Professor Carlos Gracie Jr. is the founder and head instructor of
the Gracie Barra Academy, the largest Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu school in
the world, located in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The son of Carlos
Gracie, the pioneer of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Carlos Gracie Jr., has
produced well over 200 black belts in his tenure, which today
includes numerous world class instructors and athletes.
At the heart of the Gracie Barra mission statement is the goal of
training both the body and spirit, going beyond the
‘winning-losing’ or ‘contest’ philosophy present in other martial
arts. Instead, Professor Carlos Gracie Jr. emphasizes the
fundamental principle of Jiu-Jitsu: “Minimum effort for maximum
efficiency,” a method of utilizing strength through gentleness, an
expression exemplifying both the mental and physical aspects of
Jiu-Jitsu. In Professor Carlos’ mind, Jiu-Jitsu was in fact a
method of education, which could be used to foster one’s personal
development. Professor Carlos considered the goals of Jiu-Jitsu to
revolve around three aspects: physical education, personal
achievement, and ethical growth. In other words, through the
practice of Jiu-Jitsu, one would complete their personal
development through the training of body and mind, becoming a
person better able to contribute to society and the world.
Recognizing the never-ending quest for self-perfection, even today
Professor Carlos continues to study these techniques and principles
with his students. The constant development of techniques
demonstrates Professor Carlos’ adherence to these principles,
continuously striving for further progress and knowledge.
In spreading the values of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Professor Carlos is
also the head of the IBJJF (International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
Federation -
www.ibjjf.org) the largest international organization
for overseeing the growth of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. The IBJJF is the
organizer of the largest competition tournaments in the world
including the World Championships of Jiu-Jitsu (”Mundials”), held
in Rio every July, the Pan-American Championships held in Dominguez
Hills, California, the European Championships held in Portugal,
also held annually. This year also marks the first Asian
Championships to be held in Japan.