Hélio Gracie

Hélio Gracie (1913 to 2009) was a Brazilian martial artist who, together with his brothers Carlos, Oswaldo, Gastão Jr and George, founded and developed Gracie jiu-jitsu, also known as Brazilian jiu-jitsu. Born in Belém, he trained and competed in rowing and swimming as a boy before learning judo with his brothers and adapting Mitsuyo Maeda's ground-fighting approach into a method that let smaller, weaker practitioners defeat larger opponents. Known as the godfather of Brazilian jiu-jitsu, he was named Man of the Year in 1997 by Black Belt magazine, was inducted into the Martial Arts History Museum Hall of Fame in 2001, and was the patriarch of a family whose members built careers in combat sport and mixed martial arts.