Mitsuyo Maeda
Born in November of 1878, and trained by Jigoro Kano and Tsunejiro Tomita in Judo, Mitsuyo Maeda is, perhaps, the most important figure in the history of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. He began his Judo (then known as Kano Jiu-Jitsu) training in1895 and was traveling the world to promote the art by 1904. He took on many exhibition bouts to prove the effectiveness of his Judo. Maeda’s journey took him to America, England, Spain, Central America and Brazil. He took on many challenge matches and performed many demonstrations.  But it was a demonstration at the Teatro da Paz in 1917 that would foster the beginning of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. 14 year old Carlos Gracie had watched this demonstration and he wanted to train with Maeda.

Maeda did, in fact teach young Carlos Gracie in return for his father’s (Gastao Gracie) assistance in setting up a Japanese colony in Brazil. The arrangement was made and an unstoppable force was set into motion.

10th Degree Grandmaster Carlos Gracie
Carlos Gracie began training Judo (then called Jiu-Jitsu) in 1917 under Mitsuyo Maeda at the age of 14.  He was able to train for less than 5 years before he and his family moved away on business. However, his passion for the art never died. In training Jiu-Jitsu Carlos felt a connection to himself, body and mind, that he had never before experienced. It was this passion that led him to open the first Gracie Jiu-Jitsu school in Rio de Janeiro in 1925. He first taught his younger brothers (with the exception of Helio, who was too small and frail), then began teaching the public.  

Carlos worked hard and the school was a success. However, after being late to a private lesson, Carlos found his younger brother Helio teaching for him. That’s the day Gracie Jiu-Jitsu was truly born. Carlos eventually handed all teaching duties to Helio and went on to focus his efforts on nutrition and managing the school. Along with being the first Gracie to learn Jiu-Jitsu, Carlos is credited with being the creator of the Gracie Diet, managing Helio’s fighting career, and managing the Gracie Academy.

Carlos Gracie passed away October 7th, 1994.
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10th Degree Grandmaster Helio Gracie
Helio Gracie was born on October 1st, 1913. He was the youngest and smallest of all his brothers. Helio is said to have been so frail and weak that physicians recommended he not go to school or participate in any physical activity. So he watched. More than anyone could ever have imagined, Helio watched his brothers teach Jiu-Jitsu. Without ever training, Helio had learned the entire curriculum. One day in 1929, Helio’s older brother Carlos was late to a private lesson with an important businessman. Wanting to help out his brother, Helio began the class for him. When Carlos finally arrived, the man could not have been happier and requested that Helio teach him all his classes.  When young Helio began training, he found that he needed to adjust the techniques he had learned so that they would work for someone smaller or weaker than their opponent. As Gracie’s skill increased, so too did his confidence. Believing his changes made the system superior, Helio challenged Carlos’ four top instructors stating that he could defeat all of them in under twenty minutes. It took him just 12 minutes to defeat them all. Carlos handed over all teaching responsibility to Helio. Gracie Jiu-Jitsu was born.

Over the next 20 years Helio took on many challenge matches and defeated many opponents. He was one of the most recognizable sports figures in Brazil. His children have all gone on to follow in his footsteps, winning international tournaments, creating the UFC, and defending the undeniable effectiveness of Gracie Jiu-Jitsu.

Helio Gracie passed away on January 29, 2009.
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8th Degree Master Pedro Sauer
Pedro Sauer began training with Helio Gracie and his family in the 1970s. Rickson Gracie, Helio’s son, urged Pedro to come train with his younger brother, Royler. At that time, Royler was just 9 years old and was still able to defeat the 15 year old Pedro. It was that experience that led Pedro Sauer to become one of the most respected figures in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. He earned his black belt in 1985 and in 1986 was awarded the Tecnico de Jiu-Jitsu, a special award for technical excellence.

Tony Rinaldi and Brian Mlinarsik
In the early 90’s as a senior psychology student and college baseball player named Tony Rinaldi was introduced to the arts of Shotokan Karate and Aiki Jujitsu. Tony took to the arts well and even competed on the national karate team as a purple belt. Eventually, however, he turned his attention to Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. With no BJJ teachers in the area, Tony meticulously watched videos of high level competitions such as the Abu Dhabi Combat Club, Pan Ams, and Mundials. He took those moves he could see, along with the Aiki Jujitsu experience he had, and began a long and tedious process of teaching himself BJJ.  Eventually, Tony met up with a former wrestler named Brian Mlinarsik. They struck an immediate friendship and began training BJJ together.