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About Rorion
Born in 1952, as the eldest son of Grandmaster Helio Gracie, Rorion Gracie was introduced to his family's martial art as soon as he could walk. Rorion was destined for greatness in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Raised under his father’s dedicated mentorship, Rorion is now revered as the "teacher's teacher," a title earned through decades of mastery in the martial arts and a steadfast dedication to carrying on the Gracie legacy.
At 17, Rorion left on what he thought would be a brief trip to the United States, which he was eager to explore. These plans quickly unraveled upon his arrival, when the concierge at his hotel stole his money and return ticket to Brazil. Rorion turned to the manager at a local YMCA for assistance, who advised him to contact the airline, which informed him that it would be another six months before a new ticket was issued.
Determined not to alarm his family back home, Rorion promptly called his parents to tell them he was enjoying his time in the United States so much that he had decided to extend his stay to six months, and, with limited options, began immediately searching for work. He soon found a job flipping hamburgers at White Castle, which introduced him to new friends who helped Rorion immerse himself in the California lifestyle—attending concerts, surfing, and fully experiencing this entirely new world far from home.
As his extended six-month stay drew to a close, Rorion received confirmation that his return ticket would finally be issued. Soon to head home to Brazil, Rorion was instead encouraged by his new friends to visit Hawaii. Intrigued by the adventure and, by now, enjoying the challenge of surviving on his own in a foreign country, Rorion decided to continue his journey and purchased a ticket.
What began as an unexpected setback transformed into a pivotal year in Rorion's life, where his resilience was tested, and his life philosophy and work ethic were forged. Far from home and outside his comfort zone, this experience set the foundation of the man who would go on to spread the Gracie legacy worldwide.
Rorion eventually earned a Bachelor's degree in Law from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro in 1978. By now, however, the call to share Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu with the world was too powerful to ignore. Driven by this vision, Rorion decided to forego remaining in Brazil to practice law and returned to the United States instead, fully aware that the path ahead would be challenging, but confident in its possibilities nonetheless.
Upon returning to Brazil, he continued his studies and became a full time instructor at the Gracie Academy in Rio. During his time as an instructor he, along with his brothers and other representatives of the Academy engaged in challenges matches throughout their youthful years.
Upon his (second) arrival in the United States, Rorion Gracie relied on connections he had made during his first trip, taking on a series of odd jobs—from construction work to house cleaning—to make ends meet. His perseverance eventually led him to work as a background actor in movies and television shows. Starting in the early '80s, Rorion appeared in numerous shows, including Hill Street Blues, The Love Boat, Starsky and Hutch, Quincy, Simon & Simon, The Rockford Files, Fantasy Island, and Hart to Hart—classics of that generation.
During this time, Rorion laid mats in the garage of a house he rented with friends in Hermosa Beach, California, and began teaching jiu-jitsu classes to friends he made on and off set. As he started to build his reputation in California's martial arts scene, Rorion was frequently challenged by other martial arts experts, turning these encounters into marketing opportunities for his students and their friends.
While working as an extra on the movie Lethal Weapon, the second assistant director, Willie Simmons, who had witnessed Rorion defeat Karate champion Ralph Alegria in just two minutes, suggested to director Dick Donner that Rorion, the only practitioner of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in the U.S. at the time, should choreograph the final fight scene between Mel Gibson and Gary Busey. Later, Rorion's expertise was sought again to train Rene Russo for her fight scene in Lethal Weapon 3.
Although working in Hollywood was enjoyable, Rorion's true passion was teaching jiu-jitsu. As his student base grew, he gradually shifted his focus away from Hollywood, dedicating himself fully to spreading the martial art he loved.
Around that time, Rorion Gracie produced his first documentary, Gracie Jiu-Jitsu In Action, on VHS. The video, a compilation of real fights showcasing the effectiveness of Gracie Jiu-Jitsu against various martial arts styles, quickly garnered attention within the martial arts community. Rorion leveraged this growing interest by promoting the VHS through a variety of martial arts magazines. Initially, the publicity remained within the martial arts space, but in September 1989, renowned sports writer Pat Jordan wrote an article titled "BAD" for Playboy magazine, introducing "The Gracie Challenge" to a broader audience.
The challenge was simple: Rorion Gracie was willing to fight anyone, regardless of style, weight, or reputation, in a bare-knuckle, no-holds-barred match, and he was ready to back his claim with $100,000. The Playboy article catapulted the Gracie name into the mainstream, allowing Rorion to expand his reach beyond Southern California. He began conducting seminars across the United States and internationally, further spreading the influence of Gracie Jiu-Jitsu.
From the early days of teaching a handful of students in his garage to the release of the “BAD” article, Rorion had frequently been challenged by martial arts instructors—often angry that their students had found a new teacher—who sought to discredit him in combat. Over the course of a decade, Rorion faced hundreds of these challenge matches, continuing the tradition his family had established in Brazil since the 1920s, and solidifying his reputation as a true master of the art.
By the end of 1989, Rorion Gracie, along with his younger brother Royce, was teaching an astonishing 630 classes a month out of their garage, with a waitlist of 87 eager future students.
Recognizing the growing demand, Rorion turned to his longtime friend and early student, Richard Bressler, to help realize a vision: opening the Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Academy in the United States.
The new facility quickly found success, but two years later, Rorion’s world was turned upside down. One morning, he arrived at work to find water rushing out of the front door. A broken pipe in the bathroom had flooded the mats, rendering the academy unusable for several weeks.
Under tremendous financial stress—with five children, rent for his home, the lease for the academy, and numerous other expenses—Rorion recalled the saying, "In chaos lies opportunity." He decided to follow the advice of his friend, marketing wizard Jay Abraham, who had once told him, "Rorion, your classes have tremendously helped my son; you need to make instructional videos so the world can learn from you!"
Rorion then shot his first instructional series “GJJ Basics” and released it within 30 days, which turned out to be a game-changer. He immediately began receiving feedback from countless people around the world who were benefiting from the effectiveness of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. All the while, challenge matches kept happening, and with more footage, the second installment of Gracie Jiu-Jitsu In Action was released.
Now with the academy thriving once again, the challenge matches, a staple of the Gracie tradition, kept drawing larger crowds, fueling Rorion’s ambition to do something even bigger. Reflecting on his family's storied history in Brazil, he began to see an opportunity: to introduce the concept of vale tudo—a no-holds-barred style of fighting—to the United States as a showcase for the effectiveness of his family's jiu-jitsu.
With years of experience watching and participating in real fighting, He wanted to stop the illusion that had been perpetuated in the movies where one person walks into a room and defeats 20 opponents. After one of the many challenge matches at the academy, he discussed his vision with one of his students, marketing consultant Art Davie, and decided to create an event that would showcase on a grand scale a tournament between different styles of martial arts. They agreed that it would have to be on television. The duo formed a company, "War of the Worlds Promotions" (W.O.W.), with Rorion owning 60% and Art owning 40%.
With the academy in full swing and requiring Rorion’s attention, Art was left in charge of the groundwork at WOW. As they kept fine-tuning the details, Rorion recruited another student and Hollywood icon, writer/director John Milius, as the creative director. With a track record that included Conan the Barbarian, Apocalypse Now, Red Dawn and many others, John would lend his cinematic flair to the venture.
After contacting HBO, Showtime, ESPN, etc., all of whom turned them down, they found Semaphore Entertainment Group (SEG), whose president, Bob Meyrowitz, agreed to bring the event to pay-per-view if W.O.W. were to produce the live event. To raise the capital for such an undertaking, Rorion arranged a meeting on the mat of the Academy, where 29 students bought 10% of W.O.W. Promotions. SEG and W.O.W. would split the profits 50/50, and with that, the stage was set for a groundbreaking event — the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
It would serve as a battleground in the search for the most efficient form of combat. Disrupting the paradigm of fighting as the world knew it, there would be virtually no rules, no weight classes, no time limits. After dismissing the traditional boxing ring and considering a variety of ways to prevent the competitors from "running away," which included a moat with alligators, an electric fence, plexiglass walls, etc., Rorion settled on the eye-catching Octagon.
In order to demonstrate the effectiveness and to present jiu jitsu as a martial art for everyone, Royce was chosen as the representative of the Gracie family. Being the lightest competitor After defeating three opponents in the same night, he became the first undisputed UFC Champion. The fighting world would never be the same.
Immediately after the first UFC, members of a special unit of the U.S. Army contacted Rorion, wanting to understand the intricacies of the system. That initial contact led to the creation of a totally new hand-to-hand combatives program for the U.S. Army. G.R.A.P.L.E. (Gracie Resisting Attack Procedures for Law Enforcement), now G.S.T. (Gracie Survival Tactics), has since been officially adopted by all other branches of the military and every major law enforcement agency in the U.S., as well as countless police departments nationwide. The impact of this training has been profound, not only reducing injuries among officers and suspects but also significantly lowering the number of excessive force lawsuits.
Then, the GJJ Street Self-Defense instructional series was released, followed by GJJ Intermediate and GJJ Advanced. Rorion once again pushed the envelope with the CD-ROM Gracie Total Defense, launching the Brazilian system into the digital age. As a follow-up, Rorion created Rapesafe, now Women Empowered, a highly successful program dedicated to teaching women how to address the nightmare of sexual assault. Next came the first of six “Gracie Cruises” to Mexico and the Caribbean, where students and their families would get together for a unique combination of fun, sun, and jiu-jitsu on the high seas. As part of the international expansion, through one of the largest magazine publishers in Brazil, the Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Instructional Series was released on newsstands all over Brazil.
To celebrate his father’s 90th birthday, Rorion inaugurated the Gracie Museum at the Gracie Academy in Torrance, CA. Which housed the largest collection of newspaper clippings, photos, and memorabilia about the Gracie legacy.
In 2005, Rorion was promoted by his father to the 9th-degree Red Belt, making him the highest-ranked Gracie Jiu-Jitsu expert in the United States. In the same year, Rorion founded Gracie Publications and released Gracie Jiu-Jitsu: The Master Text, Grand Master Helio Gracie’s only instructional book. Considered the Bible of BJJ, this hardcover collector’s edition became an instant classic, containing over 1,100 incredible pictures by photographer Tommy DeSoto, showcasing the official self-defense program taught by Grand Master Helio Gracie at the original Gracie Academy in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Under the auspices of the Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Academy, Gracie Bullyproof, Gracie Combatives, and Gracie University were developed. Gracie Jiu-Jitsu has gone global, with schools springing up around the world, further spreading the benefits of this life-changing martial art.
Having succeeded in his mission to share his family's self-defense system with the world and witnessing its continuous evolution, Rorion set his sights on another vital aspect of his family's tradition. He became determined to educate as many people as possible about the incredible benefits of the Gracie Diet—a non-restrictive concept of food combination created by his late uncle Carlos Gracie. Developed over a 65-year research period, the Gracie Diet was designed to keep the Gracie family in peak health as they began the revolution of martial arts in Brazil.
Rorion, who has followed the Gracie Diet his entire life, took it upon himself to codify these teachings into The Gracie Diet, a book in which he explains the simple yet powerful principles of this healthy way of eating. Since its release, the program has helped thousands of people overcome common gastrointestinal issues such as IBS, gastritis, heartburn, and more, proving that the Gracie legacy extends beyond the mat and into the realm of overall wellness.
Rorion Gracie's latest project is a comprehensive course designed to equip instructors with the unique teaching methods his father, Helio Gracie, developed over decades. These techniques focus on how to most effectively guide students in mastering the complete self-defense program that originated at the Gracie Academy in Rio de Janeiro. Rorion understands that preserving his father's legacy is not just about passing on the techniques themselves, but also about teaching the method of instruction that ensures students reach their maximum effectiveness.
"I need to pass on what my father taught me about HOW to teach, which is as important as WHAT to teach," Rorion emphasizes. His dedication to this project reflects his commitment to ensuring that the essence of Gracie Jiu-Jitsu is carried forward with the same precision and care that his father instilled in him.
In addition to developing this course, Rorion remains actively engaged in the global jiu-jitsu community. He travels extensively, conducting seminars where he shares his vast knowledge of the art and its practical applications. Beyond the mats, Rorion is also sought after as a speaker on topics of entrepreneurship and wellness, drawing on his experiences in building the Gracie Brand and his lifelong adherence to the Gracie Diet. Whether he's teaching a seminar or delivering a lecture, Rorion continues to inspire and educate, leaving a lasting impact on everyone he encounters.
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