Gracie Jiu-jitsu is known world wide as one of the most effective forms of hand-to-hand combat. The Gracie family took the teachings of a Japanese man and adapted them to make them more effective, especially when dealing with a fight on the ground. Helio Gracie was probably the most instrumental in making this form of jiu jitsu into something unique. Helio’s main contribution was to adapt the martial art techniques so that they would be effective in defeating bigger and stronger opponents.
As he became more competent, Helio launched the initial stages of Gracie Jiu-jitsu in a series of high profile matches. In spite of not always claiming victory in these events, Helio gained acclaim for lasting far longer than anybody thought he would be able to against stronger and more experienced opponents. In 1951 he fought Masahiko Kimura, then seen as the best jiu jitsu fighter in the world. Kimura claimed that if the competition continued more than three minutes, then Helio should be considered the victor; Helio lasted for thirteen. In 1955, the longest fight in the world occurred when Helio fought off a combatant twenty years younger than him and forty pounds heavier for three hours and forty minutes.
When Rorion Gracie, Helio’s son, departed Brazil to bring Gracie Jiu-jitsu to America, he intended to carry on his father’s legacy. The Gracies wanted to start up jiu-jitsu institutions to share the martial art methods that they had tailored after years of intense study with the rest of the planet, and the United States was the ideal place to do so. Though Rorion at first struggled in setting up his Brazilian Jiu jitsu school, he gained ever larger numbers of students largely by issuing the Gracie challenge. This was a call to any fighter of any field to meet him in hand-to-hand combat in order to see whose branch was stronger.
World-wide recognition would come in the 90s. Gracie Jiu-jitsu was represented by Royce Gracie at a soon to be famous mixed martial arts tournament called the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Defeating opponents much larger and stronger than he was, Gracie made it to the top spot by forcing the other fighters to tap out after he used various submission techniques to subdue them. If this was not enough, he did it two more times, winning not only the championships but the hearts of those involved in the martial arts world.
As a result of these steps over the years, of hard work and a willingness to commit entirely to the martial art, Gracie Jiu-jitsu has earned the spot as the most famous and one of the most respected disciplines in the world. Who knew that when Mitsuyo Maeda came to Brazil to share his master’s teachings in 1914 that he would be setting off a chain of events that would lead to jiu jitsu gracing the top of the martial arts world less than one hundred years later?
One of the best forms of martial arts to study if you are interested in MMA fighting is Brazilian jiu jitsu. With its grappling holds and close combat style, the jiu-jitsu technique is a favorite among UFC contenders.
