Brazilian Jiu Jitsu of Havelock North Carolina

History of Gracie Jiu-Jitsu

BJJ is also known as Gracie jiu-jitsu, in honor of the Gracie family. Helio Gracie, the founder of the style as we know it today, is still alive and teaching, so most of the events in the development of the art are fairly recent and well documented. Thus, the history of Gracie jiu-jitsu, much like the application of the art itself, does not depend on vague traditions or unfounded legends.

In the early part of the 20th century, Helio's brother Carlos Gracie studied Japanese jujutsu under the great champion Mitsuyo Maeda (known in Brazil as Conde Koma, or the "Count of Combat"). The system that Maeda taught was a modified version of pre-World War II jujutsu, with a heavy focus on ne-waza (ground technique).

Carlos Gracie taught these techniques to his younger brothers and to his older sons, and they in turn taught their brothers, sons, nephews and cousins. TheGracies began to open academies to teach others, and jiu-jitsu soon became the family business. Carlos knew that the system his family was developing could surpass any contemporary martial art in realistic combat. To prove this to the rest of the world, he issued the “Gracie Challenge.” This was an open invitation to fight anytime, anywhere, regardless of style or size. The tradition of the open challenge has been continued by his family and students, who have consistently demonstrated the superiority of Graciejiu-jitsu throughout the world.

As a young man, Helio was the smallest of the Gracie brothers, and also the most sickly. He was prone to fainting spells, and due to these health issues,Helio was not allowed to train jiu-jitsu. Instead, he spent much of his time watching and studying the techniques that his brothers taught in class. At the age of 17, Helio was called on to teach when Carlos, the instructor at the time, was not available for one of his student's lessons. Carlos arrived later offering his apologies, but the student assured him it was no problem and requested that he be allowed to continue training withHelio. Carlos agreed, and Helio became an instructor.

Helio soon realized that even though he understood the techniques in theory, in reality, they were much harder to execute. With his smaller size,Helio began to feel that he just did not have the brute strength and athleticism required for many of the jiu-jitsu techniques. He began adapting the moves for his particular physical attributes, and through trial and error, he learned to maximize leverage and minimize the force needed to execute the moves. From these experiments, he created the more streamlined and universal art that we now know as Graciejiu-jitsu, thus coming closer to the goal of the "soft art."

Of course much of the popularity of Gracie jiu-jitsu in the U.S. today is due to the success of Helio's son, Royce Gracie, in the early UFC events.

Machado Family Jiu Jitsu

The Machado Brothers have developed their system of Jiu-Jitsu (gentle art) over the last 25 years. The Jiu-Jitsu they learned in Brazil has been refined by their clan into a modern and unique style which is increasingly popular in the United States.

Emanating from Brazil, their family has demonstrated the effectiveness of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in many "no rules" tournaments. The Machado Brothers, advancing their spirit of a top-quality fighting style tempered with humility and friendship, have kept away from these types of violent and decisive exhibitions. They have demonstrated their superiority on the mat, winning numerous Brazilian championships and national and world titles in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Russian sambo and even western wrestling. The system is rooted in one-on-one ground fighting, achieving superior position for joint locks, chokes and strikes.
Since basing themselves in the United States, the Brothers have continued to develop their grappling style, branching out into all styles of grappling in search of new techniques and concepts.

The Machados" philosophy is not to prove or impose their system onto other styles or martial artists. Their main concern is to share what they have, always with their minds open for new ideas. This attitude has helped the Machados" to establish themselves in the martial arts community and given them many friends and followers. Their attitude of balance is reflected not only in the way they fight, but also in the healthy lifestyle they have adopted since childhood. The Machado brothers remain very close and are a great example of how family is important.

Vitor "Shaolin" Ribeiro

Vitor "Shaolin" Ribeiro (born February 24, 1979 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) is a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) specialist and mixed martial artist (MMA). He holds a professional MMA record of 20 wins and 2 losses.

Widely regarded as one of the most gifted grapplers of all time, the Nova Uniao product earned his black belt while still a teenager and went to on to win the CBJJ Mundials (Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu World Championship) four times, once as a purple belt in 1996 and three times as a black belt in three consecutive years (1999, 2000, and 2001). He competed in the ADCC World Championship, the most prestigious no gi grappling competition in the world in 2000 and 2003.

"Shaolin" is considered one of the best lightweights in MMA. He has fought several organizations all over the world, including Shooto Japan, Shooto Hawaii, Rumble on the Rock (Hawaii), Cage Rage (England), and K-1 HERO'S (Japan). He has held the Shooto welterweight (154 lb) title, as well as the Cage Rage World lightweight championship. FIGHT magazine recently named Shaolin as one of the fighters they'd like to see on the Brazilian team if MMA ever makes it into the Oympic Games.

With his new academy, Modern Martial Arts, Shaolin's focus now turns to sharing his vast knowledge with his students and building their skills through a solid Jiu Jitsu foundation.