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.
