Not necessarily just Helio, but the Gracie family did three things that made jiu jitsu what it is today.
1) Focus on newaza.
Carlos Gracie studied with Maeda for about "3 years with interruptions" (BJJ Heroes). This isn't really a ton of time to practice tachi-waza, but someone can get pretty decent newaza since it's quite a bit slower and in my opinion easier to apply right away. Some of the evidence of this is their preferred takedowns in early Vale Tudo and NHB matches.
Therefore the Gracies focused the majority of their energy on practicing newaza and developing a system of fighting (not self-defense) based around these limitations.
2)Spread of Jiu Jitsu in Brazil.
The Gracies fought hard (literally and figuratively) to make sure their brand was valued above all other martial arts (including other brands of jiu jitsu) in Brazil.
Take, for example, the 1951 challenge between Fadda's students and Helio's students. Fadda's students won primarily using leglocks (as the story goes, in fact one of the main wins of a Fadda student over a Helio student was by choke). Instead of Fadda's lineage gaining primacy from this victory, the Gracie Academy redefined the terms of victory (not uncommon) and suggested they only won due to dirty techniques (técnica de suburbano).
But by spreading their peculiar take on the art jiu jitsu evolved without the restrictions of formality it had in Japan in the creative, informal environs of Rio. Add this to the focus on Newaza and it led to developments in the guard the surpass any other form of grappling, in my opinion. This is the primary gift of jiu jitsu to the world.
3) Marketing.
This is something that Carlos and Helio both contributed to greatly, as did their progeny, but it does seem that this is one of Helio's largest innovations when it comes to jiu jitsu.
The entire myth of how Gracie jiu jitsu developed is evidence of this, as are the challenge matches and early Vale Tudo, all the way up to the creation of the UFC and even Metamoris.
I'm not saying that's a bad thing. If they didn't have the Gracie Challenge, the Vale Tudo matches and the UFC, most of us would never have heard of BJJ and my life wouldn't be as rich as it is with BJJ in it.
"for the record...bj penn trained with ralph"
thats a lie,i just read it on the fadda page.
Ground techniques are only about 30% of GJJ.
JoejitsuMD, you get voted up for the Tombstone quote on page 1. 
How would knowing what Fadda did tell anyone what Helio specifically contributed?
Wouldn't one also have to figure out what Oswaldo, Gastao, Jr. and George contributed?
I don't know how much if any footage there is of those guys fighting, but that might answer some questions. George fought a lot, but from all reports Helio hated him and helio was never one to give credit to others. So if , say, George came up with certain things, it's unlikely we would know.
12 - "for the record...bj penn trained with ralph"
thats a lie,i just read it on the fadda page.
BJ did train with Ralph up until purple I think,then switched to Pedaneiras.
Markus Barrett -pheonix5 - ^ It was a specific challenge to Helio's Academy.
http://www.faddajiujitsu.com/history/
yea...thats a good story. so, how many n.h.b. fights did faddha have? iin the 50/s? (just curious)
Exactly. We know Helio's school trained for no rules Vale Tudo, haven't heard much, if any, of Fadda's school. And this is one thing the Gracies can say they developed. A functional fighting style that could give a smaller weaker person a chance against a bigger stronger aggressor in a no rules fight.
What Helio developed was a guard that could protect a smaller person in a real fight and win from his back. The old Kosen I've seen, did nearly all submissions from an open guard,even doing a Kimura from the back to a guy in full side mount,which would be considered ludicrous nowadays.
If anyone wants to know specifically what Helio contributed that made a difference, and is recognized by the rest of the Gracie family, is his development of the guard for NHB.
pheonix5 -Markus Barrett -pheonix5 - ^ It was a specific challenge to Helio's Academy.
http://www.faddajiujitsu.com/history/<br /> <p> <span class="User-330534" id="userPost48596712"><span class="User-319316" id="userPost48587911">yea...thats a good story. so, how many n.h.b. fights did faddha have? iin the 50/s? (just curious)</span></span></p> <p> <span class="User-330534" id="userPost48596712"><span class="User-319316" id="userPost48587911"> </span></span></p> </blockquote> <br /> <span class="User-330534" id="userPost48596712">Exactly. We know Helio's school trained for no rules Vale Tudo, haven't heard much, if any, of Fadda's school. And this is one thing the Gracies can say they developed. A functional fighting style that could give a smaller weaker person a chance against a bigger stronger aggressor in a no rules fight.<br /> <br /> What Helio developed was a guard that could protect a smaller person in a real fight and win from his back. The old Kosen I've seen, did nearly all submissions from an open guard,even doing a Kimura from the back to a guy in full side mount,which would be considered ludicrous nowadays.<br /> <br /> If anyone wants to know specifically what Helio contributed that made a difference, and is recognized by the rest of the Gracie family, is his development of the guard for NHB.</span></blockquote>
So Maeda --who traveled the world doing challenge matches and was an expert in Judo-- didn't know how to use the guard in a fight? Nor the other 4 Gracie brothers who all fought Vale Tudo before Helio? NONE of them knew how to use the guard in fighting??? You really believe that, that just Helio --all alone-- invented how to use the Guard in Challenge Matches?
shen -pheonix5 -Markus Barrett -pheonix5 - ^ It was a specific challenge to Helio's Academy.
http://www.faddajiujitsu.com/history/<br /> <p> <span class="User-330534" id="userPost48596712"><span class="User-319316" id="userPost48587911">yea...thats a good story. so, how many n.h.b. fights did faddha have? iin the 50/s? (just curious)</span></span></p> <p> <span class="User-330534" id="userPost48596712"><span class="User-319316" id="userPost48587911"> </span></span></p> </blockquote> <br /> <span class="User-330534" id="userPost48596712">Exactly. We know Helio's school trained for no rules Vale Tudo, haven't heard much, if any, of Fadda's school. And this is one thing the Gracies can say they developed. A functional fighting style that could give a smaller weaker person a chance against a bigger stronger aggressor in a no rules fight.<br /> <br /> What Helio developed was a guard that could protect a smaller person in a real fight and win from his back. The old Kosen I've seen, did nearly all submissions from an open guard,even doing a Kimura from the back to a guy in full side mount,which would be considered ludicrous nowadays.<br /> <br /> If anyone wants to know specifically what Helio contributed that made a difference, and is recognized by the rest of the Gracie family, is his development of the guard for NHB.</span></blockquote>
So Maeda --who traveled the world doing challenge matches and was an expert in Judo-- didn't know how to use the guard in a fight? Nor the other 4 Gracie brothers who all fought Vale Tudo before Helio? NONE of them knew how to use the guard in fighting??? You really believe that, that just Helio --all alone-- invented how to use the Guard in Challenge Matches?
Invented,no. Improved and made more efficient,yes. Renzo said Helio's biggest contribution was his development,notice I didn't say invention, of the guard. So argue with him.
pheonix5 - Invented,no. Improved and made more efficient,yes. Renzo said Helio's biggest contribution was his development,notice I didn't say invention, of the guard. So argue with him.
He also claims in his book that Gracie jiu jitu is descended from Fusen Ryu rather than Judo and that they share a fight strategy. There is little evidence of this and a preponderance of evidence that GJJ came from Judo. That's why you have to look outside of the Gracie family to verify stuff if you want factual information about the history of BJJ --there's just WAY too much marketing spin in the Gracie family version of history.
Fusen Ruy jujustu is the art Kosen Judo was derived from. Kosen is the Judo that put more emphasis on ne-waza (ground work)compared to Kodokan. The story goes that Fusen Ruy challenged Kano (founder of Kodokan). While Kano put more emphasis on stand up and throws,Fusen Ryu put more emphasis on ground work. The Fuse Ryu school defeated Kodokan because of it's emphasis on groundwork. Realizing this, Kano added Fusen to his Kodokan. As Kano's Kodokan was more popular, after adding Fusen Ruy Jujutsu to Kodokan it was then referred to as a Kosen Judo. So you can say essentially that Kosen Judo,the Judo Renzo is referring to, is not the Kodokan most people would think he was referring to. Maeda is the result of that meshing of the two styles and since he was from the Kodokan school people look at it as just Judo. The Judo we see in the Olympics. Maeda's Kodokan was very different compared to the sport version of Kodokan.
+1 shen
Creation mythology is great way to describe BJJ history, particularly the Helio and GJJ origin mythologies. So much over statement, obfuscation and confusion, we may never have a good sense of an accurate history here. Its a shame as it is fascinating.
Napolean said history is commonly agreed upon fables which seem relevant here, too.
Helio clearly had a big role in developing BJJ as did others like Carlos and Carlson. It seems almost impossible to separate out their individual contrabutions.
Interestingly, watch Carlson's old vale tudo fights from the 1950s and you will see he was already going another direction than Helio - aggressive top game, striking, throws.... and Carlson was probably first Gracie to fight/develop no gi in ring. Carlson's style over 50 years ago looks more like modern MMA than Helio, Royce or even Rickson.
pheonix5 - Fusen Ruy jujustu is the art Kosen Judo was derived from. Kosen is the Judo that put more emphasis on ne-waza (ground work)compared to Kodokan. The story goes that Fusen Ruy challenged Kano (founder of Kodokan). While Kano put more emphasis on stand up and throws,Fusen Ryu put more emphasis on ground work. The Fuse Ryu school defeated Kodokan because of it's emphasis on groundwork. Realizing this, Kano added Fusen to his Kodokan. As Kano's Kodokan was more popular, after adding Fusen Ruy Jujutsu to Kodokan it was then referred to as a Kosen Judo. So you can say essentially that Kosen Judo,the Judo Renzo is referring to, is not the Kodokan most people would think he was referring to. Maeda is the result of that meshing of the two styles and since he was from the Kodokan school people look at it as just Judo. The Judo we see in the Olympics. Maeda's Kodokan was very different compared to the sport version of Kodokan.Are you sure? It is my understanding that kosen means college. So, it was just judo with a focus on newaza in several Japanese universities.
I think the split in judo "styles" came with ww2. The judo the gracies learned was pre ww2. After the American occupation of japan, there was an attempt to demartialize Japanese culture. A shift to a more sport-centric judo would make sense.
^ True. Carlson preferred a more aggressive game as he believed fighting from your back is the last place you want to be. Also too,his style required a person to be athletic and build or possess attributes like speed and explosiveness. Mario Sperry and Ricardo Arona are very good examples.
Horus2001 -pheonix5 - Fusen Ruy jujustu is the art Kosen Judo was derived from. Kosen is the Judo that put more emphasis on ne-waza (ground work)compared to Kodokan. The story goes that Fusen Ruy challenged Kano (founder of Kodokan). While Kano put more emphasis on stand up and throws,Fusen Ryu put more emphasis on ground work. The Fuse Ryu school defeated Kodokan because of it's emphasis on groundwork. Realizing this, Kano added Fusen to his Kodokan. As Kano's Kodokan was more popular, after adding Fusen Ruy Jujutsu to Kodokan it was then referred to as a Kosen Judo. So you can say essentially that Kosen Judo,the Judo Renzo is referring to, is not the Kodokan most people would think he was referring to. Maeda is the result of that meshing of the two styles and since he was from the Kodokan school people look at it as just Judo. The Judo we see in the Olympics. Maeda's Kodokan was very different compared to the sport version of Kodokan.Are you sure? It is my understanding that kosen means college. So, it was just judo with a focus on newaza in several Japanese universities.
I think the split in judo "styles" came with ww2. The judo the gracies learned was pre ww2. After the American occupation of japan, there was an attempt to demartialize Japanese culture. A shift to a more sport-centric judo would make sense.
Looks like you're right
"KOSEN JUDO is a form of judo adopted by the major high schools and technical schools during the Meiji Era (1868 – 1914).The roots of Kosen Judo lie in two schools of Jujutsu: The Fusen-Ryu Jujutsu and, not surprisingly, Jigoro Kano´s own ryu (school), which was named Judo and spread worldwide.
Fusen-Ryu Jujutsu was founded by Takeda Motsuge, in the early 1800s.By the end of the 19th century, another school of Jujutsu was getting prominence beating several older schools in consecutive matches. This school was founded by Jigoro Kano and was called Kodokan Judo.
Mataemon Tanabe, the then Fusen-Ryu master, challenged Kano school and his students won every match. Much to Kano´s surprise, they did not attempt throwing techniques, but rather went straight to the ground and applied Ne-Waza (ground techniques) submissions as arm-locks, leg-locks, pins and chokes. Kano, being very open-minded, was so fascinated by the Fusen-Ryu effectiveness, that he persuaded Tanabe to teach Kodokan students the concepts of his ryu´s strategy.
The Ne-Waza component however became a major part of Judo influencing its development greatly. Among these early students were prominent to be Kodokan judokas by the likes of Yoshiaki Yamashita, Hirata Kanae, Tsunejiro Tomita, Sakujiro Yokoyama and Mitsuyo Maeda.
pheonix5 - ^ True. Carlson preferred a more aggressive game as he believed fighting from your back is the last place you want to be. Also too,his style required a person to be athletic and build or possess attributes like speed and explosiveness. Mario Sperry and Ricardo Arona are very good examples.
First sentence is true. Second sentence not so much. Although many of Carlson's students are or were great athletes, I wouldn't say as a whole that the Carlson Gracie Team is any more athletic than any other team.
Yeah I think guys like Sperry, Arona, Belfort and the like wouldn't have done as well as Royce did in the old UFCs if they played their game but had to make do with Royce's physical attributes instead of their own.
Aaron Lapointe -pheonix5 - ^ True. Carlson preferred a more aggressive game as he believed fighting from your back is the last place you want to be. Also too,his style required a person to be athletic and build or possess attributes like speed and explosiveness. Mario Sperry and Ricardo Arona are very good examples.
First sentence is true. Second sentence not so much. Although many of Carlson's students are or were great athletes, I wouldn't say as a whole that the Carlson Gracie Team is any more athletic than any other team.
Yeah, what do YOU know?
--Do you even trane bro?
pheonix5 - Fusen Ruy jujustu is the art Kosen Judo was derived from. Kosen is the Judo that put more emphasis on ne-waza (ground work)compared to Kodokan. The story goes that Fusen Ruy challenged Kano (founder of Kodokan). While Kano put more emphasis on stand up and throws,Fusen Ryu put more emphasis on ground work. The Fuse Ryu school defeated Kodokan because of it's emphasis on groundwork. Realizing this, Kano added Fusen to his Kodokan. As Kano's Kodokan was more popular, after adding Fusen Ruy Jujutsu to Kodokan it was then referred to as a Kosen Judo. So you can say essentially that Kosen Judo,the Judo Renzo is referring to, is not the Kodokan most people would think he was referring to. Maeda is the result of that meshing of the two styles and since he was from the Kodokan school people look at it as just Judo. The Judo we see in the Olympics. Maeda's Kodokan was very different compared to the sport version of Kodokan.
As mentioned, you are conflating different things and confusing different eras regarding Kosen. Maeda was of an earlier generation. Kosen & BJJ had sort of a parallel evolution.
The newaza in early Kodokan Judo comes from Kito Ryu & Tenjin Shinyo Ryu with (western) Wrestling as an additional influence. Look up Kito Ryu & Tenjinshinyo Ryu clips and you will see familiar grappling techniques, albeit in a slightly more formal (kata-style) presentation.
Look up clips of classical Fusen Ryu and you will see that it does NOT have much grappling and nothing whatsoever that looks anything like BJJ. Then check out the earliest clips of Kodokan Judo and you will see, essentially, early BJJ.
Yet, according to the Gracie Jiu Jitsu creation myth, Fusen Ryu is somehow the parent art of BJJ...? No, it's a red herring, plain & simple, because the Gracies didn't want to say their art was an off-shoot of Judo, which it was. Maeda was a Judoka. He was a product of the Kodokan.
"Koryu" ("ancient") styles like Fusen Ryu are battlefield arts and don't have "sportive" grappling techniques a la Judo. For example, such Koryu styles tend to start their techniques from a much further distance because they are assumed to be used in battle where distance is greater and the presence of weapons is assumed. These classical jiu jitsu styles also tend to have similar characteristics such as they'll pin opponents face down, not face up --again because of the "weapon mindset". In fact, the whole "Judo" style of grappling is very modern. Classical Jiu jitsu styles simply don't engage the opponent in that familiar "judo/BJJ /Sambo/ sub wrestling" type manner. They may kneel on an opponent after a quick takedown but usually not too much entanglement than more than that. They certainly don't "play guard" anything like that. True "Koryu" jiu jitsu, styles that were used by Samurai were always part of a bigger picture that involved weapons.
--and, FWIW, the Fusen Ryu beat the Kodokan with newaza because --at that time-- the Kodokan didn't practice it much, not because they had some secret newaza.
As mentioned, Fusen Ryu is still practiced in Japan. There is simply no way that the most anal, meticulous, ancestor worshiping martial culture in the history of the planet earth somehow "lost" all those grappling techniques that went into BJJ. The idea, put forth by some Gracies, is that they learned this mysterious samurai grappling of the Fusen Ryu from Maeda [which, btw, is very obviously modern era, sportive grappling (aka Judo newaza), and looks nothing like any other classical jiu jitsu style] but then --SOMEHOW-- the Fusen Ryu themselves LOST all that grappling knowledge. No one knows how it happened, it just all disappeared one day. But don't worry --the Gracie in Brazil have it!
I don't think so... It's just absurd. BJJ is an off-shoot of pre-war Judo.