Helio Gracie Stories - Personal Contact

 Great story about the guard pass...I was thinking last night.  Up until recently Helio taught local kids in his house jiu jitsu up in the mountians.  How amazing must that have been??? I wonder if those children realise how lucky they were. I also hope that if they dont understand it now, that people tell them when they are old enough to understand. great stories.

We were in his son's academy, wearing his name on our gi, and he was going to make sure we learned how to pass the guard before we left there that night.



That's a helluva quote. Well said, Angelo.

the oldman would sit and watch classes ,so i would sit next to him.he didnt speak english,but when the smaller guy caught the bigger guy,he would turn to me and smile,or when he see something he didnt like,he would yell out to ryron.

on 1 of those summer days we sat and watched my kid roll and the oldman would just smile,and when he caught the blue belt.he call jordan over and put 3 stripes on his belt.

i dont know what it is with cream cheese,but when he didnt have any,we didnt stop looking for it until he got it.

I had a few lessons with him back in the late 90's.... over at the Gracie Academy... It was fun... Helio was translated for by Caique.... It was a good time back then.
He had a sharp mind and was quick to point out mistakes, he stood for no nonsence on the mat but was a gent off the mat and was the first to shake your hand and embrace you... he was great to be honest.
Once we were watching him teach some of the guys on the instructors programme and he barked something in Brazilian, which I translated as "Fuck off I am trying to teach here" lol! I understood him as far as him being strict though... he was all about Jui Jitsu..... later he came up to me and patted me on the back and smiled.
Royce, Rorion and all the grand kids had the upmost respect for him.
RIP.

Good find, Shredder.

RIP

Truemanc3 - I had a few lessons with him back in the late 90's.... over at the Gracie Academy... It was fun... Helio was translated for by Caique.... It was a good time back then.
He had a sharp mind and was quick to point out mistakes, he stood for no nonsence on the mat but was a gent off the mat and was the first to shake your hand and embrace you... he was great to be honest.
Once we were watching him teach some of the guys on the instructors programme and he barked something in Brazilian, which I translated as "Fuck off I am trying to teach here" lol! I understood him as far as him being strict though... he was all about Jui Jitsu..... later he came up to me and patted me on the back and smiled.
Royce, Rorion and all the grand kids had the upmost respect for him.
RIP.




your good if you could understand caique back then.

Helio and Rorion came to Gracie Miami and taught a seminar before one of the first Gracie Cruises (about 10-12 yrs ago, I forget). Rorion was teaching the armbar from the guard. Helio sat in a chair and watched, occasionally saying things to Rorion and/or Pedro Valente, who would then occasionally translate. I had the general impression that he's kind of annoyed at how pathetic we all were.

Anyway, at one point, Helio stops the class and gets down on the mat to show us how to do the armbar from the closed guard properly. He picks one of the bigger/stronger white belts in the class. (You have to remember that back in the day, we were all white/blue belts; it was a big deal to even meet a purple belt on the east coast back then). This guy was at least 210 and a little hot-headed, but not really a bad guy. I don't remember his name, but I think it might have been Miguel.

For some reason, while Helio was showing the move (with Rorion translating) Miguel gets the bright idea to try to pull his arm out and escape. I don't know if he was trying to be funny with Helio or what. All I know is that it was a bad mistake. As Miguel starts to stand up and pull out his arm, Helio slaps on the fastest, tightest armbar that i think i've seen to this day. We all hear the arm snap and Miguel kind of cries out.

Helio gets up and the guy is still on the mat holding his arm. The entire class is sitting there in shock. Helio stands up, pats the guy on the back, and then says something to Rorion as he walks back over to his chair, sits down and folds his arms. Rorion nods, then turns to us and says: "My father says that, unfortunately, Miguel snapped his own arm by trying to escape the armbar improperly and with such force. Everyone should be careful when training the armbar."

We all sat there in shock for a few seconds, and then return to training. I don't know about anyone else, but I tried my best to perform every technique from then on perfectly and not piss Helio off. Later that night, I'm proud to say that Helio presided over promotions at Gracie Miami and handed me my blue belt.

It was a great honor to meet and learn a little bit from Helio Grace. It was an even greater honor to watch him punk some guy that attempted to disrespect the Old Man. Helio was old school in every sense of the word. He didn't take any shit from anyone. It didn't matter if you were a black belt or never trained a day of jiu jitsu in your life. He lived and breathed jiu jitsu.

I don't care what you train. Right now, get down on your knees and give thanks that you were lucky enough to walk this earth at the same time as Helio Gracie. Without Helio, there wouldn't be a UFC. There wouldn't be this forum. We all still be sitting around watching Bruce Lee movies (which I love, don't get me wrong) and perfecting our one-inch punches.

Great story, Famine! Bad, bad move trying to show up the old man. If you wonder why and how Jujitsu became so "street", it was because of Helio. He's the guy who insisted on absolute reality with his art. That intensity carries forward to this day.

There's a reason why we're not doing katas anymore, imagining that they're training us for ultimate combat.

12 - the oldman would sit and watch classes ,so i would sit next to him.he didnt speak english,but when the smaller guy caught the bigger guy,he would turn to me and smile,or when he see something he didnt like,he would yell out to ryron.

on 1 of those summer days we sat and watched my kid roll and the oldman would just smile,and when he caught the blue belt.he call jordan over and put 3 stripes on his belt.

i dont know what it is with cream cheese,but when he didnt have any,we didnt stop looking for it until he got it.


That's pretty cool that you got to pal around with Helio...

A friend I just met out in California at the Gracie academy introduced me to Rorion about a week before Helio's death, and the same friend urged me to buy a Helio shirt that same day.

I'm very thankful for that ;)

Double post

TRIPLE post!

TheClips - 
12 - the oldman would sit and watch classes ,so i would sit next to him.he didnt speak english,but when the smaller guy caught the bigger guy,he would turn to me and smile,or when he see something he didnt like,he would yell out to ryron.

on 1 of those summer days we sat and watched my kid roll and the oldman would just smile,and when he caught the blue belt.he call jordan over and put 3 stripes on his belt.

i dont know what it is with cream cheese,but when he didnt have any,we didnt stop looking for it until he got it.


That's pretty cool that you got to pal around with Helio...

A friend I just met out in California at the Gracie academy introduced me to Rorion about a week before Helio's death, and the same friend urged me to buy a Helio shirt that same day.

I'm very thankful for that ;)




how did it go in west hollywoood ?

TTT for more stories - this is great.

ttt

 ttt for a cool throwback read

Anyone else have any Helio stories???

JacT

great thread

awesome!

For later Phone Post