Reylson Gracie, continuing the tradition and philosophy of his father, Carlos Gracie, founder of Gracie jiu-jitsu, has come to Las Vegas to give something to people that money cannot buy. Grandmaster Reylson Gracie, the highest authority teaching Gracie jiu-jitsu in the United States, has come here to extend his vast knowledge, experiences, and philosophy. Grandmaster Reylson Gracie is world renowned for his unique self-defense program and teaching style, whose intent is to help people win in life.
From a very young age, Reylson Gracie was recognized by his father to be a true Master of this art. At 4 years old he began to learn jiu-jitsu. When he was only 14 years old, he began to teach the Gracie jiu-jitsu System to his father's students. From the beginning he so excelled at teaching one-on-one lessons that at 17 years old he was the youngest family member certified as a Black Belt Master Instructor.
Over the next few of years, he had mastered his skills to the extent that he began to find ways to improve this amazing system even more and designed his own program. At 20 years old Reylson Gracie was the first of Carlos' 11 sons to open his own school. He established the Reylson Gracie jiu-jitsu Academy in 1963. His school was one of the largest Gracie jiu-jitsu School in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. At 37 years old, Reylson Gracie received one of the highest honors in the martial arts profession. . . the title of Grandmaster. He was and still is the youngest member in the history of the Gracie family to uphold this position and title.
Grandmaster Reylson Gracie has come to Las Vegas to help change the general public’s conception of Gracie Jiu-Jitsu. Most people know Gracie Jiu-Jitsu only by what they have seen or heard about televised fighting , books, and tapes. This publicity has had its positive and negative aspects. It has shown how effective this form of martial art has been against any other style. It has been said that Gracie Jiu-Jitsu is the most effective form of martial art man has invented. However, because it has been associated with the brutality of these televised , the average person will not go near our academies for fear of being challenged, intimidated, or getting themselves broken in the process of learning. People think they have to be a young man in their twenties to have the energy to “roll around and muscle each other to see who wins“. In our academy you don’t have to be in any previous physical condition, experience, size or shape to do any of the movements and techniques here. You use your mind, not your muscles to have good results.
The word Jiu-Jitsu in Japanese literally means “The Gentle Art”. Reylson Gracie’s father, Carlos Gracie was the first Brazilian to learn Japanese Jiu-Jitsu over 80 years ago, by Count Mitsuyo Maeda Koma (a friend of the crowned prince Hirohito). Over many decades following, Carlos Gracie his family members dedicated their lives, day and night, to improve Japanese Jiu-Jitsu. Now the Japanese learn from the Gracies. Carlos’s idea was to give something extraordinary to people who don’t have the physical advantages that natural athletes have. He wanted to transform “little guys into giants”. He was a man of small stature himself, and saw that even a weak person physically has an equal chance to win in life, as long as they have the confidence, to not let anyone or any situation intimidate them.
Grandmaster Reylson Gracie calls his unique system a practice in a philosophy of life based on a few principals: General Behavior Therapy, Automatic Survival Response and Self-Defense. These principals are a combination of philosophical and well as physical techniques that prepares a person's state of mind for ANY situation. To know how not to let the situation control you, but YOU stay in control of the situation. When you take control of your temper and emotions, you can think more clearly and make rational decisions. You learn how to utilize your instinctual survival response to help protect your mental and physical well being. You will automatically reject negativity from people who try to control your mind by attacking your self esteem, intimidation, manipulation, or instilling fear. When people know your weaknesses, they often use those weaknesses to control you.
Grandmaster Reylson Gracie passes to his students the ability to increase their mind power to succeed in life. He helps to increase a person's mental, physical and spiritual capacity, to have the power and confidence to always go forward in life and never backward. He is here to prepare leaders, not fighters, which is a very different conception than most people have when they think about a martial arts academy. He uses a general behavior therapy to help people to always keep their awareness at an all-time high, to stay in a superior position when someone tries to antagonize or underestimate them. Anyone can learn his unique system. It doesn't matter the person's size, shape, physical condition, race, age or gender. Physically, all the movements are so easy and gentle. It doesn't require any physical strength or previous fighting skills. You actually learn how to defend yourself against someone bigger than you by using your opponent’s power against themselves. He only teaches students one-on-one, which is the best way to learn. Because he and his team work individually with each student, they can accomplish and complete whatever is missing inside each person.
People who know Reylson Gracie, can immediately see that he is a man with a great deal of positive energy, warmth, and genuine kindness. His enthusiasm is contagious, which is why people over the years who have had contact with him say he has affected their
lives in some way. He has transformed people into the kind of person they always wanted to be. He is highly respected all over the world not only for his knowledge, but because of the way he treats everyone he comes in contact with. He definitely is not what one would expect of a man of his position and title. He is a gentleman, humble, and a friend to everyone. He has a mission here to offer his service to the community, by sharing this tremendous gift given to him by God and passed down to him by his father, the late Carlos Gracie.
- written by Christine McCabe
