martial artist Brasilian Jiu Jitsu inventor
Carlos was born on 14th of September 1902 in Brazil. Son to the third generation of a Scotsman, Carlos was the eldest son of Gastao Gracie and his wife Cesalina. He had eight siblings named Oswaldo (1904),Gastao Jr. (1906), Ilka (1908), Helena (1909), George (1911), Helio (1913),Mary (1915) and Ilka (1917). Of them, Ilka born in 1908 died soon after her birth.
It is very limited information on Carlo’s formal school education.
Carlos was very active and had a very strong character from a very young age. His energy made his father make him visit Count Coma. Count Coma with real name Misuyio Esai Maeda was a Jiu Jitsu/Judo envoy sent from Japan to establish the fighting art elsewhere in the world. Carlo’s father’s intention was to release his son’s hyperactivity through this form.
Count Coma got Carlos into his umbrella when he was just 15 years of age and trained him for the next three years. This training came to an end in 1921 when the Gracie family unit decided to move to Rio de Janeiro on account of bankruptcy.
After moving to Rio de Janeiro, Carlos separated from his family and started working on odd jobs to make ends meet. It was during that time when he met one of his friends and a student of Count Coma. He remembered Carlos as being one of the best students of Count Coma and asked him to join him for training the Police where he belonged to. Carlos accepted the offer and it was in between the walls of the Police where Carlos tested his skills of Jiu Jitsu. He also performed No Holds Barred fights there which improved his proficiency further on Jiu Jitsu.
By 1925, Carlos was able to save enough money to start his own Jiu Jitsu Academy. This place was in “Rua Marques de Abrantes”. He also had his brothers Helio and George joins him in running the academy. In his first advertisement of the place he mentioned in the Portuguese language, “If you want your face punched and bruised, your butt kicked and your arms wrecked, talk to Carlos Gracie at the following address…”
Carlos trained his brothers in the academy to make them a good coach in Jiu Jitsu and also encouraged the fights between Jiu Jitsu and other forms of fights including Boxing, Wrestling and so on. This provided further commercial endorsement to his academy in the area and attracted people to it.
Along with the academy, Carlos involved himself in several other businesses and Helios was made to manage the academy while he was gone on a business trip. Helios was also one of the best students of Carlos then. Carlos was successful in opening two more academies in Brazil in the regions of Ceara and Fortaleza. Carlos invented the Gracie diet through his close observation of human behaviors and activities.
Even though Carlos remained busy and had to travel on several occasions, he never stayed away from the fighting form Jiu Jitsu and every time he had a match with his brothers, he always had them cornered. He was considered the master of the game until the end of his life. He dedicated his life to the arms form and improving his skills on it. He learned to live positively and also inspired others to do so.
Carlos died at the age of 92 in 1994. Carlos had several wives and twenty-one children. Eleven of these children had a black belt in Jiu Jitsu while three were BJJ legends Rolls Gracie, Carlos Gracie Jr., and Carlson Gracie. The life of Carlos has inspired his generations to come to encourage the fight form and they have been successfully doing their part even today. He has been called as the Creator of fighting dynasty in the book written by his daughter Reila Gracie on the life of Carlos Gracie.
There were twelve commandments mentioned by Gracie for living a good life. He also inspired many through his commandments.
Commandment 1 – Make yourself tough enough that nothing can ruin your peace of mind. Commandment 2 – Talk only of joy, health, and opulence to everyone.
Commandment 3 – Make your friends feel valuable.
Commandment 4 – Look at life positively and make it the truth of life.
Commandment 5 – Think, work and expect only for the best interests.
Commandment 6 – Always think positively of others as you do for yourself.
Commandment 7 – Concentrate on your future rather than getting yourself stuck in the past.
Commandment 8 – Keep your companions happy and be kind and pleasing to all of them who talk to you.
Commandment 9 – Use most of your time in improving yourself and leave no time for condemning others.
Commandment 10 – Become too big to feel unrest, too noble to feel anger, too strong to feel fear and too happy to tumble in adversity.
Commandment 11 – Keep yourself positive and show it to the world through compassion.
Commandment 12 – Believe that the world is beside you if you be true to the best within you.
Carlos achievement comes from him being a master of the Jiu Jitsu fighting talent. His strong active personality made his father look for a way where he could release his energy and introduced Jiu Jitsu to him.
It is impressive to know that only after three years of training in Jiu Jitsu, Carlos was able to train this art to others and was successful in establishing his academy in it. The enthusiasm of making two different styles of fighting come together shows Carlo’s confidence in the game.
He remained the undefeated master of Jiu Jitsu until the end of his time and the Gracie family is remembered to this day for their various activities in encouraging the Jiu Jitsu art form worldwide.
There is a Carlos Gracie Award for lifetime achievement given to those who through their efforts have created a deep impact on the Jui Jitsu fighting art form.
Carlos Gracie had created his own identity through his proficient skill in Jiu Jitsu. Though his strong personality and observational skills, he had transformed his life through the art form and inspired many in the alteration. His worldly view can be easily being studied through the twelve commandments he created during his life and by which he lived.
He lived life positively and taught people to be strong enough to endure any life circumstances. He believed that a person never fails but only learns. He learned new techniques and improving his skills in the fighting form by observing others fight. He valued the people around him and made them feel important. He tried to keep out negativity and believed in the best interest for all. He mentioned in his commandment that one should be as enthusiastic for others as one is for oneself. This shows how compassionate and pleasant Carlos was in his lifetime.
He had a good bond with his family and run his academics with his brothers. His children were very much inspired and motivated by their father and many of them dedicated to establishing the fighting art form that was founded by their father worldwide.
Quotations:
“There is no losing in Jiu Jitsu. You either win or you learn.”
“Give to all of your friends the feeling of being valued.”
Carlos was an idealized and a supporter of life which is represented through the twelve commandments he believed in. He was very active from an early age and it is said that if he was born today, he would have been said to have been suffering from hyperactivity.
Carlos was compassionate and valued his companions. He believed in working hard to making your identity. He was also a family man which can be seen by the influence he created on the generations following him. He was the first member of the Gracie family to come in contact with Jiu Jitsu fight form and he was able to create Carlos style of fighting Jiu Jitsu. He now has his descendants make the art form established all over the world.
Carlos had also a mind of a businessman which came out in various forms. Beginning with the academies he established at various locations, he also invented with the Gracie diet which is well-known till this day. He believed in living a happy life with positivity. Carlos had a strong personality which is now noticeable through his sons and grandsons today.
Carlos’s favorite technique in the fight is mentioned to be the fight with the armbar. He used to finish all of his fights with this position. Carlos had created his life and transformed it through the learning he got from Jiu Jitsu. Carlos learned and improved his skills in the fight by observing other people fight during the match, mostly his brothers. The commandments stated by Carlos are some of the terms he is mentioned to have learned and lived through this art form. He believed that just the fight doesn’t do it but you have to understand and take it into your heart and soul to make it yours and through it, you would be able to transform your life to it.
Carlos dedicated his life to Jiu Jitsu and even though he had several business commitments and traveling to do, never stayed away from the fighting art form. He fought most of his matches with his brothers and was never defeated. His greatness made his daughter Reila Gracie write his biography titled Carlos Gracie, The Creator of a Fighting Dynasty
Carlos had several wives and numerous children in his lifetime. Carlos had five children with his first wife Carmen. Of them, Carlson Gracie, the oldest of the five became the Brazilian Jiu Jitsu champion. The second born Robson Gracie is the current president of the confederation of Rio de Janeiro.
The second wife of Carlos was Genny with whom he had seven children named Reylson Gracie, Rosley Gracie, Rolange Gracie, Rolls Gracie, Rocian Gracie, Carlion Gracie, Clair Gracie and Carley Gracie. Carley was another champion of Jiu Jitsu.
The third wife of Carlos Layr bore him six children Carlos Gracie, Jr., Carla Gracie, Crolin Gracie, Reyla Gracie, Rilion Gracie and Kirla Gracie.
Carlos had many other children through other women named Ilda, Lina, and Claudia.
