José "Tufy" Cairus is a Brazilian historian known for bringing academic rigor to the study of Brazilian jiu-jitsu's origins. He earned a PhD in Latin American History from York University in Toronto, and his doctoral dissertation on the Gracie family and the development of the art is widely cited as a primary scholarly reference. Secondary citations of the dissertation title differ on its end date — some list the period through 1993, others through 2003 — and this discrepancy remains unresolved in the available sources; his academia.edu profile is the best point of reference for the canonical title.
His peer-reviewed article "Nationalism, Immigration and Identity: The Gracies and the Making of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, 1934–1943," published in the journal Martial Arts Studies (Cardiff University Press, Issue 9, 2020), examines how the Gracie clan shaped the identity of jiu-jitsu in Brazil against the backdrop of immigration and nationalism. His work is frequently drawn on by other researchers and practitioners; grappler and historian Robert Drysdale has cited Cairus's dissertation as a key source in his own study of the sport's history.
Beyond the archive, Cairus has a personal connection to the mat: he trained with Carlson Gracie, placing him within one of the sport's most influential competitive lineages. He is reported to have contributed as a consultant on a Netflix documentary about Rickson Gracie, though this involvement has not been confirmed by trade press or the production's own materials and should be treated as unverified. He teaches at the Instituto Federal Catarinense in Brazil.