How to Jiu Jitsu - Episode 4: Helio Gracie - Founder of Gracie Jiu Jitsu

framelalife (60)in #jiu-jitsu • 7 years ago (edited)

Episode 4: Helio Gracie - Founder of Gracie Jiu Jitsu

I see this picture every time I walk through the door at my academy. The proper etiquette is to bow to Helio Gracie every time you step onto or leave the mat. Most schools follow this, but not all. So, who is Helio Gracie?

Helio Gracie and his brother Carlos Gracie are the founders of Gracie Jiu Jitsu. The significance of Helio Gracie is that he was not a large, strong, or athletic man. He had to take the judo and japanese jiu jitsu techniques he learned, and apply his own twist of leverage and timing in order to apply many of the original techniques. His techniques prove that you do not have to be the biggest, strongest or most athletic to apply self-defense techniques.

In 1951 Helio Gracie fought the #1 grappler in the world at that time, the Judoka, Masahiko Kimura.

Check out these short recaps of Helio versus Kimura.

Here is a video of Helio showing the basic self-defense techniques of jiu jitsu. We will cover each one of these techniques separately in future videos. I hope to break down the details and help give you a basic overview of each technique and movement.

I hope you enjoyed this quick recap about Helio Gracie. It's important to know where the art comes from. I have had the worst head cold the last week, so I've been out of commission. I plan to film my first video tonight after class. I want to start with something simple that everyone can do. Ground movement is a huge part of jiu jitsu, so I'm going to create and share a video of 5 movement drills that anyone can do at home! I hope to have this edited and posted in the next day or two.

See you next time!

@framelalife is a 2 stripe blue belt under Royce Gracie. I train at Three Rivers Martial Arts which is in the Royce Gracie Network. Three Rivers Martial Arts is very lucky to have a large staff of professional instructors including: Jason Hawkins, Eli Knight, Derik Perry, Jim Hemphill, Eric Romanak, Clay Mayfield, and Dustin Lynn. The primary focus of Three Rivers Academy is Brazilian Jiu Jitsu but also includes Jeet Kun Do, Judo, Silat, and Martial Arts Concepts.