The Gentle Art
The word Jiu Jitsu is of Japanese origin and translates as "the gentle art", and indeed it is. A skilled Brazilian Jiu Jitsu practitioner will appear to be almost gentle while handling and defeating much larger opponents. One of the reasons that BJJ is so effective is because the primary focus is on leverage and technique as opposed to power and speed. The BJJ practitioner is taught not to trade strength with an opponent, but instead to "out position" him/her. Once you have gained a superior position and have total control of your opponent, only then do you proceed for the submission. Submissions are done VIA joint locks or chokes.
Early history
Hélio Gracie was born in Brazil on October 1st, 1913, the youngest son of Gastão 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 that he didn't need to go to 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, that Hélio found work as a coxswain for a local rowing team, eventually moving in to the team dorms. A few years later, when he was 13 years old, he moved into a house shared by his older brothers, who taught Jiu Jitsu for a living.
Due to Hélio's frail health, Hélio was recommended by doctors to refrain from excessive physical activity, so he was not allowed to participate in Jiu Jitsu. Instead he spent his time watching his brothers (especially Carlos) teach. From the age of thirteen to sixteen, Hélio sat on the sidelines watching all the moves and listening to the instructions his brothers gave.
Beginnings of Gracie Jiu-Jitsu
When Gracie was 16 years old, he found the opportunity to teach a Jiu-Jitsu class. One day the Director of the Bank of Brazil, Dr. Mario, arrived for class as scheduled. Helio's brother Carlos was the instructor but was running late and was not present to begin the private lesson with Dr. Mario. Hélio, not wanting his family to lose the fee for the lesson, offered to teach him and he accepted.
Later, when the tardy Carlos arrived offering his apologies, Dr. Mario assured him it was no problem, and requested that he be allowed to continue learning with Hélio instead, as he really liked Hélio's calm demeanor and his common sense approach. Carlos was suprised, but agreed and Hélio began teaching on a regular basis.
More Leverage, Less Strength
Hélio soon discovered however, that even though he knew the techniques theoretically, in actuality, the moves were much harder to execute, especially on heavier, stronger opponents. Due to his smaller size, he found that many of the jiu-jitsu moves required brute strength that his physical nature simply did not allow. He began adapting the moves for his particular physical attributes, and through trial and error learned to maximize leverage, thus minimizing the force that was needed to execute the various moves.
From these experiments, Gracie Jiu-Jitsu was created. Using these new techniques, smaller and weaker opponents gained the ability to defend themselves and even defeat much larger opponents. It wasn't long before Hélio became the main instructor and people traveled far and wide to come see for themselves this new "Gracie Jiu Jitsu".
