Japanese jujitsu (traditional spelling) techniques were first used in the 1100s by the early samurai. The term "jujitsu" wasn't even used to describe these techniques until the 1600s. Traditional jujitsu started fading into obscurity in Japan through the Edo period (1603-1868) as hundreds of years of civil war had ended and there was relative peace in Japan. The samurai slowly faded as the need for their combat prowess faded. A version of jujitsu reemerged in the late 1800s as Jigorno Kano rebranded jujitsu as "judo" from his Tokyo school called the Kodokan.
Some of the last holdout styles were training at the Budokukai in Kyoto. The Budokukai was an institute for Japanese warfare, whereas Kano's Kodokan was a school for the much more sportive judo, which had many rules and had eliminated many of the more dangerous techniques of old jujitsu. In the late 1890s, Budokukai competitors were regularly defeating Kodokan judokas in competitions through the use of effective ground fighting ("ne waza" in Japanese).
In 1904, Kano sent one of top black belts, Tsunejiro Tomita, to the U.S. to spread judo. One of Tomita's top students from the Kodokan, Mitsuyo Maeda, went to the U.S. with him. Although Maeda came from the Kodokan, he had adopted the ground fighting style being emphasized in Kyoto, and he began fighting "no holds barred" fights for money. Maeda soon parted ways with Tomita and was expelled from the Kodokan because Kano did not allow prize fighting. Maeda continued winning hundreds of prize fights against boxers, wrestlers, and other fighters around the world. By 1914 Maeda had made his way to Brazil.
In 1914 Carlos Gracie, then a teenager, started taking jujitsu lessons from Maeda. Gracie studied under Maeda and under one or two of Maeda's other more experienced students for a few years. Carlos Gracie is said to have refined some of the jujitsu he learned to make it less reliant on strength and athleticism.
Carlos' youngest brother, Hélio Gracie, started training in "jiu jitsu" (common Western spelling) in the mid to late 1920s. Hélio was small and relatively weak compared to his older brothers. Hélio further refined the Japanese techniques he learned and developed an even more efficient use of the ground and one's legs from the ground position. Being on the ground can allow a smaller fighter to defeat stronger fighters using the legs defensively and offensively. Brazilian jiu jitsu calls this the "guard." Hélio maintained a focus on the effectiveness of jiu jitsu for self-defense.
Carlos Gracie and particularly his children drifted more toward competitive applications of jiu jitsu and conversion of jiu jitsu to a sport. The sport BJJ commonly seen in competitions today is far removed from jiu jitsu for effective self-defense, and more of the influence of Carlos Gracie's sons- particularly Carlson Gracie and Carlos Gracie Jr..
Hélio Gracie continued to require self defense as the first priority from his students, and this commitment was carried to the U.S. by his oldest son, Rorion Gracie in 1978. The Gracie jiu jitsu taught at Rorion's Gracie Academy and later Gracie University by his sons Ryron and Rener Gracie, continues to focus on self-defense effectiveness.
Gracie jiu jitsu, as it has been preserved through Hélio, Rorion, and Ryron/ Rener Gracie, is much like traditional Japanese jujitsu in its self-defense techniques. The primary evolution has been the incorporation of techniques using the ground and the legs to control larger opponents. This style is much more true to the jujitsu that was being practiced in Kyoto rather than Jigorno Kano's judo.
Another evolution that Gracie jiu jitsu has incorporated is the use of active competitive sparring ("randori" in Japanese) to develop skill in techniques. This can be called "practical jiu jitsu," since the student actually sees their techniques work on a resisting partner. Most traditional Japanese schools spend most of their training time is pre-arranged movements in which the training partner ("uke" in Japanese) offers no actual resistance. Because the techniques never really prove their effectiveness under the pressure of actual resistance, this style of practice can be called "theoretical jujitsu."
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