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# Teddy Roosevelt Was a Jiu-Jitsu Badass
- URL: https://fightingmatters.com/teddy-roosevelt-was-a-jiu-jitsu-badass/
- Published: 2025-07-07T13:00:06.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-12T05:17:26.000Z
- Description: In this episode of Fighting Matters, Steve Kwan of BJJ Mental Models and Jeff Shaw of Bellingham BJJ uncover the forgotten history of Jiu-Jitsu in America, and how none other than President Theodore Roosevelt played a pivotal role in its rise.
- Author: Fighting Matters
- Tags: Podcast, Video, BJJ History

In this episode of Fighting Matters, Steve Kwan of BJJ Mental Models and Jeff Shaw of Bellingham BJJ uncover the forgotten history of Jiu-Jitsu in America, and how none other than President Theodore Roosevelt played a pivotal role in its rise.  
  
Between 1900 and 1906, Roosevelt brought Jiu-Jitsu into the White House, trained with Japanese masters, and helped spark a nationwide media craze that once made Jiu-Jitsu a household name. But the movement was derailed by xenophobia, racism, and short-sighted politics, costing the U.S. what could have been a century-long head start in martial arts.  
  
This conversation explores what Roosevelt’s story tells us about inclusion, politics, and what Jiu-Jitsu might have become if America had embraced its potential.  
  
⸻  
  
👥 Featuring:  
  
Steve Kwan @BJJMentalModels  
Jeff Shaw @BellinghamBJJ  
  
⸻  
  
🧠 Topics We Cover:  
  
• How Roosevelt’s training popularized Jiu-Jitsu in early 1900s America  
• Why his support nearly created a U.S. black belt generation a century early  
• The role of xenophobia in driving Yamashita out of the country  
• How women like Fude Yamashita and Misawa Soga shaped early Jiu-Jitsu  
• Why the art was more inclusive in 1905 than it often is today  
• What the media got right (and wrong) about Jiu-Jitsu at the time  
• The forgotten roots of Jiu-Jitsu as a progressive political tool  
• What Roosevelt’s vision can teach today’s Jiu-Jitsu leaders  
• How exclusion and short-term thinking still threaten the sport’s future  
• The myth of “keeping politics out” of martial arts  
  
⸻  
  
📖 Chapters:  
  
[00:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9xnEtJu%5Fmjs&ref=fightingmatters.com) Introduction to Jiu-Jitsu History  
[02:47](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9xnEtJu%5Fmjs&t=167s&ref=fightingmatters.com) The Role of Media in Jiu-Jitsu's Evolution  
[06:06](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9xnEtJu%5Fmjs&t=366s&ref=fightingmatters.com) The Impact of Theodore Roosevelt on Jiu-Jitsu  
[08:51](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9xnEtJu%5Fmjs&t=531s&ref=fightingmatters.com) The Confusion Between Judo and Jiu-Jitsu  
[11:50](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9xnEtJu%5Fmjs&t=710s&ref=fightingmatters.com) The Arrival of Judo in America  
[15:04](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9xnEtJu%5Fmjs&t=904s&ref=fightingmatters.com) Yamashita's Influence and the Military Connection  
[17:59](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9xnEtJu%5Fmjs&t=1079s&ref=fightingmatters.com) The Political Landscape and Jiu-Jitsu's Growth  
[20:54](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9xnEtJu%5Fmjs&t=1254s&ref=fightingmatters.com) The Consequences of Racism and Nativism  
[23:55](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9xnEtJu%5Fmjs&t=1435s&ref=fightingmatters.com) The Hypothetical Impact of a Strong Jiu-Jitsu Presence  
[26:43](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9xnEtJu%5Fmjs&t=1603s&ref=fightingmatters.com) Politics and Jiu-Jitsu's Historical Context  
[30:58](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9xnEtJu%5Fmjs&t=1858s&ref=fightingmatters.com) The Politics of Jiu Jitsu  
[34:15](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9xnEtJu%5Fmjs&t=2055s&ref=fightingmatters.com) Challenging Gender Norms in Jiu Jitsu  
[36:34](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9xnEtJu%5Fmjs&t=2194s&ref=fightingmatters.com) Historical Contributions of Women in Jiu Jitsu  
[46:16](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9xnEtJu%5Fmjs&t=2776s&ref=fightingmatters.com) The Evolution of Jiu Jitsu Training  
[58:27](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9xnEtJu%5Fmjs&t=3507s&ref=fightingmatters.com) Lessons from History for the Future of Jiu Jitsu