BENEFITS: -Improved functional capacity overall

-Deal with stress in a positive manner

-Increased sense of responsibility

-Achieve self control in every aspect of life

-Conquer life's obstacles and challenges

-Gain leadership and problem-solving skills

Our expertise is developing people's automatic reaction to any kind of situation. Nobody can hide his or her instincts. For example, when someone goes to a therapist or doctor maybe they can hide the truth, says whatever they want, or say nothing. Here, we work with, not against, a person's natural reaction, or involuntary response. Therefore, it is much easier to help them.

We work one-on-one with our students, which is the best way to teach my system. This doesn't mean you cannot learn in group lessons, but you can learn better and faster. The REAL Gracie Jiu-Jitsu was designed to be taught one-on-one.

My instructors receive personal instruction and are specially trained and certified by me. To get their certification, they must know how to teach my system perfectly. With this training comes the maturity to know how to deal with each person's automatic reaction. Then, they use that to help build and improve all aspects of the student's functional capacity: mentally, spiritually, and physically. It is required that people preparing themselves to be a professional instructor under me spend at least 50 hours per month to perfect their teaching and interpersonal skills. It is not to see who is the best fighter, or who can beat the guy who is higher rank than them. It is a much more intensive than the student program. Considering this, in my system a person can be certified to teach in my academy at the Blue Belt level in less than one year.

We are not here to teach fighters or to encourage brutality and fighting. Jiu-Jitsu literally means "the gentle art". We show you how you can take control of any kind of physical attack and to put your opponent down the gentle way. You only break your opponent if you choose to. The purpose of my academy is not only to learn the best self-defense man has ever invented, but also to use the Jiu-Jitsu as a vehicle to reach each student's personal objectives.

We will prepare you to win in every aspect of your life. We develop leaders. Our idea is to prepare even the best professional to be the greatest.

People should strive to be the greatest at whatever they choose to do with their career and lives. We can help you increase your capacity to win in life. It doesn't matter what you do in life or what your profession is, you will be successful. With the confidence you will gain here, you will conquer everything you set out to do.

On the mats, you will experience first hand every possible way a person can attack you, and you will learn to defend yourself very easily. We will help you increase your power to analyze a threatening situation and find the quickest, most effective way to control your opponent...without taking any impact to you body, or using physical strength. People can attack you in other ways too. In business, for example, people can compete with you to put your business down. This can happen during the course of your life--on the streets, or your office, at school, etc. There are many situations where someone can try to dominate, and we can prepare you to come out a winner.

Many people ask, "What is the purpose, or objective to learning Gracie Jiu-Jitsu? Is it just self-defense? We do more to help a person who doesn't know how to read, has no culture, is a little crude, rude, or ignorant, or who may not know how to speak properly. We can help the businessperson that may be intimidated to give presentations and speak in front of people. When we say that we will prepare people to win in life, it means we will give them the confidence to overcome obstacles. Then, in turn they will have a greater advantage over the average person to succeed in whatever they want to do.

We teach people how to be in control of any kind of emotional situation. We help people to take control of any kind of situation, and to not let the situation control them. This is one of the biggest challenges people have. Many times we say or do things we normally wouldn't do if we were in a rational state of mind. Sometimes we have some problems we inherit from our parents and ancestors. For example, you may be talking with someone and maybe it was not their intention, but they antagonize or challenge you by the words they said and how they said it. In that moment you changed your behavior and temper. Then, sometimes you answer the person in a manner that you didn't intend to, because if the person didn't offend you, you wouldn't have responded that way. You automatically "strike back" in your normal reaction, and then what happens? The person keeps going and you add wood to the fire. The conversation turns into an argument to see who will "win" the discussion.

There are two reasons why we talk to another person…for pleasure or to express a point of view. When we work with our students we instill high self-esteem. Consequently, when they face a difficult situation that may test their emotional control, they will know how to deal with it. This is what I call using "mental jiu-jitsu". Try to "read" the person, notice their body language, look them in the eyes, and talk with the person, but don't antagonize or offend them.

There are hundreds of books out there on how to make friends and influence people. Every time you talk to someone, you have an opportunity to use "mental jiu-jitsu". Be patient. Let the person speak. My instructors practice my gentle philosophy when they teach. Instead of saying, "NO, that is wrong, not like THAT!" They say, "This will work, but it's not perfect. Let me show you the best way to go directly to the point. Remember, wrong technique will work, but we go for the perfection here on the mats."

By being polite, you don't offend or put someone down. Everybody has their instinctive reaction, and can become defensive or offensive.

In our system, you learn the techniques to quickly and effectively put down your opponent in a gentle way. You only "break" him if you choose to.

By practicing my philosophy in all your endeavors, you not only control any situation, but also avoid all kinds of unwanted and unpleasant circumstances.

Working with people the way we do is very different than any other field. We not only teach people how to defend themselves, we exercise their minds.

I believe a good jiu-jitsu man should know better than anybody does how to make good decisions in life. This involves choosing a good woman, treating his family well, talking to his children, providing them with a good life education, etc. I used to be involved in a parenting school, where I was certified in how to assist parents in dealing with and raising their children. I used to say, "We are models. Everything we do, they [our children] watch. Maybe not now, but later they will do many of the same things you do." That is why I stress good behavior in my academy. I don't allow anyone to use slang or offensive language, or call people by nicknames. Everyone respects each other with no attitudes or egos. It is not a competitional atmosphere, because people don't come here to learn a sport. This helps to improve the character and personality of my students, as well as creating positive habits that can be passed down from one generation to the next.

Keep your body young and in peak physical condition. We help people to achieve this quickly and safely. As our student, we can share with you over 80 years experience in the most effective nutritional system that was originally developed by my father, Carlos Gracie. This system will show you how by combining certain foods will help make your body younger and strong. There are no pills or vitamins involved.

Everything your body needs comes from nature. Each person has individual needs. This nutritional system will help make your immune system powerful. The Gracie family has grown up with this diet regimen for over 80 years. People who have been privileged enough to practice this have seen amazing results after exhausting all other options.

My system is not just self-defense--it's not just about how to defend against a punch or head lock. It is also a physical program that helps you have total control over your body movements. It is a kind of body therapy. You learn how to control your own impulses when you lift your hand, step forward, step back, sit down, etc. This is all done with a certain kind of harmony, and little by little you learn how to relax while you make these movements and work the techniques.

We teach anyone from ages 5 to over 60.

You don't need any previous martial arts knowledge, or be in any certain physical condition to be excellent in my system.

If you don’t like violence, if you hate to fight, this system is meant for you. Acquiring the knowledge of my unique system, if one day you get into a conflict situation, you can be in control. It is not brutal like some people think. More than 90% of the people who come to my doors or call my academy have no idea what they will experience here. One day you may be in a situation where you cannot call for help, a friend, or the police. The moment is there; either you know how to defend yourself or you don't.

The people who go to my academy learn not only learn how to control their impulses, but the other person's impulses as well. It gives them the power and have the confidence to speak clearly, and convince the other guy that it's not a good idea to fight. If you don't have a choice, and you can't prevent or stop a physical confrontation between you and another person, then you have our jiu-jitsu to work for you.

A lot of people have the wrong conception of the Gracie family and Gracie Jiu-Jitsu. What is the purpose? I am the 8th child of my father; I received a lot of info from my father directly. I believe the new generation of Gracies may know about the philosophy of Carlos Gracie. However, the majority of the general public does not.

My father was invited to learn the Japanese Jiu-Jitsu from Count Mitsuyo Maeda Koma, (a friend of the crowned prince, Hirohito). From the start he tried to improve it and share its tradition and philosophy with the other people.

All those decades, my family dedicated their lives, day and night, to improve Japanese Jiu-Jitsu. Now the Japanese learn from us.

My father was not a strong man physically. He was small in stature, and he never liked to fight. In fact, he never wanted anything to do with fighting. When my father had the chance to learn this he thought, "My God, I think I can give something extraordinary to people who don't have the physical advantages that natural athletes have. I want to transform little guys into giants. I'll use these techniques to help people like me succeed, not just in physical confrontation but in all areas of life." For example, suppose you are a weak, not very attractive person and you are in an interview at the same time with another guy physically stronger and more attractive than you are. He overpowers the conversation to try and impress the employer. You might feel intimidated and lose confidence in yourself. The other guy takes advantage because you couldn't speak up for yourself.

Another case: say you want to talk with a beautiful lady at a party. You walk over to approach her, but you see this big, strong guy go over to her and you stop in your tracks, because you feel you don't have a chance.

My father's purpose and objective was not to prepare fighters, or stimulate people to fight. It was not to put people in an arena as an entertainment for the people.

Some Gracies used to publicly compete to prove how effective Gracie Jiu-Jitsu was. Then they have opened schools to teach the system. They proved that a weak guy in a sportive fighting event could put a big guy down who doesn't know Gracie Jiu-Jitsu... without bloodshed.

By learning our system you learn emotional control. In some forms of martial arts, in order for you to be in a superior position against your opponent, you have to almost kill him. In the U.S.A. this will put you in court. Even a simple punch to someone's face can bring serious trouble. But with Gracie Jiu-Jitsu, you have the confidence to say, "Hey my friend I don't know why we are fighting. Let's go our separate ways." This can prevent a lot of problems. I have always told people, fighting is no good.

My father wanted to give the weaker person the chance to have an equal opportunity in life, and not to be intimidated by the bigger guy. We do that by teaching people how to defend themselves. But we don't want them to fight. For what? To satisfy your ego?

Our purpose is to share our science, and to help you practice and perfect it by supervised training. When people have to defend themselves it's not for sport. They are in a real and very dangerous situation.

There is something people don't understand. There are those who want to share the knowledge and science of Gracie Jiu-Jitsu, which is beautiful. They practice the philosophy and help people win in life.

The purpose of a teacher is to let the student be BETTER than him. If you challenge the student, you are trying to keep him below you, to show you are still the best. However, if your students perfect their skills then they can open schools, which is what the purpose should be...to spread the knowledge and help to prepare people for a better future. They can send a positive message, and service their communities. People will then understand our gentle philosophy and how it helps them in many ways.

This is what I say to my instructors: "Create good relationships with your students, and they will become your friends. Then, their personal success will be your triumph. They will confide in you because you are their mentor. This cannot happen if you compete with them."

If you try to spread your knowledge by challenging people, maybe half will like you, but the other half won't. You will divide public opinion. And people from different forms of martial arts will not like you either.

Promoting Gracie Jiu-Jitsu the correct and positive way may be a long way to go, but the success you have will last. First you teach the father, then the son, then grandson. You will see generations go by and you will build respect and prestige. This is the best, and the only way you can stay standing on solid ground.

Now, we are seeing that what my father predicted was right. The attempt to promote Jiu-Jitsu by no-holds barred fighting has succeeded in drawing world attention to our family, but much of that attention is negative. The government has banned the broadcasting of many of these fighting events because of the apparent brutality.

The pay-per-views on TV do more damage than good. This display scares away intellectual people, families, kids, women, and more. The kinds of people we really want as our students are turned off by this brutality. It's entertaining to watch, but they don't want to learn our system and train in our schools because the they are afraid they will walk out with broken bones or bloody faces.

How is a middle-aged man going to want a part in this? Even more, why would he let his wife and kids do this?

If I was to put my son in a Jiu-jitsu academy, it's not only for him to learn self- defense, but also to gain self confidence, improve his behavior, be responsible, and to prepare his mind to win in life.

Unfortunately, some members of my family will not agree 100 percent with this.

However, since I was a kid I saw how my father talked with people, and the advice he gave. He was always positive, always made people happy, motivated, and confident. My father used Jiu-Jitsu to help people; he never challenged a guy who knew jiu-jitsu. He believed that his mission was to share his knowledge with people, to respect them, not to challenge them. Fighting does not perfect the art. It is not about appreciating the science. Rather, it is more a compulsion to satisfy one's ego.

This is a big problem. We don't have our academy doors open to let people satisfy their egos, or have superior attitudes. People who come here do so to learn and enjoy. They come here to release stress and relax, to exercise their mind and body, to increase their functional capacity, and to feel good about themselves.

I'm not here to preach to people. My intention is to let people understand what they can learn at my academy, because the majority has the complete wrong conception of what to expect here. Joining my academy is making an investment in yourself and/or you rfamily memebers and the peopel you care about. If you invest in your health, body, and mind, you will have a better quality of life, which is priceless. People invest in cars, houses, and stocks...all material things. They rarely invest in themselves.

I want to see more people practicing my father's philosophy. I want to show the world a new philosophy of life.

The early competitions that my family participated in did a lot of good. They showed the world that the weaker guy could beat the bigger guy without making the blood run from his face. Once that point was proven, the fights and competitions should have stopped.

My family should have concentrated on teaching this science, and the philosophy behind it.

Now they are starting to be viewed differently, and people are beginning to be disappointed because they are fighting against people who also know Jiu-Jitsu and sometimes they are losing. Nowadays, people don't see us as important role models anymore, only as entertainment. They don't realize that we have an important mission--to share our knowledge with the world, to help the world be a gentler--not a more violent--place.

I came to the United States to share my knowledge with American people, not to challenge them, or to show that my form of martial arts is better than the others. Today, many martial arts have incorporated Gracie Jiu-Jitsu into their art. For this reason it is not a good idea to go and challenge people. If I teach half of my techniques to a guy much stronger and faster than me, he has a bigger advantage over me. Weak people can beat the stronger person, as long as the other person does not know jiu-jitsu. You pay for medical, car, house, flood, insurance, etc. and pray to never use it. When you go to my academy to learn my system, you hope that you will never be forced into a situation where you have to use it. I ask my students promise me to never use the jiu-jitsu or anything we teach for something negative. We will give you the power to make positive things happen in your life and others lives around you! YOU CAN COUNT ON US!