According to Renzo Gracie 's book Mastering Jujitsu , Maeda not only taught the art of judo to Carlos Gracie , but also taught a particular philosophy about the nature of combat based on his travels competing and training alongside catch @-@ wrestlers , boxers , savate fighters , and various other martial artists . The book detail Maeda 's theory that physical combat could be broken down into distinct phases , such as the striking phase , the grappling phase , the ground phase , and so on . Thus , it was a smart fighter 's task to keep the fight located in the phase of combat that best suited his own strengths . The book further state that this theory was a fundamental influence on the Gracie approach to combat . The approach included armed versus armed , armed versus unarmed , unarmed , standing ( tachiwaza , 立ち技 ) , kneeling ( suwariwaza , 座技 ) , and ground work ( newaza , 寝技 ) , close quarters ( hakuheijugi , 白兵主義 ) , and other forms of combat . It was employed by other proponents of judo ( ' Kano jiu @-@ jutsu ' ) who , like Maeda , engaged in challenge match fighting overseas as judo spread internationally ( e.g. , Yukio Tani in the United Kingdom from 1905 , Mikonosuke Kawaishi in France , and others ) .