Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, often abbreviated as BJJ, is the name used to describe a number of martial lineages that have been developed in Brazil. These were notably influenced by the introduction of Judo from Japan to Bazil in the early 1900s, mostly notably by the Japanese Judo practitioner Mitsuyo Maeda, who eventually taught Carlos Gracie and others. The lineage that began with Carlos Gracie and was developed within the Gracie family in Brazil is specifically known as Gracie Jiu-Jitsu. Other lineages, such as that of Luiz Franca, prefer the term Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu to describe their arts that developed outside of the Gracie family.

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Gracie Jiu-Jitsu also incorporated and was influenced by other extent martial traditions in Brazil such as Vale Tudo, Luta Livre, wrestling, and even capoeira.

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Gracie Jiu-Jitsu continued to develop within Brazil up until the modern era before migrating to the United States of America and other countries. Its spread outside Brazil was accelerated by the Gracie family, specifically through the venue of the UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship), where the Gracie family desired to prove the superiority of Gracie Jiu-Jitsu over other modern martial arts. The effectiveness of Gracie Jiu-Jitsu in the UFC against other martial arts brought widespread popularity of BJJ In the United States. It has become a staple in the MMA (mixed martial arts) community, which now considers it an essential part of free fighting strategy.

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is differentiated from its main predecessor martial art, Judo, by attempting to dominate an opponent by fighting on the ground (known as "Ne-waza" in Judo) and also by the use of "submission" technique where an opponent must "tap" (admit defeat) to avoid injury - either where a joint would be twisted, locked, or hyperextended, or a choking technique would render the opponent unconscious. While a bigger, stronger, or more athletic opponent may more easily maintain these advantages while fighting standing up with plenty of distance, fighting on the ground in extremely close range will neutralize these advantages if the opponent does not know how to move effectively on the ground, like many competitors in the early UFC.

While Judo has a ground-fighting curriculum, it is not emphasized nearly as much or to as great a depth as it is in modern Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, instead preferring to focus in throwing techniques (known as "Nage-waza"). BJJ also incorporates throwing techniques, many from Judo and wrestling, but spends a greater amount of time on the practice of submissions and control positions on the ground, many adapted from Judo pinning techniques (known as "Osaekomi-waza"). So while BJJ and Judo both incorporates throws, pinning, and submissions, Judo focuses more on throwing into a pinning technique, whereas BJJ focusing on utilizing more diversity of pinning strategy to achieve a wider variety of submissions.

BJJ, like Judo, features "rolling" (known in Judo as "randori") as a form of competitive sparring. Like Judo, it typically does not allow striking techniques within sparring practice. Some forms of sparring in BJJ allow open-handed slaps as a substitute for striking to keep aware of possibilities to strike or be struck within BJJ technique or sparring. When more diverse forms of striking are added to BJJ, it is more typically known as mixed martial arts (abbreviated as MMA). Some lineages of BJJ, like Judo, teach striking as an auxiliary skill of the art. Various Gracie family members famously fought in Vale Tudo matches where striking was allowed to market the superiority of their martial art against others in both venues in Brazil as well as outside such as in Japan or the USA.

As BJJ continues to spread and evolve throughout the world, it has adapted and incorporated input from other martial arts such as wrestling.

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