| Most individuals' first experiences with martial arts | | | | Carlos Gracie a martial art known as Jiu-jitsu |
| were watching Bruce Lee and Chuck Norris on | | | | which translates into the gentle art. Carlos in |
| the big screen mystifying us with flashy punches | | | | return, taught his four younger brothers the art |
| and kicks and many times taking out multiple | | | | and they opened their first school in 1925. Helio |
| assailants at the same time. While its hard for | | | | Gracie, who is the youngest of all the Gracies only |
| anyone to doubt the entertainment value of | | | | weighed 135lbs and had trouble using the |
| these films, they did start to build a false belief in | | | | techniques on bigger opponents. He then figured |
| what an effective martial art can realistically | | | | out a way to fine tune the techniques and use |
| achieve. Kung fu, Karate and Taekwondo clubs | | | | leverage instead of strength. Ultimately Helio |
| were filled from coast to coast and the general | | | | altered so many of the techniques that it became |
| consensus was that these arts offered the most | | | | a martial art of its own which they now labeled |
| effective self defense. | | | | Brazilian Jiu-jitsu. |
| As this was going on in America, Brazil was | | | | What makes BJJ so effective is the fact that |
| holding open competitions that pitted different | | | | even the smallest man or women for that matter |
| styles against each other in order to truly find | | | | can effectively defend themselves from a larger, |
| which single martial art was the most effective. | | | | more aggressive assailant. BJJ is a ground oriented |
| Brazilian Jiu-jitsu reigned supreme for decades, | | | | martial arts meaning the objective of the art is to |
| winning competition after competition. The rest of | | | | take an attacker to the ground and apply either a |
| the world didn't take notice of this art until the | | | | choke or a joint manipulation. The belief behind |
| early 1990s when a descendant of the creator of | | | | this is that most attackers will be like a fish out of |
| BJJ (Brazilian Jiu-jitsu) won a no holds barred | | | | water when taken to the ground. The true |
| tournament in America known as the UFC. Many | | | | effectiveness of the art is the fact that you use |
| people were blown away with how easily a small | | | | your opponents own strength and aggression |
| man could defeat a larger, stronger man. The | | | | against them. Unlike other martial arts, students |
| world started to wonder where this "new" martial | | | | partake in live training or sparring at the end of |
| art had come from! What most people didn't | | | | each class which helps equip them for real life |
| understand is it wasn't that new of a martial art, | | | | situations. The fact that every class is made to |
| it actually was invented in the early 1920s by | | | | feel like a real life scenario is truly what makes |
| Carlos Gracie. | | | | BJJ the single most effective martial art for self |
| In the 1920s a Japanese martial artists by the | | | | defense. It may not be as pretty as some other |
| name of Esai Maeda migrated to Brazil and taught | | | | martial arts but it certainly is more effective. |