Rorion Gracie
Brazilian Gracie jiu-jitsu master, eldest son of Hélio Gracie, who opened the style's path to the USA and co-founded the Ultimate Fighting Championship in 1993.
Quick Facts
United StatesBiography
Rorion Gracie is a Brazilian Gracie jiu-jitsu master who brought the family style to the USA and co-founded the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). He was born on 10 January 1952 in Rio de Janeiro as the eldest son of Hélio Gracie, who was also his teacher. He studied law at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro.
He first went to the USA in December 1969 and returned at the end of 1970. In 1978 he moved to Southern California, where he initially earned extra money as a film extra and spread Gracie jiu-jitsu on mats in a garage in Hermosa Beach. In 1985 he invited his brother Royce to the USA, and in 1989 he and his brothers opened the first Gracie Jiu-Jitsu academy in Torrance.
In 1993 he co-founded the UFC with promoter Art Davie and entered Royce in the tournament as the family style's representative. As technical advisor on the film Lethal Weapon (1987) he trained Mel Gibson and Gary Busey, and on Lethal Weapon 3 (1992) he was also fight choreographer. In 1988 he made the documentary Gracie Jiu-Jitsu In Action, in 1991 the five-part video series The Basics of Gracie Jiu-Jitsu, and in 1994 he created the Gracie Combatives course for American special operations units. In 2010 he published the book The Gracie Diet.
He holds 9th degree red belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu. Black Belt magazine named him Instructor of the Year in 2006, and in 2009 he was inducted into the Martial Arts History Museum's hall of fame.