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February 10, 1995

Gracie Jiu-Jitsu

Jiu-Jitsu champion is model of hard work

Former Brazilian champion Valente now sophomore at UM

Hard work. Determination. Perseverance.

For most people, those words are just catch phrases, words by which they would like to live, but don’t.

Pedro Valente, a sophomore business major from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, has worked hard all his life at a martial art called Gracie Jiu-Jitsu – so hard that he was once a Brazilian National Champion in the style. Currently, he is one of only a handful certified Gracie Jiu-Jitsu teachers in the United States.

“My grandfather practiced and my father is a black belt, “Valente said. “It is a family thing. I’ve been doing it since I was three.”

Gracie Jiu-Jitsu was founded by Helio Gracie in Rio de Janeiro more then 60 years ago. Helio was introduced to Japanese Jiu-Jitsu, then developed his own techniques for self-defense that are recognized today as the most humane and effective self-defense methods in the world. So effective are the techniques that no one from any other discipline has defeated an experienced Gracie Jiu-Jitsu fighter. Not a kick boxer nor a karate expert nor a sumo wrestler. Nobody.

Effective Technique

 “It is not just the fighter that makes the system undefeated, nor is it just the Gracie family”, Valente said. “It is the technique that makes the Gracie method so effective.”

Unlike most forms of martial arts, the Gracie Jiu-Jitsu method does not rely on brutal ground strikes and kicks to be effective.

Rather, it focuses on ground grappling and submission holds, allowing opponents to give up before any physical harm is inflicted.

Even though Pedro Valente respects other martial arts, he is quick to point out the major difference.

“Many of the martial arts address punching and kicking,” Valente said. “For the movies, that is pretty. But, realistically, most of the fights go to the ground. And Gracie Jiu-Jitsu is the only art that effectively addresses ground fighting.”

And it is not size or strength that matters in this discipline, rather, it is technique. It has been called the perfect form of self-defense for women and men of all sizes.

Valente is proof of that. His is not an extremely big guy, standing six feet tall, weighing 174 pounds, but he knows the Gracie method well, mainly because he learned directly from the Gracie family.

Gracie Jiu-Jitsu is very popular in Brazil, as is the entire Gracie family. Royce Gracie, one of the 40 Gracie family members who practices the discipline, is the current champion of the annual Ultimate Fighting Championship, a tournament of battles with no rules, like the one portrayed in the movie Blood Sport.

 Starting to catch on

But Gracie Jiu-Jitsu is starting to catch on in America. The Gracie’s operate schools in California and Hawaii, and Valente is hoping to spread the style to south Florida. He, with the assistance of several members of the Gracie family, are petitioning the University to begin a Gracie Jiu-Jitsu club.

“Sometimes I where a Gracie shirt around campus and people see it and recognize the name,” Valente said. “A lot of people come up to me and ask about it, so there is a definite interest in it.”

“ It is hard to break the mentality that the martial arts are like Bruce Lee, a lot of punching and kicking. I’d like to change that mentality by teaching our method.”

Valente certainly has proven his ability to teach the discipline. He is well respected by his peers and his teachers.

“To be certified to teach Gracie Jiu-Jitsu, we are not looking for just some athlete,” said Rorion Gracie, the head of the Gracie Academy in Torrence, California, and the man who brought his family’s discipline to the US. “The person has to have the moral attitude, must be able to maintain the characteristics of the techniques, and have the integrity to perform. Pedro is very qualified in our eyes to do that.”

Rorion has been instrumental in Pedro’s attempt to install a Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Club. He has contacted officials at Campus Sports and Recreation personally, in hopes of disseminating the techniques that have made his family world-renowned.

 As for Valente, fighting is important, but it takes a back seat to the real reason he is in Miami.

“I’d like to teach, maybe part-time, but school definitely comes first,” Valente said.