Hélio Gracie

Quick Facts

Date of Birth10/1/1913

Date of Death1/29/2009

Country of OriginBrazil

Also known asCaxinguelê, O Caçula

Biography

Hélio Gracie was a co-founder of Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ), which he created with his brothers Carlos, Oswaldo, Gastão Jr. and George. He was born on 1 October 1913 in Belém and died on 29 January 2009 in Petrópolis in the state of Rio de Janeiro at the age of 95.

As a child he was physically weak and learned jiu-jitsu by watching the training of his older brother Carlos. According to his son Rorion, he first taught at the age of 16, when he filled in for Carlos at the Gracie Academy in Rio de Janeiro, but Hélio himself said in an interview in 2000 that he began watching the lessons of Carlos only at twenty. The techniques that Carlos took over from the circle of Mitsuyo Maeda he modified by trial and error so that leverage and position, rather than strength, would decide and a smaller practitioner could defeat a larger one.

Wikipedia gives a record of 9 wins, 2 losses and 8 draws, but its own table gives other numbers as well. On 23 October 1951 (some sources give 22 October) he lost in the second round to Masahiko Kimura by the gyaku-ude-garami armlock, called the Kimura lock. On 24 May 1955 he lost to Valdemar Santana after a match lasting 3 hours 40 to 45 minutes. His judo rank is disputed: according to Kimura he held 6th dan in 1951, according to the Kodokan only 3rd dan. His students included his sons Rorion, Relson, Rickson, Royler and Royce Gracie.

He is said to have held the 10th degree red belt in BJJ, but we have not found the date of the award. According to Wikipedia, Black Belt magazine named him Man of the Year in 1997, and in 2001 he was inducted into the Martial Arts History Museum Hall of Fame. He was a member of the Brazilian Integralist movement. According to Wikipedia, in 1932 he took part with his brothers Carlos and George in an assault on Manoel Rufino dos Santos and was sentenced to 2.5 years, but thanks to his ties to President Getúlio Vargas he was pardoned. He was still training 10 days before his death.

Early life

Hélio Gracie was born on 1 October 1913 in Belém in the state of Pará as the youngest of the sons of Gastão Gracie. After bankruptcy the family moved to Rio de Janeiro in 1921, according to BJJ Heroes. As a child he suffered frequent fainting spells, according to an academic article by Oliveira and Pontes from 2013, and a doctor forbade him physical exertion, so he learned jiu-jitsu mainly by watching the lessons of his brother Carlos. He was about 175 centimeters tall and weighed around sixty kilograms.

When he began to teach differs among sources. His son Rorion tells that at sixteen he filled in for the absent Carlos and a student, the banker Mario Brant, then wanted to continue with him. Hélio himself said in an interview from April 2000 that he began watching the lessons of Carlos at twenty and knew the theory after about eighteen months.

Training and teachers

Hélio was not a student of Mitsuyo Maeda. From 1917 his brother Carlos learned jiu-jitsu in Belém, according to family tradition from Maeda, according to the researcher Sonny Brown from Maeda's student Jacyntho Ferro, and then taught it to relatives. Because of his weak constitution Hélio was excluded from free sparring, studied technique from the side and, according to BJJ Heroes, secretly sparred with his brothers until Carlos included him in regular lessons. According to Wikipedia he also learned catch wrestling from Orlando Dudú da Silva, whom he defeated in February 1935.

The ranks are disputed. In judo Kimura regarded him as 6th dan, according to Robert Hill the Kodokan recorded 3rd dan, and according to Graciemag a Japanese delegation later awarded him 4th dan. In BJJ the 10th degree red belt is cited, but no source gives the date of the award.

Contribution and innovations

According to his son Rorion, Hélio did not invent the techniques but modified Japanese jiu-jitsu by trial and error so that weaker people could master it as well. After he joined the teaching, Carlos stopped teaching and devoted himself to diet and to leading his brothers. The brothers challenged opponents in newspapers and on posters and thus gained fighters and students for the academy on Avenida Rio Branco, which according to an academic article had about six hundred students.

In 1950 he organized, with the help of Carlos, the first Campeonato Carioca, the championship of the state of Rio de Janeiro, which Carlson Gracie won. In the mid-nineteen-eighties the Gracie Humaitá academy arose with Rickson. According to Wikipedia, the book Gracie Jiu-Jitsu: The Master Text, which he wrote with Thomas De Soto, was published in 2006.

Philosophy and principles

According to an interview from April 2000, Hélio claimed that his jiu-jitsu was not intended for competitions but for personal safety, and he criticized time limits and scoring in the rules. His son Rorion recalls that before his death Hélio stressed that a student should first learn not to be caught off guard on the street and only then prepare for tournaments. Graciemag quotes his remark on the victory celebrations of UFC fighters on the fence, asking whether they perhaps expected to lose.

Legends and documented facts

The widespread notion that Hélio invented Brazilian jiu-jitsu himself does not match the sources. Carlos brought the foundation into the family from the circle of Mitsuyo Maeda, and according to his own son Rorion, Hélio was the one who refined the techniques, not invented them.

Two versions circulate about the match with Kimura on 23 October 1951. Kimura writes in his autobiography that he broke the arm of Hélio, while Graciemag, a magazine associated with the Gracie family, denies this with reference to contemporary reports. The match ended in the second round with the gyaku-ude-garami armlock, when Carlos threw in the towel and Hélio did not give up himself. The match with his former student Valdemar Santana on 24 May 1955 lasted, according to various sources, 3 hours 40 to 45 minutes.

The record of 9 wins, 2 losses and 8 draws, which is often cited, is uncertain, because even Wikipedia gives other numbers in the same article. The match with Fred Ebert from 1932 is often called vale tudo, but according to Wikipedia it was a grappling match that the police stopped after one hour and forty minutes.

Legacy

After 1955 he devoted himself to teaching his sons and nephews, among them Rorion, Relson, Rickson, Royler and Royce, and the sons of Carlos, Carlson, Rolls and Carlinhos. Rorion brought Gracie jiu-jitsu to the United States and Royce made it visible with his victories in the UFC. Gracie Humaitá continues to this day in Rio, since 2010 under the leadership of Rolker Gracie.

Hélio died on 29 January 2009 in Itaipava near Petrópolis at the age of 95 and, according to Wikipedia, was still teaching ten days earlier. According to Wikipedia, Black Belt magazine named him Man of the Year in 1997, and in 2001 he was inducted into the Martial Arts History Museum Hall of Fame.

Teachers, students and family

Associated Martial Arts

Ranks and titles

• 10th beltRed belt · Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu

Achievements and honours

• Black Belt Man of the YearProfessional title · 1997
• Martial Arts History Museum Hall of FameHall of Fame · 2001

Quotes

Filmography

A screen role does not mean the person actually practises the art — that is listed above.