more to light-skinned upper-class people, while Luta Livre was practiced by those who lived in the favelas and were usually darker-skinned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This class division is one of the core reasons for the heated rivalry rather than the stylistic differences and approaches to combat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Luta Livre has a lot more developed striking elements than BJJ. While Gracie jiu-jitsu does include some simple strikes, Luta Livre has full-fledged striking, and practitioners do not necessarily look for the takedown. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Luta Livre has also had extensive contact with Muay Thai<\/a> in Brazil, which has further developed the striking skills of practitioners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Striking is more prevalent in Luta Livre on the ground as well. Where BJJ grapplers look to advance position and lock in a submission, Luta Livre fighters use ground strikes much more often.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Because Luta Livre is derived from catch wrestling, the goal is to win the fight as quickly as possible. This approach leads to fast submissions or using strikes to force the opponent to submit. This is in stark contrast with the motto of BJJ, which I am sure you’ve heard a million times: “position before submission.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Luta Livre is more aggressive, while BJJ is more methodical. This is a generalization, and not every fighter from both styles always follows the same game plan, but these are the overarching principles taught in the two schools.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Most submissions, like the armbar, guillotine, rear naked choke, and arm locks, are the same in BJJ and Luta Livre. What doesn’t cross over are the gi techniques exclusive to jiu-jitsu. <\/p>\n\n\n\n But Luta Livre has the advantage on another front: leg locks. They have been a core part of the style because of Luta Livre’s catch wrestling origins, while BJJ purists have always frowned on using leg locks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The situation is similar today, with no-gi grappling embracing leg locks while traditional gi BJJ still refuses to add them to competitions, even for black belts<\/a>. Modern no-gi BJJ is much closer to Luta Livre regarding techniques and approach than the traditional version.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For those who want even more in-depth analyses of different approaches, 6-time ADCC veteran and accomplished Luta Livre grappler Nicolas Renier has a whole series of fascinating videos detailing technical differences between the two styles:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/a>BJJ Origins<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/a>Luta Livre Origins<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Differences Between BJJ and Luta Livre<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"Luta](\"https:\/\/rollingaroundbjj.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Luta-Livre-vs-BJJ.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nUniform And Accessibility<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Luta Livre Has Striking<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Philosophy and Approach<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Submissions and Ground Techniques<\/h3>\n\n\n\n