The founder
Master Carlos Gracie (1902–1994) is the founder of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and the patriarch of the sport’s most famous family. Every major BJJ academy in the world — including ours in Glen Cove — traces its lineage back to the academy he opened in Rio de Janeiro a century ago.
He took a Japanese art, refined it with his brothers into something new, and then spent his life proving it — building a dynasty of teachers along the way.
Grandmaster rank of the founding pioneers.
The first Academia Gracie, in Rio.
Thirteen of them earned black belts.
1902–1994, teaching to the end.
“If you want a broken arm or rib, contact Carlos Gracie.”
From Belém to the world
Born September 14, 1902 in Belém do Pará, Carlos was a restless teenager when his father brought him to see the Japanese judoka Mitsuyo Maeda — “Conde Koma” — defeat much larger challengers in local demonstrations. Carlos began training around 1917 under Maeda and his senior students, absorbing the ground-fighting side of judo that would become his life’s work.
After the family moved to Rio de Janeiro, Carlos opened the first Academia Gracie — traditionally dated to 1925, in the Flamengo neighborhood — and taught the art to his younger brothers Oswaldo, Gastão Jr., George, and Hélio. Together they refined Maeda’s jiu-jitsu into something new: a system built on leverage and technique where a smaller fighter could beat a bigger one.
The Gracie Challenge
Those newspaper ads were no bluff. The resulting decades of challenge matches — fought mostly by his brothers and sons — pressure-tested Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in public and proved its effectiveness. It’s the same live-testing spirit that survives today in every academy’s sparring rounds, including ours.
More than fighting
Carlos saw jiu-jitsu as a complete way of life. He created the Gracie Diet — a food-combination system he followed for seven decades — and preached discipline, clean living, and self-improvement. He raised and taught an entire dynasty: 13 of his 21 children earned black belts, among them Carlson, Rolls, and Carlos Gracie Jr., who would carry the art to every corner of the world.
A life on the timeline
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1902 Born in Belém do Pará
Carlos Gracie is born September 14 in Belém, in Brazil's far north — the eldest of the brothers who would go on to build an entire art.
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~1917 Begins training under Mitsuyo Maeda
His father takes him to watch the Japanese judoka Mitsuyo Maeda — "Conde Koma" — defeat much larger challengers. Carlos begins training the ground-fighting side of judo that becomes his life's work.
His teacher, Mitsuyo Maeda, c.1910 · Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons -
1922 The family moves to Rio de Janeiro
The Gracies relocate to Rio, where Carlos begins teaching what he learned to his younger brothers Oswaldo, Gastão Jr., George, and Hélio.
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1925 Opens the first Gracie Academy
Carlos opens the first Academia Gracie — traditionally dated to 1925, in Rio's Flamengo neighborhood. Together the brothers refine Maeda's jiu-jitsu into a system built on leverage, where a smaller fighter can beat a bigger one.
Historical photo — the first Academia Gracie storefront, Rio de Janeiro (1920s–30s)Archive · Rio -
1930s The Gracie Challenge era
Carlos takes out newspaper ads inviting fighters of any style to test the family art. Decades of public challenge matches — fought mostly by his brothers and sons — pressure-test Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and prove it works.
Historical photo — a Gracie challenge / vale-tudo match of the 1930sArchive · Challenge era -
1948 Publishes Introdução ao Jiu-Jitsu
Beyond fighting, Carlos codifies a way of life — the Gracie Diet, discipline, clean living — and puts the family method into writing.
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1994 Passes away at 92
Carlos dies October 7, holding the 10th-degree red belt reserved for the founding pioneers of the art — leaving 21 children, 13 of them black belts, and a lineage that now circles the globe.
A smaller person, using leverage and technique, can control — and defeat — a bigger, stronger one.
Carlos Gracie → Master Carlos Gracie Jr. → Master Alexandre “Soca” Freitas → the professors on our Glen Cove mats. See our full lineage →