The origins of Brazilian/Gracie Jiu Jitsu can be traced to the early 1900’s, when a Japanese man named Mitsuya Maeda moved to Brazil, and along with the Japanese government attempted to form a colony in Brazil. Meada, also known as Count Koma, befriended Gastao Gracie. Gracie, who was a Brazilian political figure, eventually helped Koma form this colony. The Count, who was forever grateful to Gastao Gracie, offered to teach Gastao’s son Carlos the secret and effective martial art Jiu Jitsu.
Carlos Gracie trained with Count Koma from the time he was fifteen until he was in his twenties. After teaching Carlos many secrets of this ancient martial art, Koma returned to Japan, leaving Carlos alone to train and develop Jiu Jitsu in a way that would otherwise be prohibited by the more traditional Japanese martial artists. Carlos, along with his younger brother Helio, removed techniques that they believed ineffective for real life combat, and replaced them with more effective useful and comprehensive moves. Since both Gracie brothers were small in stature, they’re Jiu Jitsu began to rely more on positioning, and leverage than size and strength.
The Gracie brothers began to test their martial art on the mean streets of Rio de Janeiro. Realizing and discovering that most real life fighting situations result in the combatants both rolling around on the ground; the Gracies concentrated their Jiu Jitsu on ground fighting. Applying submission holds, joint manipulation, chokes and many other ground fighting techniques, Carlos and Helio Gracie developed the most street effective martial art to date.
Carlos and Helio both had many children (Helio nine, Carlos twenty one). All the children were born into a world of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, and thus all learned the fighting art, and eventually most would fight competitively, and teach Jiu Jitsu. These factors helped make BJJ the worlds fastest growing self-defense/martial art system to date.
People that choose to train at Codella’s Academy have a special and direct connection to the famous proud Gracie lineage. Mike Codella has been a student of World Champion Renzo Gracie since the mid 1990’s. Renzo, who grew up in Rio de Janeiro Brazil, is the son of Robson Gracie, and the grandson of Carlos Gracie. Renzo credits his amazing Jiu Jitsu skills to his father, his uncle Professor Helio Gracie, and his Uncle Carlinhos (Carlos’s son). People who train at Codella’s Academy learn the art formed some seventy-five years ago, and perfected and refined by World Champion Renzo Gracie.
