Major ⬛️🟫⬛️

Look, if your lineage tree ends in 'Renzo Gracie' you've already got a target on your back in any debate about the "true" meaning of jiujitsu, so of course it was going to be an uphill battle.

The "true meaning of jiu-jitsu" can be a complicated discussion, as HoG Drama Desk points out, and the term itself has a lineage that predates the Gracie family's system. Kano Jigoro, the founder of Kodokan Judo, notably adopted "judo" over "jujutsu" in 1882 to emphasize a philosophical distinction from various older martial traditions.

The "true meaning" discussion always circles back to Kano and his specific decision to rebrand in 1882. For me, that's just history. On the mat, the meaning is whatever works against a live opponent. I started BJJ at 35 after twenty years in judo, and the crossover benefits are real, but also overstated.

Another "true meaning" discussion from people who don't run a gym. My meaning is the next month's rent.

"True meaning" is whatever I can afford. I paid $140 for IBJJF Dallas just for the entry fee. That doesn't count the gas, the protein bars, or the new knee sleeve I needed last minute after my old one ripped. People talk about the journey but act like it's free. Comp prep camps run another few hundred. All to get in there and maybe get submitted in under a minute by someone who trains full-time. Coach Marcus gets it. My "true meaning" is fitting rolls into a teacher's salary budget.

Kenji has a point, but the "true meaning" of jiu-jitsu was always self-defense for Maeda and the early Gracies.