Carlos Gracie soon realized that Jiu-Jitsu was a method not simply for fighting, but for personal improvement. At nineteen, he moved to Rio de Janeiro with his family and began teaching and testing his skills. Carlos proved the efficiency of the art by beating tough opponents and establishing the Gracie name among Rio's elite. In 1925, he inaugurated the Gracie Academy in Rio de Janeiro. Carlos Gracie was the mastermind behind the conception of what today is known as the Gracie Philosophy.
Helio, Carlos’ youngest brother, was physically frail and would constantly faint when doing any type of physical activity. The family doctor advised him to avoid any kind of exercise. Consequently, Helio would sit on the side of the mat watching Carlos teach classes. He did that for a couple of years.
One day, when he was 16 years old, a student showed up for class, but Carlos was not around and Helio said, “My brother is not here, but if you want, I can go through the techniques with you. I’ve been watching my brother for so long that I memorized all the moves.”
Helio went through the moves with the student. He was so excited and enthusiastic about pleasing the student that when Carlos arrived and apologized for being late the student said, “I’ve had a class with your brother and if you don’t mind from now on I’ll continue taking classes with him.”
From that day on Helio became an instructor and soon after he was teaching the vast majority of the classes while Carlos became more involved with the development of the Gracie Diet and guiding the fighting careers of his brothers.
In spite of his small frame and weight of only 140 pounds, Hélio became the mastermind behind the development of Gracie Jiu-Jitsu, adapting the techniques of Japanese Jiu-Jitsu so that they depended entirely upon leverage, rather than strength and explosiveness. He was driven by a constant determination to find effective ways to deal with every possible aspect of a real fight.
Daring to break away from the traditional Japanese style, he began experimenting, modifying and perfecting simple techniques that would be effective regardless of stature.
That is how he developed this style of Jiu-Jitsu. Though Gracie Jiu-Jitsu descended from the ancient Japanese style, the differences are quite apparent. Many of the Japanese facets of the art, which depend on physical prowess and stiff motion, were tossed aside, leaving only pure technique.
