Gracie Jiu Jitsu, the original Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, was created by Grand Master Helio Gracie over 80 years ago.  The grandmaster was a frail 140 pounds. He formulated this system in order to defend himself from opponents twice his size.  The art of Jiu Jitsu grew very popular around the globe and soon reached the United States. When Helio Gracie’s eldest son Rorion Gracie relocated from Brazil to sunny southern California and began teaching the gentle art, (Jiu Jitsu actually means “gentle art”) he began hosting challenge matches in which practitioners from other arts such as Kung Fu, Karate, and Boxing would fight against his students to test the dominancy of Jiu Jitsu.  Rorion Gracie knew his was the more dominant art and wanted to show the world what Gracie Jiu Jitsu could do. In order to do this, he created The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) in which his younger brother Royce Gracie fought multiple opponents from various martial arts.  The show was televised and became a huge success, and as you might have heard, the smaller Gracie brother Royce won the title. Rorion later sold the show and focused on teaching the art with his family at the Gracie academy.  Today the Gracie Academy is run by two of Rorion’s sons: Rener and Ryron Gracie.