The Street

SPORTS GUIDE 2000 

Read it in acrobat format

Fight club

Jiu‑jitsu academy has connections to dominant family

BY NICHOLAS SPILL

No thugs, just philosophers please.

Twenty men are of dressed in white gis on the blue trials at Grade Jiu jitsu Academy in Sunny Isles Beach. Many of the men have black halts in other martial arts, but today they wear the traditional belt of the novice – white, wrapped around their waists. This is their second self‑defense lesson in a course of 27, and tile men most in their 30s and 40s – listen intently as the teacher, Pedro Valente, demonstrates how to quickly escape a neck lock.

Valente is soft‑spoken, small in stature and, of likely to inspire fear in a street fighter unless the street fighter shows how the Gracie family's version of Brazilian jiu‑jitsu has changed tire way Oil act, are practiced it, till United States

Many Brazilian jiu‑jitsu schools claim some connection to the Gracie family, but only on, the Gracie Jiu Jitsu Academy (with two locations in Sunny Isles Beach and another in South Miami‑Dade) can claim an official accreditation from Hello Gracie, father of all entire family of world‑class fighters. (To be fair to the other claimants, practically every Brazilian Jiu‑jitsu school is affiliated with the Gracie extended family.)

Tire Gracie name began gaining respect in martial arts in 1993, the yea, the Ultimate Fighting Competition (UFC) was founded. The no‑holds barred fighting competition was formed, in part, to answer the question every martial artist wanted to settle once add for all: Which fighting style was supreme? Karate, judo, Tae Kwon Do, aikido, sumo, Greco Roman wrestling, jiu jitsu, kung fu, vale tudo, muay Thai or shootwrestling? (Please note UFC and other rival submission fight leagues have been publicly banned in Florida. We only allow boxers and politicians to punch each other senseless here).

For the first three years it UFC competition one name dominated: Crude, a Brazilian family whose members practiced a unique version of Brazilian jiu jitsu. Despite the endless stream of steroid induced behemoths who could strike, punch and kick with brutal force most fights quickly moved to grappling on the canvas; once the muscular hulk as on the canvas, a thin 180 pound Brazilian by the name of Royce Gracie would Wrap his giant opponent into a submission hold. Royce was the inaugural champion of the UFC and won the first four UFC championships. Other family members ‑ Rorion, Rickson, Relson and Renzo ‑ continue

the Glace, legacy in jiu jitsu art no‑holds barred competitions.

Royce Gracie's father, Helio adopted a one‑on‑one street fighting style from a Japanese jiu jitsu grandmaster because he was too small to fight larger men by sheer force. (Helio's older brother, Carlos Gracie, 1901‑95, is acknowledged as the founder of Brazilian jiu‑jitsu) Now 85 and a legend in Brazil, Helio Grade still teaches and has been responsible for challenging traditional style, to incorporate simple and effective ground grappling techniques that have proven extremely effective against larger and stronger opponents.
 

What makes the Gracie style so effective and why did the Gracie family win so many fights against such deadly opponents? Looking back there doesn't seem to be such a mystery to the answer. Unless there is a quick knockout, most fights wind up on the ground where a superior striker or a kicker may be at a disadvantage against a smaller Gracie jiu jitsu expert. The bigger fighter may tire or be unable to maneuver into a dominant position, while the smaller grappler can use his specific techniques to lock a once aggressive opponent into a submission hold. No one gets hurt. The little guy wins.

The Gracies proved this over and over in UFC fights until big get brawlers started learning in jitsu grappling and ground techniques. Now practically every fighting school incorpo‑ rates some elements of Grade jiu‑jitsu into their regime.

In Valente's class, the inciter to, demonstrates how leverage, simple techniques and strategic positioning can beat strength, It's apparent that this class is not full of wannabe warriors or street punks; rather, the men are, doctors, lawyers and law enforcement officers and other professionals.

Andrew Garcia, an executive at a Miami publishing house, has taught and studied Chinese martial arts for over 25 years, "Let's just say the older styles of karate and Kung fu seemed to attract this more non-mainstream personality. “ confides Garcia, who collect, 14th and 15th Century armor. "Fighters in jiu‑jitsu are more intellectual …It's like chess. Jiu‑jitsu has created more effective fighting techniques."

Garcia has practiced Gracie jiu jitsu four to five times a week for the past six years. "The old styles didn't work," he observes. "This does.  Now you have teens that at property, who have enormous strength front weight‑lifting and use or abuse powerful supplements How can you fight against them? Jiu‑jitsu is the only style that can handle them."

At a little over five feet, Cornelius Drane, a lieutenant in the Miami Police Department, may appear too small to tackle the larger criminals he encounters, but there is no doubting his presence and confidence up close. "I've been doing this far three years and use these unique, ,, tire street all ill, time," he says. "Jiu jitsu is not about the use of force; it's about neutralizing the aggressor through grappling and joint manipulation. I get a high degree of compliance with these techniques. It calms down the assailant.”

There might be same irony here, watching Drane in action a, the mat, but when asked if he would prefer to use OC pepper spray or his baton in more dangerous situations, Drane is confident that a combination o physical jiu‑jitsu and verbal judo will restrain the most aggressive antagonist. He refers to chess again and adds: "I don't want to spray someone in a crowd or use a baton, which might incite more violence from onlookers.  I can use these techniques to control the subject and calm him down.”

And why is an orthopedic surgeon who specializes in spinal reconstruction throwing people onto a mat and practicing lighting fast join manipulations?  Gaetano Scuderi, who grew up in the Bronx, and survived over 100 fights, simply says, “I’ve been practing the martial arts since I was 13 years old. It’s a way of life”.

Scuderi, now in his late 30s, has black belts in practically every martial art, but here the wears a lowly blue belt with pride. There are only five belts in Gracie Jiu-Jitsu: white, blue, purple, brown and black, and it takes years and years to attain a black belt. There are no kata, no forms to learn, only techniques and lots of fights to win.

“The Gracie School is a complete system of self-defense; one-on-one street fighting where a small , weak fighter without using sparring or striking – can defeat a larger stronger opponent.” Valente declares. “This isn’t a sport. Other styles – and I would never put down any martial arts school – might emphasize competitions, but we put our techniques to the test.”

On the mat, Scuderi and Drane grapple with each other, perfecting another lightning fast technique. They are quiet and serious, almost to the point where they could be playing chess, only with their entire bodies.

Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Academy, 17070 Collins Ave, Sunny Isles Beach, (305) 354 – 2060;