Gracie Jiu-Jitsu
The family branch of Brazilian jiu-jitsu carried by the Gracie family. It stresses self-defence and surviving from a losing position, not just sport grappling.
Quick Facts
BrazilCharacter & Origin
Organisation & Competition
What the style is built from
Editorial rating on a 0–3 scale, based on how much room each area gets in ordinary training.
Catalogs & Databases for Gracie Jiu-Jitsu
About Gracie Jiu-Jitsu
Gracie Jiu-Jitsu is the family branch of Brazilian jiu-jitsu associated with the Gracie family. Its documented beginning lies around 1917 in Belém, where Carlos Gracie trained under the Japanese fighter Mitsuyo Maeda and his assistant Jacyntho Ferro; the instruction was brief and the family then moved away. Carlos passed the technique on to his brothers, and the younger Hélio adapted it for someone without a physical advantage — hence the emphasis on leverage, timing and working from underneath.
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The founding year of the first academy is disputed. The family version, and the one usually cited, speaks of Rio in 1925; research based on contemporary press places the family's return to Rio later and links the first documented school to Donato Pires dos Reis, opened in September 1930, where Carlos and Hélio taught. The five-year gap is an open question in the literature, and it is more honest to say so than to present one of the figures as certain. The brand was built on the practice of open challenges: the Gracies systematically challenged fighters of other styles and published the outcomes, testing the method and advertising it at the same time. What distinguishes today's Gracie Jiu-Jitsu from sport BJJ is that alongside the competitive game it keeps a self-defence syllabus — defences against strikes, against weapons and against multiple attackers — and treats competition rules as only part of the whole.
History
Gracie Jiu-Jitsu is the jiu-jitsu of the Brazilian Gracie family. Carlos Gracie, born on 14 September 1902 in Belém, according to the family version began learning in 1917 after a performance by the Japanese fighter Mitsuyo Maeda. Historians such as Robert Drysdale dispute this version and consider Maeda's student Jacyntho Ferro to have been Carlos's teacher. The opening of the first academy in Rio is usually placed in 1925. According to a book by the historian Roberto Pedreira, cited by English Wikipedia, however, the Marquez de Abrantes academy was opened in September 1930 by Donato Pires dos Reis, who handed it over to Carlos in June 1931. Rorion Gracie moved to southern California in 1978 and in 1989 opened the Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Academy in Torrance with his brothers. His brother Royce won the first UFC tournament in Denver on 12 November 1993. The name Gracie Jiu-Jitsu was the subject of a lawsuit. Carley Gracie sued Rorion in December 1994, and in November 1997 a jury ruled that Rorion had no valid federal trademark on the name, and only the trademark of the triangle logo remained valid. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ordered the registration cancelled in 2000.
How it differs
Gracie Jiu-Jitsu differs from sport Brazilian jiu-jitsu in emphasis. Sport BJJ is judged at tournaments under the rules of the IBJJF, founded by Carlos Gracie Jr., and scores dominant positions such as the mount and the back position. The Gracie Academy builds its introductory program on self-defense without competitive sparring. Sources differ on when the IBJJF was founded. The website BJJ Heroes gives 1994 for the founding of the Brazilian confederation CBJJ, from which the IBJJF later emerged, while English Wikipedia gives 2002 for the IBJJF itself.
Technique
The Gracie family sees jiu-jitsu mainly as self-defense. According to family tradition, Hélio Gracie adapted the techniques to his slight build so that they relied on leverage and timing, not strength. By its own description, the Gracie Academy in Torrance teaches the introductory Gracie Combatives program of 36 self-defense techniques in 23 lessons, each with one standing technique and one on the ground. For police and soldiers it put together Gracie Survival Tactics, which according to the academy includes defense against a weapon being taken away and getting back up from under an attacker. The family's influence is documented in the US Army. According to the Army website, after the Marine Corps manual failed, Matt Larsen's group from the 2nd Battalion of the 75th Ranger Regiment chose the Brazilian jiu-jitsu of the Gracie family. Royce Gracie led a lesson for about thirty soldiers and defeated every one. In 2002 Larsen rewrote the manual FM 3-25.150 Combatives, which became official Army doctrine.
Training
Per Gracie University, the introductory Gracie Combatives program is cooperative and has no competitive sparring. Online students take a test graded by instructors at headquarters, and in-person students need a minimum number of hours and length of training. In the Army, where the method arrived through the Rangers, the Level I instructor course lasts 40 hours according to army.mil and teaches about 20 techniques, and Level II lasts two weeks and teaches about 50. Larsen created the four-level instructor course in 2005.
Ranks and progression
Adults in the Gracie system progress through white, blue, purple, brown and black belts, degrees 0 to 6. Coral is worn at the 7th and 8th degrees and red at the 9th and 10th. According to English Wikipedia, Hélio Gracie's lineage holds a red-and-black coral, while the IBJJF has red-and-white at the 8th. According to Wikipedia, the 10th degree of the red belt is held by the pioneers Carlos, Oswaldo, George, Gastão and Hélio Gracie, and by Luiz França, Oswaldo Fadda and Francisco Sá. Hélio Gracie approved the children's system of ten belts, white to green, in 2005.
Today
The family name is borne today by several separate branches. The Gracie Academy in Torrance was founded by Rorion Gracie. According to English Wikipedia, Gracie Barra was founded in 1986 in Barra da Tijuca in Rio by Carlos Gracie Jr., and its headquarters moved to Lake Forest, California, in 2005. Gracie Humaitá derives from the academy that Hélio Gracie ran in the Botafogo district of Rio de Janeiro. Carlos Gracie died on 7 October 1994 in Petrópolis at the age of 92, and Hélio Gracie on 29 January 2009 in Itaipava at the age of 95.
Did you know
Hélio Gracie lost on 22 October 1951 to the Japanese judoka Masahiko Kimura in the second round to the armlock gyaku-ude-garami, which has been called the kimura ever since. In 1955 he lost to Valdemar Santana after a match lasting almost four hours. Royce Gracie won UFC 1 weighing 79 kg in a tournament with no weight classes, by three submissions. After UFC 5 in April 1995, Rorion Gracie and Art Davie sold their share of the company SEG over disputes about time limits, referees and weight classes. According to the appeals court, more than 38 family members competed or taught jiu-jitsu.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between Gracie Jiu-Jitsu and Brazilian jiu-jitsu?
Gracie Jiu-Jitsu is the family lineage of the Gracie family with an emphasis on self-defense. Sport Brazilian jiu-jitsu is competed under IBJJF rules and scores positions and submissions.
Is Gracie Jiu-Jitsu a protected trademark?
A US jury ruled in November 1997 that Rorion Gracie has no valid trademark on the name Gracie Jiu-Jitsu. The appeals court ordered the registration cancelled in 2000, and the triangle logo trademark remained valid.
Who won the first UFC?
Royce Gracie, on 12 November 1993 in Denver. Weighing 79 kg, he defeated three opponents by submission in a tournament with no weight classes.
Similar styles
Selected by overlap in the style profile, not by historical lineage.