Gracie Jiu-Jitsu

The Gracie story starts in 1801, when the Scottish immigrant George Gracie settled in the state of Pará in northeastern Brazil. Around 1900 a Japanese man, Mitsuyo Maeda, arrived in the same region and became friends with Gastão Gracie, George's grandson.

Gastão was a politician and used his influence to support Maeda and other Japanese immigrants. Maeda — known as “Count Koma” — turned out to be a former Japanese Jiu-Jitsu champion and, in return, taught the art to Gastão's son Carlos, who trained with him from age 15 to 21.

Left alone with his newly learned art, Carlos developed Jiu-Jitsu in ways tradition would not have allowed in Japan. Private lessons from home became so popular that he opened the first Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu academy in the world.

Helio was a frail boy who could not train with his older brothers, so he spent his days watching Carlos teach. One day Carlos was late for a private lesson and Helio stepped in — he ended up teaching the entire class, and the student asked to keep training with him. From that moment Helio was a teacher.

Carlos' aggressive, athletic style did not suit Helio's smaller frame. He rebuilt the techniques around leverage and timing, so that a smaller person could control a larger one. That refinement is the foundation of the Gracie Jiu-Jitsu we train today.