Hélio Gracie

From MartialTalk Online Martial Arts Encyclopedia Project

Hélio Gracie (October 1, 1913 - ) is the co-founder, along with his brother Carlos Gracie, of "Gracie Jiu Jitsu", later known as Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu or BJJ. He is a master of the discipline and is widely considered as one of the first sports heroes in Brazilian history; he was named Black Belt Magazine's Man of the Year in 1997. He is also the father of the world-renowned fighters Rickson Gracie, Royler Gracie, and Royce Gracie.

1 Early History
2 Beginnings of Gracie Jiu-Jitsu
3 Fight career
4 Career highlights

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Early History

Hélio Gracie was born in Belém, Brazil on October 1, 1913, the youngest son of Gastao and Cesalina Gracie's eight children. He was always a frail child, prone to fainting spells after physical exertion. After the completion of second grade, he convinced his mother to let him opt out of school. After the family's move to Rio, some of the children moved in with various relatives due to financial hardships. It was during this time, he found work as a coxswain for a local rowing team, eventually moving in to the team dorms. A few years later,when he was 14 years old, he moved into a house shared by his older brothers, who taught jiu-jitsu. Due to Hélio's frail health, Hélio was recommended by doctors to refrain from excessive physical activity. Instead he spent his time watching his brothers (especially Carlos) teach. Over the years, Hélio had learned and memorized all the moves and instructions his brothers gave.

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Beginnings of Gracie Jiu-Jitsu

One day, at 16 years of age, a certain auspicious encounter would spark the creation of the greatest fighting system in the world. A student arrived for class as scheduled. The instructor Carlos was running late and was not present. Hélio offered to begin the class with the man. When the tardy Carlos arrived offering his apologies, the student assured him it was no problem, and actually requested that he be allowed to continue learning with Helio instead. Carlos agreed to this and Hélio began as an instructor. He realized however, even though he knew the techniques theoretically, in actuality, the moves were much harder to execute. Due to his smaller size, he realized many of the jiu-jitsu moves required brute strength that his physical nature did not allow. He began adapting the moves for his particular physical attributes, and through trial and error scientifically maximizing leverage, therefore minimizing the force that needed to be exerted to execute the move. Herein lay the creation of the foremost fighting system yet to be seen, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. This system was the great neutralizer. Now, one could not solely rely on his or her physical stature and strength alone. The skill and knowledge applied, allowed even smaller and weaker opponents the capability to defend themself and even defeat much larger opponents.

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Fight career

Hélio began his fight career by making professional boxer Antonio Portugal submit in 30 seconds in 1932. Over the next 19 years, Hélio met and defeated the likes of Manuel Ruffino and Kado.

Hélio Gracie went on to fight leading judoka, Masahiko Kimura, the match resulted in a clear victory for Kimura via bent armlock. In his next match, however, Gracie defeated the world wrestling champion, Wladek Zbyszko. He holds the world record for longest match, a feat achieved when he spent 3 hours 40 minutes fighting his former student Valdemar Santana, losing by technical knockout. At the age of 44 in 1957, Hélio Gracie attempted a comeback only to be stopped by Adema Santa due to knee strikes to the stomach. His career record is listed as 8 wins, 3 defeats, and 4 draws.

The Gracie Academy

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