THE GRACIE PHILOSOPHY
Although the complete Gracie Family history far exceeds what is included herein, the timeline below briefly describes 12 of the most significant occurrences that took place over the three generations the Gracies have been teaching jiu-jitsu.
1925: The Gracie Academy Is Born
Carlos Gracie establishes the first Gracie Jiu-Jitsu® Academy in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Carlos and his brothers taught Japanese Jiu-Jitsu techniques that Carlos learned from Esai Maeda, a Japanese immigrant. Helio Gracie, the youngest of Carlos’ brothers, was restricted from practicing due to his small size and weak body.
As a result, Helio spent most of his time observing the lessons taught by his older brothers.
1928: The Transformation Begins
Carlos Gracie is late for a private lesson, so Helio offers to teach the class in his brother’s absence.
Although he had never practiced the techniques, he had memorized them after years of patient observation.
Helio quickly realized that he was not strong enough to successfully apply the Japanese techniques against a larger opponent.
Never one to quit, Helio sought ways to make the techniques work using leverage, timing, and natural body movements instead of strength, speed, and coordination.
1931: The First Test
Helio defeats Antonio Portugal, a much heavier boxer.
Helio submits the boxer in minutes, proving that his improvements would enable a smaller person to defeat a larger, more athletic opponent.
His victory inspired him to continue modifying the Japanese techniques until he produced an art that would enable anyone, regardless of their physical attributes, to defend themselves against a larger assailant.
1947: Helio Gracie vs Joe Louis
On June 6, Helio Gracie publicly challenges world heavyweight boxing champion, Joe Louis, to a no-holds-barred fight to refute an article published in Reader’s Digest arguing for the superiority of boxing over jiu-jitsu.
Joe Louis’ manager declines the invitation.
Even though the fight never took place, Helio’s challenge confirmed that he was willing to fight anyone, anytime, anywhere, in order to prove his system’s effectiveness.
1951: The Ultimate Confirmation
On October 23, Helio Gracie fights Masahiko Kimura, the best Japanese Jiu-Jitsu fighter of his day.
After more than 20 years of modifying and adapting the techniques, Helio was very curious to see how his adaptations would fare against the world jiu-jitsu champion.
Kimura, who was eighty pounds heavier than Helio, was so confident of victory that he declared if Helio lasted more than three minutes he should be considered the winner.
Helio frustrated Kimura for thirteen minutes before Carlos ended the fight to protect his brother from serious injury due to the shoulder lock that today bears Kimura’s name.
Many consider this “defeat” to be one of Helio’s greatest accomplishments, as Kimura was so impressed with Helio’s technical skill that he invited him to share his improvements with his Japanese peers.
1955: The Longest Fight
On May 24, Helio Gracie, 41, fights Waldemar Santana in the longest uninterrupted no-holds-barred fight in history.
Even though retired from competition, Helio accepted Santana’s challenge, despite being 16 years older and almost 40 pounds lighter than the former Gracie Academy student.
After fighting nonstop for three hours and forty minutes, Helio became disoriented and Carlos again ended the match to protect him.
Although Santana was the victor, Helio’s ability to fend off the attack of a younger, stronger, more athletic, highly skilled grappler for nearly four hours earned him great respect and recognition.
In fact, this dramatic demonstration of his art’s effectiveness resulted in the greatest influx of students in Gracie Jiu-Jitsu® Academy’s history.
1978: The Garage Days
In the summer of 1978, Helio’s eldest son, Rorion, leaves Brazil for the United States determined to share his father’s revolutionary system of self-defense with the rest of the world.
Rorion knew that the popularization of Gracie Jiu-Jitsu® in the United States would open the door to worldwide exposure.
He arrived in Southern California with nothing but his passion for Gracie Jiu-Jitsu® and his faith that he would succeed.
Short on money and turned away by every martial arts school, he resorted to teaching classes in his garage.
He offered a free lesson to every person he met and, within months, had a dedicated following.
1980: The Gracie Challenge
Rorion invites anyone of any size or discipline to fight him to prove his superiority of Gracie Jiu-Jitsu over all other martial arts.
Rorion derived the Gracie Challenge from his frustration with America’s misplaced belief in the effectiveness of flashy martial arts that used high-flying kicks and brick breaking to prove their worth.
Following the first generation’s example, Rorion issued the Gracie Challenge as the supreme statement of his confidence in his family’s system of fighting.
Martial artists of all disciplines flocked to the challenge, and were shocked as the gentle, efficient techniques of Gracie Jiu-Jitsu® defeated all-comers.
1989: The Grand Opening
Rorion, with brothers Rickson, Royce, and Royler, opens the first Gracie Jiu-Jitsu® Academy in Torrance, California, to meet the overwhelming demand for instruction in this unique Brazilian self-defense system.
Local martial artists quickly grasped this significance of the stunning Gracie Jiu-Jitsu victories over heavy-hitting opponents.
With 130 students training in the garage, and 80 more on a waiting list, Rorion established what would eventually become the world headquarters for Gracie Jiu-Jitsu®.
1993: The Global Awakening
On November 12, Rorion Gracie changes the martial arts world forever with the airing of the Ultimate Fighting Championship®.
In the 1970s and 80s, the popularity of Hollywood martial arts hatched hundreds of fighting styles, with each claiming to be superior to all others.
Rorion sought to end the debate over which art was superior once and for all by pitting masters against each other in a true no-holds-barred setting.
The results of Rorion’s eight-man, single elimination tournament shocked the world, as Royce Gracie-the smallest and most unassuming fighter in the competition-emerged victorious.
Royce’s victory, as had Helio’s victories before him, proved that Gracie Jiu-Jitsu® was not only the most reliable system of self-defense, but also the only system that gives the average person a realistic chance against a larger, more athletic opponent.
1994: The US Army Goes Gracie
The U.S. Army, the world’s most powerful army, chooses Gracie Jiu-Jitsu® as the basis for its military combative program.
Members of U.S. Army Special Operations units charged with finding the most effective combative systems selected Gracie Jiu-Jitsu® based on its demonstrated effectiveness.
They asked Rorion to develop an intensive training course that would prepare soldiers for hand-to-hand combat in the least amount of time.
After thoroughly analyzing hundreds of fights, Rorion identified 36 techniques that were used more often and with more success than all others.
He crafted a short course based on these techniques, and presented it to the Army.
These techniques now serve as the foundation for the U.S. Army’s
Modern Army Combatives Program, and have been adopted by hundreds of military and law enforcement organizations around the world.
Today, through the Gracie Combatives® program, they are available to private citizens seeking maximum self-defense skills in the shortest amount of time.
2008: The Global Training Program
Rorion’s sons, Ryron and Rener, launch the Global Training Program to preserve the effectiveness of the art as a self-defense system.
The demand for Gracie or Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu® instruction continues to grow, mostly as a result of its popularity as a sport.
The unchecked growth and emphasis on competition, however, has resulted in the modification of many techniques without regard for the foundational principles of street applicability, energy efficiency, and natural body movements. Students are learning moves that rely more on sheer athleticism than on leverage and technique, and unknowingly develop reflexes that could lead to their demise in a real fight.
To counter this disturbing trend, the brothers developed the Global Training Program aimed at preserving and perpetuating the complete Gracie Jiu-Jitsu® curriculum, in its purest form.
The Founding Principle of Gracie Jiu-Jitsu®
Grand Master Helio Gracie was introduced to the Japanese art of jiu-jitsu by his brother, Carlos, at such a young age that, as time passed, he no longer remembered many of the techniques in their original form. However, he vividly recalls experiencing great difficulty when he attempted to use the techniques on a larger opponent and, as a result, had to modify nearly everything he had learned to accommodate his frail physique.
He points out that, despite the overall effectiveness and value of the Japanese techniques, nearly all of them had one or more limitations that prevented them from being fully useful to him.
In most cases, he attributed the limitations to:
1) inapplicability against a striking opponent in a real fight
2) over-reliance on strength or speed
3) dependence on body movements that were awkward or uncomfortable for him.
Accordingly, he began modifying the art to ensure that every technique was fully street applicable, energy efficient, and based on natural body movements. Using these principles as a guide, he spent several years developing a complete system of self-defense consisting only of techniques that he could successfully apply against larger opponents.
Confident in his adaptations, he spent the next thirty years of his life proving his system’s effectiveness by using it to defeat numerous challengers, including several opponents who outweighed him by as much as 100 pounds.
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Gracie Jiu-Jitsu is for everyone, but only if taught correctly. While most BJJ schools have taken a “one-size-fits-all” approach to teaching the art, Gracie Jiu-Jitsu has gone to great lengths to create specific programs for each demographic.
Safe Training Environment
Safety is our number one priority. In far too many BJJ schools, the classes are structured to meet the needs of the most elite students. If you are a beginner student, you are expected to serve as a “grappling dummy” for those above you. We take the opposite approach.
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Street self-defense remains the top priority throughout all of our training programs. From your very first class, every technique you learn is specifically chosen due to it’s like likelihood of being used, and proven effectiveness, in real combat.
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ADDRESS
930 Bragg Road, Fredericksburg VA 22407
Monday: 7-8 AM, 12-1 PM, 5-830 PM
Tuesday: 7-8 AM, 5-8 PM
Wednesday: 7-8 AM, 12-1 PM, 5-830 PM
Thursday: 7-8 AM, 5-830 PM
Friday: 7-8 AM, 6-7 PM
Saturday: 10 AM - 2 PM
Sunday: Closed
At Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Fredericksburg, we don’t just teach people how to fight, we give them the confidence so they never need to.
Opening Hours
Monday: 7-8 AM, 12-1 PM, 5-830 PM
Tuesday: 7-8 AM, 5-8 PM
Wednesday: 7-8 AM, 12-1 PM, 5-830 PM
Thursday: 7-8 AM, 5-830 PM
Friday: 7-8 AM, 6-7 PM
Saturday: 10 AM - 2 PM
Sunday: Closed
ADDRESS: 930 Bragg Road, Fredericksburg VA 22407
Email: info@graciejiujitsufredericksburg.com
Telephone: (540) 412-0795
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