![]() He recently conducted 43 seminars over 45 days on the Mainland. Now retired from competition (he ended his career undefeated after 22 years as Brazilian national champion, and a fight record of 138-0), Relson regularly travels across the world for seminars. He also has schools in China and Brazil, where he plans to build a jiu jitsu camp, and says more schools are in the works, including one opening on Kauai soon. On the Mainland, there are 40 schools spread throughout Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, Mississippi, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas and Virginia. Today, it’s hard to keep count of Relson’s students and schools, which are run by his Black Belts. By 1996, Relson outgrew his space at UH with 700 students and a waiting list of about 150, and opened the Relson Gracie Main Academy on Waialae Avenue. As Royce (who Relson coached) continued to dominate in UFC in the early 1990s, the popularity of Brazilian jiu jitsu skyrocketed. ![]() secret service, FBI, DEA, police and fire departments and military. In 1989, Relson started teaching out of his house near Kalani High School and at the University of Hawaii, where his students included people from the U.S. In 1985, at his family’s request, Relson moved to America to spread the teaching of Gracie jiu jitsu – which he firmly believes is the best form of self-defense in the world.īut it wasn’t until his time in Hawaii, and his brother Royce’s debut in UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship), that his enrollment grew exponentially. ![]() Helio, along with his brother Carlos, then founded Gracie jiu jitsu, commonly referred to as Brazilian jiu jitsu. People never hear of jiu jitsu before.”īorn and raised in Brazil, Relson (pronounced “helson”) is the second oldest son of the late Grand Master Helio Gracie, who is credited for innovating the jiu jitsu he learned from Japanese jiu jitsu champion Mitsuyo “Count Koma” Maeda. “But I come to Hawaii and I had a little problem to teach jiu jitsu because (at that time) people really don’t know jiu jitsu. “Before Hawaii, I lived in Monterey, Calif., for three years, and then my friend Carlos Valente brings me to Hawaii to teach private out of his garage in his home in Niu Valley,” recalls Gracie. The promotional ceremony takes place in the Kaiser High School gymnasium at 1 p.m., followed by Gracie’s first seminar as a Red Belt. On Saturday, the Hawaii Kai resident will be promoted from 8th Degree Red-Black Belt to Red Belt, the highest ranking in Gracie Jiu Jitsu.
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