The post Royce Gracie talks to Fightland appeared first on John Geystons Martial Arts.

The Gracie Family has Mitsuyo Maeda to thank for giving Carlos Gracie his first taste of the martial arts back in 1917, when Carlos witnessed a Judo demonstration by Maeda at Da Paz Theatre in Brazil. Maeda was a Judo expert and prizefighter in no holds barred competitions. Maeda introduced Judo to various countries, including Brazil, not long after the turn of the 20th century. Maeda accepted Carlos Gracie as his student after expressing his desire to learn Judo.

Carlos shared his instructor’s teachings with his brothers. Carlos’ brother Helio was too sick to practice the art at first, but learned by watching Carlos and his other brothers train. Eventually, however, Helio’s health improved, and he eventually became an instructor. Helio realized that, while he understood the techniques conceptually, he had more difficulty executing them properly due to his small size. Consequently, rather than relying on brute force that many of the Judo techniques required, Helio modified Judo, utilizing leverage and position and thus requiring less raw strength, to compensate for what he lacked physically. As a result, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu evolved into a martial art in which smaller and weaker practitioners could defend themselves from – and defeat – larger and stronger opponents. Because of this, many consider Helio to be the founder of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, though many believe Carlos deserves as much credit. Carlos is, as his daughter Reila Gracie refers to him, the “creator of a dynasty.”

Some consider Rolls Gracie to be the true creator of the modern form of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Rolls was a son of Carlos, who trained extensively under Helio, and was the instructor of many of the most notable members of the Gracie family, including Royler, Rickson, Rillion, and Carlos Jr. Ultimate Fighting Championship Hall of Famer Royce Gracie, son of Helio, is considered a pioneer in the sport of mixed martial arts, or MMA, and is arguably the most famous member of the Gracie family.

The Ultimate Fighting Championship, or UFC, was founded by Helio’s oldest son Rorion Gracie and business executive Art Davie. The UFC began as an eight-man single-elimination tournament with few rules and restrictions. The winner of a UFC tournament received $50,000. The UFC was created as a means of determining how different styles of martial arts would match up against each other. Rorion chose his younger brother Royce to represent Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Royce implemented his father’s understanding of the art by defeating opponents who were much larger and stronger. Royce was the tournament winner of UFC 1, UFC 2, and UFC 4, and still holds the record for most submission wins in the UFC. Controversy and legislation later led to the reformation of the UFC, with new ownership, new rules and a new format, quite unlike anything Rorion had in mind at the start.

The Gracie family remains quite active, teaching and sharing the art of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu around the world, in academies and on the Internet.

The post The Gracie Family appeared first on John Geystons Martial Arts.

All experts lived in Israel and trained under the Israeli Krav Maga Association until 1981, when contact began between Israeli Krav Maga experts and citizen of the United States. In 1981, a group of instructors visited the United States to demonstrate their system. Soon after, interest in the art spread, and more and more people began studying the system. Krav Maga has been growing in popularity since the early 1990s with more schools opening up in a number of European countries as well as Australia and South America.

Krav Maga is designed to finish a fight as quickly as possible; therefore, techniques are aimed toward the more vulnerable parts of the body. Unlike competitive martial arts, where limits are placed on the type of techniques used or the areas of the body targeted, Krav Maga has no such limitations. Students learn to defend against all variety of attacks. Training can also cover situational awareness to develop an understanding of one’s surroundings and potentially threatening circumstances before an attack occurs.

The point of Krav Maga is to take the assailant down as quickly as possible. Some describe Krav Maga as “the art of going home alive.” Krav Maga can be utilized by men or women. One’s size and athletic ability are less relevant to someone trained in Krav Maga. It gives a person the ability to stay safe, regardless of whether the attacker is larger, stronger, more skilled, or even armed. Krav Maga teaches students to “always use the nearest tool for the job,” by using whichever limb is closest to the attacker at the time.  Krav Maga uses simple movements natural to the human body, based on instincts and reflexive reactions people already possess. This makes Krav Maga an ideal system to study for anyone needing a boost in confidence and an increased sense of security.

The post What is Krav Maga? appeared first on John Geystons Martial Arts.

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) is a martial art, competitive sport, and a self defense system that focuses on grappling and ground fighting. BJJ emerged from the Japanese martial art of Kodokan Judo – which emerged from Japanese Jujutsu – in the early 20th century. BJJ teaches that a smaller, weaker person can successfully defend against a bigger, stronger opponent by using leverage and proper technique. BJJ is used in sport tournaments, mixed martial arts (MMA) competitions, and as an effective form of self defense.

Jiu-Jitsu’s parent art of judo was separated from older systems of Japanese Jujutsu by a crucial difference also passed on to BJJ: it is not just a martial art, but also a sport, and most importantly a way of life that promotes physical fitness and character building. Jiu-Jitsu, which is Japanese for “gentle art,” originated in Japan. Practitioners of Jiu-Jitsu migrated from Japan to Brazil, where the art continued to evolve as well as grow in popularity, and consequently “Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu” (BJJ) was born.

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu emphasizes forcing an opponent to the ground in order to employ ground-based techniques and submission holds in the form of joint-locks and chokeholds. A larger, stronger opponent with a longer reach and more powerful strikes usually has an advantage. The techniques of BJJ hinder both of those physical advantages when grappling on the ground. Once on the ground, physical strength can be canceled, redirected or enhanced by an experienced BJJ practitioner who knows how to use mechanical strength rather than raw physical strength.

BJJ features a vast array of techniques to take the fight to the ground, and a number of maneuvers (and counter-maneuvers) to manipulate an opponent into position so that a submission technique may be applied. Achieving a dominant position on the ground is one of the signature characteristics of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. BJJ is, for two experienced pracitioners, much like a chess match. One person makes a move, the other analyzes that move and attempts to make the best possible move in response, and so on, until one is able to submit the other. A submission hold is the equivalent of checkmate in sport BJJ, representing a disadvantage which would be nearly impossible to overcome in a fight, such as a dislocated joint or unconsciousness.

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is a great martial art to choose, regardless of whether a person is looking to improve their health and quality of life, or a fun and challenging activity, or an excellent means of self-protection. BJJ offers it all.

The post What is BJJ? appeared first on John Geystons Martial Arts.