One hundred and seven years ago to this day, the Grandmaster of our great art Helio Gracie was born. Every year since his hundredth birthday, his grandsons have held a memorial seminar and/or open mat in his honor, venturing to call it “Helio Gracie day†and welcoming anyone from around the world for a week of free training at Gracie University HQ. The result has been a multitude of various talented individuals flying in every year to Torrance to take advantage of the offer, connecting practitioners in a fashion much akin to how the Grandmaster spent his days, which was on the mat.
Unfortunately due to the Covid-19 pandemic, there is not an opportunity for the academy to host its annual Helio Gracie week. In a rare move though, the Gracie Brothers today released some intimate family footage of them training with their grandfather as yellow belts in the late 80’s. The training video, which runs over five minutes long, takes a look at Ryron, Rener, and Ralek Gracie as young children training with their then 75 year old grandfather in a candid session, discussing different moves and playing with his grandsons.
In this never before seen home footage, it is amazing to see the Grandmaster sharing the art so passionately with the next generation. Watch as we take a look in the past at some intimate family moments, helping give more color as to the passion with which he instilled his grandsons with that has carried on to this day.
