Hélio Gracie

Hélio Gracie ( ɛliu ɡɾejsi; born October 1, 1913 in Belém do Pará, † January 29, 2009 in Petrópolis ) was a Brazilian martial artist who made an international reputation with his brother Carlos Gracie, the martial art of Brazilian Jiu -Jitsu BJJ shortly.

Life

When he was 16 years old, he practiced the martial art Kano Jiu -Jitsu. Gracie was in the techniques of Kano Jiu- Jitsu (now called Judo ) theoretically safe, but the practical implementations of the techniques were difficult to perform because of his small stature and low weight. Therefore, he optimized the Kano Jiu -Jitsu, by inventing techniques that can be used with minimal force effectively. Using these new techniques, he was able to defend themselves against much larger opponents or to defeat them even.

Until his death, Helio Gracie was the only living 10th degree grand master of the system. Furthermore, it is considered as one of the first sports heroes in Brazilian history. He was the father of the famous fighters Rickson Gracie, Royler Gracie, Royce Gracie, Relson Gracie and the co-founder of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), Rorion Gracie.