While mixed martial arts includes many forms of fighting and not just Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, one can hardly ignore the impact of this South American fighting style and the family that started it all - The Gracie Family.
Carlos Gracie was the first in the family to learn martial arts skills. His tyrannical father, Gastao Gracie, was part owner of a circus, and one of the acts they staged was presented by Kodokan Judo expert Mitsuyo Maeda. Carlos became entranced by Judo and asked to be trained by Maeda. He then passed along these skills to his many younger brothers and they opened their own school.
The youngest boy in the family was Helio, and he was just fourteen when he came to live with his brothers. However, Carlos felt he was far too weak to train and instruct at the school, so Helio merely watched his brothers and students in action. He learned enough from observing that he was able to act as an instructor one day when Carlos was late to class. When Carlos arrived, he found to his surprise that Helio had taken over the class, and was even more surprised when the student asked to continue taking lessons from Helio. Carlos agreed, and Helio became an official instructor.
Because he was weaker than his brothers, Helio found that many of the Judo-style techniques his brothers taught did not work for him. So he did what any innovative person would do, he developed his own style of fighting that would allow a smaller fighter to more easily combat a larger opponent. This is how Gracie-style Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu was born.
Helio Gracie's son Rorion is another important member of the clan. Rorion cut his teeth on Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu before he even had all of his teeth, and was doing demonstrations of the art form before he turned 2. He decided to immigrate to the United States in the late 1970s and start teaching Americans the art of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. At first, his garage served as his school and soon his brother Royce came to the U.S. and joined him as a teacher. Eventually they had acquired 120 students and the garage was hardly a suitable spot anymore, so they moved into a larger facility, officially opening the first school of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in 1989.
Rorion was a man with vision. Not only did he open the first BJJ school in the United States, he was also responsible for promoting and developing the Ultimate Fighting Championship along with John Milius and Art Davie. The first UFC 1 was a huge success, and mixed martial arts has grown exponentially since that first live broadcast.
Of course it was yet another Gracie that won the first Ultimate Fighting Championship. Royce Gracie, who had helped his brother start the first American Gracie-BJJ studio, was the victor during this earliest UFC event. He defeated Art Jimmerson in 2:18, Ken Shamrock in less than one minute and Gerard Gordeau in 1:44, all by submission. Overall, Royce holds a pro MMA record of 12-2-3.
Carlos Gracie was the first in the family to learn martial arts skills. His tyrannical father, Gastao Gracie, was part owner of a circus, and one of the acts they staged was presented by Kodokan Judo expert Mitsuyo Maeda. Carlos became entranced by Judo and asked to be trained by Maeda. He then passed along these skills to his many younger brothers and they opened their own school.
The youngest boy in the family was Helio, and he was just fourteen when he came to live with his brothers. However, Carlos felt he was far too weak to train and instruct at the school, so Helio merely watched his brothers and students in action. He learned enough from observing that he was able to act as an instructor one day when Carlos was late to class. When Carlos arrived, he found to his surprise that Helio had taken over the class, and was even more surprised when the student asked to continue taking lessons from Helio. Carlos agreed, and Helio became an official instructor.
Because he was weaker than his brothers, Helio found that many of the Judo-style techniques his brothers taught did not work for him. So he did what any innovative person would do, he developed his own style of fighting that would allow a smaller fighter to more easily combat a larger opponent. This is how Gracie-style Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu was born.
Helio Gracie's son Rorion is another important member of the clan. Rorion cut his teeth on Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu before he even had all of his teeth, and was doing demonstrations of the art form before he turned 2. He decided to immigrate to the United States in the late 1970s and start teaching Americans the art of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. At first, his garage served as his school and soon his brother Royce came to the U.S. and joined him as a teacher. Eventually they had acquired 120 students and the garage was hardly a suitable spot anymore, so they moved into a larger facility, officially opening the first school of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in 1989.
Rorion was a man with vision. Not only did he open the first BJJ school in the United States, he was also responsible for promoting and developing the Ultimate Fighting Championship along with John Milius and Art Davie. The first UFC 1 was a huge success, and mixed martial arts has grown exponentially since that first live broadcast.
Of course it was yet another Gracie that won the first Ultimate Fighting Championship. Royce Gracie, who had helped his brother start the first American Gracie-BJJ studio, was the victor during this earliest UFC event. He defeated Art Jimmerson in 2:18, Ken Shamrock in less than one minute and Gerard Gordeau in 1:44, all by submission. Overall, Royce holds a pro MMA record of 12-2-3.
About the Author:
Nolan Barias loves writing about mixed martial arts benefits. For further information about San Diego MMA lessons or to discover a San Diego boxing gym, visit The Arena MMA website now.
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