Relson’s Biography
Relson Gracie is the second
oldest son of Grandmaster Helio Gracie, the man who is credited
as innovating the Jiu-Jitsu taught by Mitsuyo "Count Koma"
Maeda into what is now known as Gracie Jiu-Jitsu, also referred
to as Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Relson was born into a legendary fighting
family. His fighting spirit was evident since his birth and he
began to learn the techniques of Gracie Jiu Jitsu at the tender
age of 2.
In 1952, the Gracie's opened Academia Gracie at Avenida Rio Branco,
Centro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. This original academy operated
for 30 years. The following year, on March 28, Relson was born
into the most influential martial arts family of the modern era.
Ten years after the commissioning of Academia Gracie, Grandmaster
Helio Gracie held the world's first Gracie Jiu-Jitsu tournament
in Gurilandia Clube, Botafogo. Relson competed in this historical
event at the age of 10 and was the Brazilian National Champion
in both his own weight class and the open division for an unprecedented
22 years! His record and domination of Gracie Jiu-Jitsu earned
him the name "Campeao," Portuguese for Champion. Relson's
accomplishments did not go unnoticed.
His knowledge of Jiu-Jitsu soon became a commodity within the
Brazilian martial arts community. In 1975, at the age of 22, Relson
was approached by Rio's Secretary of Sport Jose Morais and Manaus
Senator Artur Vigilio, a Reyson Gracie Black Belt. They proposed
that Relson open his own academy. This was the beginning of the
academy at Ilha Clube Jardim Guanabara (ICJG), Relson's first
Jiu-Jitsu academy. In addition to teaching Tuesday and Thursday
evening classes at the already well established Academia Gracie
Humaita, Relson taught at ICJG on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday
nights. The following year brought another joyous event in Relson's
life, the birth of his first child, Karina Gracie.
In the years to come, the notoriety of Gracie Jiu-Jitsu grew,
and in 1978 Academia Gracie relocated from its original location
to Flamengo in Rio. The academy would develop students here until
1985. 1982 capped off the birth of his second child, Rishna Gracie
and Relson's and Rickson dominance in the black belt division
in tournaments. Relson continued to dominate the 83kg weight division
while younger brother Rickson did the same in the 77kg division.
Their Jiu-Jitsu superiority showed as they repeatedly closed out
the open weight division as well, sharing 1st and 2nd place.
In addition to their supremacy in Jiu-Jitsu competition, the Gracie's
have demonstrated their martial arts mastery in Vale Tudo, Portuguese
for "Anything Goes." Decades before Mixed Martial Arts
events were held, these no holds barred wars were being waged
in the stadiums of Brazil. Grandmaster Helio Gracie was one of
the first in a long line of family members who proved their mettle
in the ring. He is regarded as one of the first sports heroes
of Brazil. Carlson Gracie was next to uphold the family honor
in the Vale Tudo events. He retired from Vale Tudo after his last
fight with Valdemar Santana in 1970. Due to the Gracie's domination
in Vale Tudo, for over the next ten years there were no challenges
to the Gracie family in the professional Vale Tudo arena.
However the challenges did not slow down on the street. Relson,
along with his brothers and cousins defended the Gracie name in
the ultimate arena, the mean streets of Brazil. Even in true “no
holds barred” matches, where it was often a matter of survival,
Relson and the Gracie family maintained its dominance and proved
that Gracie Jiu-Jitsu is the most effective style.
On April 25, 1980, the torch was officially passed to Rickson
Gracie when he defeated Casemiro "Rei Zulu" Nascimento
Martins by rear naked choke. Rei Zulu suffered a similar fate
at the hands of Rickson again in January of 1984 during their
second encounter. Relson trained Rickson for both events in anticipation
of fighting Zulu himself, but later acquiesced to Grandmaster
Helio's wishes for Rickson to make his debut as the Gracie family
champion.
In 1985, Relson moved from Rio de Janeiro to Monterey, California
at the request of Pedro Sauer's older brother Carlos. There Relson
taught at the Eseline Therapy Institute for a year and a half.
During this time Relson's third child and first son Rhalan Gracie
was born in 1987.
Shortly after Rhalan was born, this time at the request of Carlos
Valente, Relson set his sights on spreading his family's art to
Hawaii. In June of 1988 he moved to Honolulu where he was destined
to build a Jiu-Jitsu empire in a place where the sport was relatively
unknown. Two years after his arrival in Hawaii, Relson was blessed
with his fourth child, Kailani Gracie, while he laid the ground
work and foundation for his own competition team.
In the pre-UFC years, Gracie Jiu-Jitsu was relatively unknown
outside of Brazil. Relson taught out of his garage in the evenings
after a hard day's work in the construction industry. However,
the effectiveness and benefits of Jiu-Jitsu soon spread throughout
the island of Oahu, and in the same year he expanded his classes
to Studio 4, in the Athletic Complex of the University of Hawaii
at Manoa to meet the demand. He would instruct at this location
until 1996, all the while continuing to teach out of his garage.
Just as his father held the world's first Jiu-Jitsu tournament,
Relson organized the first tournament outside of Brazil in Honolulu
in 1992.
The following year, older brother Rorion Gracie launched his brainchild
of bringing Brazilian "Vale Tudo" (literally "anything
goes" matches), the precursor to modern Mixed Martial Arts,
to the United States and the rest of the world. The Ultimate Fighting
Championship was created and launched the career of the now legendary,
Royce Gracie. However prior to UFC 1, Royce was just Rorion and
Relson's little brother. Relson along with his brothers were tasked
with training and making sure that Royce was prepared for one
of the most momentous events in martial arts. Relson's style was
and is still ideally suited to this limited rules type of combat.
Royce displayed their father's Jiu-Jitsu to perfection as he took
on three masters of different martial arts styles to win the first
official mixed martial arts event in the United States. As we
all know, Royce went on to win three of the first four events
and is now a martial arts legend. However, with the advent of
the Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts, many of Relson's lethal
techniques are no longer legal under the current rules.
In Brazil, a historical event in Jiu-Jitsu occurred in 1996: the
first official World Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Championships (Campeanato
Mundial de Jiu-Jitsu), held at the Tijuca Tenis Clube in Rio De
Janeiro, Brazil. The following year, Relson Gracie brought a team
from Hawaii and became the first team outside of Brazil to close
out a division at the Worlds. Two of Relson's students, Kendall
Goo and Kelly Matsukawa, took first and second place in the Adult
Blue Belt Pessidissimo division. Through Relson’s hard work,
Hawaii had captured the most medals in the World Championships
outside of Brazil. After the changes in the rules, Relson felt
tournaments started to steer Jiu-Jitsu away from the principles
that his father had created it for. Relson decided to place less
emphasis on pushing his team to compete and refocused on the true
essence of Gracie Jiu-Jitsu.
After being in the islands for 8 years, the official Relson Gracie
Main Academy was opened on Waialae Avenue in Honolulu, Hawaii.
It remained in Waialae until 2000 when the Academy moved to its
current location at 844 Queen Street. That same year, the Relson
Gracie Team joined forces with Gracie Humaita and placed in every
division at the Pan American Jiu-Jitsu Championships in Florida:
1st in the Female and Master/Seniors divisions, 2nd in the Juvenile,
and 3rd in the Adult.
Relson continued to host tournaments as well. The Relson Gracie
National Jiu-Jitsu Tournament has been held annually in Columbus,
Ohio since 1997. Due to the success of his inaugural National
tournament, Arnold Schwarzenegger approached Relson to start the
Arnold-Gracie World Submission Championships, also held in Columbus,
has grown rapidly since its inaugural event in 2000. Between 2005
and 2008, participation increased from 1200 to 1800 competitors.
In 2004 Relson turned over the daily operations of his Main Academy
to one of his black belts in order to free up time to travel to
the academies within his growing association that has spread throughout
the country. The following year, Relson was blessed with his fifth
child, Kaena Gracie.
The Gracie's are confident that they have created the best form
of self defense in the world, and as a result they have been constantly
tested by countless individuals ranging from martial arts masters
to street fighters in the mean streets of Brazil. Relson was more
than happy to not only defend the family name, but also prove
the effectiveness of Gracie Jiu-Jitsu. Relson's ferocious fighting
style quickly garnered him the reputation that, of all the Gracie's,
he was the last one you wanted to test yourself against. The only
Vale Tudo matches of Relson's caught on film is featured on the
video documentary Gracie Jiu-Jitsu in Action 1. This fight against
a Karate master can be seen below.
Relson Gracie
vs Karateka from Brazil in 1975
Although Relson's techniques are deeply rooted in Gracie Jiu-Jitsu,
as taught to him by his father, Grandmaster Helio Gracie, his
personal style has focused on "street effective" techniques.
As such, he has developed a Jiu-Jitsu designed for defending yourself
in a survival situation where there are no rules.
Today, Relson Gracie has over 40 associations that he regularly
visits across the US and internationally and is growing rapidly.
Because of this, he has travelled the world and taught his style
of Jiu-Jitsu to a wide range of students, including local law
enforcement, the U.S. Military, Secret Service, D.E.A., and F.B.I.,
in addition to individuals who simply sought mental and physical
improvement.
