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Brazilian
Jiu Jitsu
SASSOM Real Gym - Real People - Real Results |
WHY TRAIN GRACIE JIU JITSU
The growth of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu can be explained by
the sheer practicality and effectiveness of the art. Control concepts,
positioning concepts and defence concepts are passed onto the student in early
training. These concepts form the foundation for Jiu Jitsu from the beginner
right up to the most elite level.
After taking your first steps in training at a Peter de
Been Jiu Jitsu Academy a new student will notice very quickly how friendly,
approachable and helpful the other students are, for they know where you are
coming from and they also know that the fastest way for them to improve is make
you improve too. Jiu Jitsu is a great way to meet many interesting people and
make new friends along the way.
Unlike many traditional martial arts, Jiu Jitsu
techniques are not drilled religiously nor do they form the basis of the
training. Instead the uniqueness of Jiu Jitsu training lies in learning and
understanding the concepts that underpin the overall art. Jiu Jitsu techniques
can only be applied successfully with a solid understanding of leverage and
positioning concepts. The concepts then will allow a student to find a finishing
technique that can be applied. These concepts form the foundation for Jiu Jitsu
from the beginner right up to the most elite level. Training in Gracie Jiu Jitsu
will give you an underlying power, which is yours to keep for the rest of your
life.
TRAINING TIMES
Tuesday & Thursday 6:00pm - 8:00pm (6:00pm - 6:30pm
Warm Up & Revision)
Saturday 10:00am - 12:00pm (Gi or No-Gi Option)
Monday, Wednesday, Friday 9:00am - 10:30am (Open Mat
& Gi or No-Gi Option)
TRAINING COSTS - First Training Session is Free
Two Sessions per Week
$80.00 per month - Direct Debit on a 6-month contract
$110.00 per month - Direct Debit No Contract
Unlimited Sessions per week
$100.00 per month - Direct Debit on a 6-month contract
$130.00 per month - Direct Debit No Contract
Casual Rates
$17.00 per session casual
GRACIE BRAZILIAN JIU JITSU
The development of Gracie Jiu Jitsu owes
its legacy to the unlikely relationship between Mitsuyo Maeda, the Japanese Jiu
Jitsu champion and the Gracie family of Brazil. In the early 1900s Maeda
immigrated to Brazil and Gastão Gracie, a politician of Scottish descent,
assisted him. As a way of thanks Maeda taught Jiu Jitsu techniques to Gastão’s
oldest son, Carlos Gracie. This was about 1918. Carlos in turn taught his
brothers, including Helio, who would later have a major influence over the
development of the art. The first Gracie Jiu Jitsu Academy was opened in 1925.
Over the years the style of Gracie Jiu Jitsu has been
modified to become a more efficient and complete art, and has developed through
the emphasis on effective leverage and technique over brute strength. It is in
essence a grappling style, which is highly effective due to its use of ground
grappling submission techniques such as chokes and joint locks.
Since the 1950s the Gracie family has become known for
the ongoing development of this unique style, which has become more widely known
as Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Through a series of deliberate challenges to other
fighting arts, the style of Gracie Jiu Jitsu has continually proven itself to be
very effective. It has grown substantially in popularity since the international
exposure it received following the success of Royce Gracie in the Ultimate
Fighting Championships, held in the United States in the early 1990s. In the
past decade it has grown phenomenally and Gracie Jiu Jitsu is now practiced
widely in Australia, the United States and Europe.
Although a traditional style, Gracie Jiu Jitsu
continues to evolve and refine its techniques. It is both a method of
self-defence and an ever increasingly popular sport. Because of its focus on
technique over strength Gracie Jiu Jitsu is suitable to most people regardless
of their gender, age or physical ability.
THE BARRA GRACIE ACADEMY
The famous Barra Gracie Academy is located in the
suburb of Barra da Tijuca, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The story of Gracie Barra is
directly related to the story of its head instructor: Master Carlos Gracie Jr.
Carlos Gracie Jr. was born into a family of fighters
that had as its leader his father, Carlos Gracie Senior, the original founder of
the fighting style now known word-wide as Gracie Jiu Jitsu. In his
father’s academy in downtown Rio, Carlos Jnr. (Carlinos) started his training
in Gracie Jiu Jitsu with his uncle, Hélio Gracie. Soon Carlos Jnr. started as
an instructor, and finally as a teacher. At that point the main teachers at the
academy were his brother Rolls and his cousin Rorion. When Rorion decided to
move to the United States and Rolls set up a new Gracie Jiu Jitsu academy in
Copacabana with his older brother Carlson Gracie, ‘Carlinos’ was called upon
to take over the academy with his cousin Rickson. He stayed there for
approximately two years, and after that went to college to study nutrition.
Since he was living in Copacabana while he studied, Carlos decided to assist his
brother Rolls at the Copacabana Gracie Jiu Jitsu academy.
In 1982 Rolls Gracie (the family champion) tragically
died in a paragliding accident. After a period of mourning Carlos Jnr. accepted
an invitation to take over the Copacabana academy. He taught there for four more
years before deciding to move the Gracie Jiu Jitsu academy to Barra da Tijuca.
That is where the name Gracie Barra Academy came from - it was an academy
started to promote the “Gracies of Barra.” As well as being the head coach
of Barra Gracie Academy, Carlos Gracie Jnr. is also the founder and President of
the International Federation of Brasilian Jiu Jitsu (CBJJ). He oversees the
Mundial (World Championship) and the Pan American titles.
The main instructor at Gracie Barra now is multiple
World Champion and Pan American Champion: Marcio Feitosa. The Barra academy has
produced many outstanding Gracie Jiu Jitsu athletes and is considered to be the
most successful Gracie Jiu Jitsu academy in competition. It is also the home
academy of Australia’s Gracie Jiu Jitsu black belt instructor Peter de Been.
PETER dE BEEN - A BRIEF HISTORY
Whilst it was the unforgettable images of Royce Gracie
easily despatching his much larger opponents in the original version of the
Ultimate Fighting Championships in 1993, that sent many traditional martial
artists on a sudden quest to learn and incorporate the “new” Brazilian style
of Gracie Jiu Jitsu ground-fighting into their training; Peter de Been’s
discovery of the practical and realistic art had well and truly pre-dated this
event. In fact it was while Peter was on a training trip with fellow Australian
martial artist, John Will, between late 1990 and early ‘91, that he was first
exposed to the ‘unpolished gem’ that is Gracie Jiu Jitsu. Pete recognized
immediately that in Gracie Jiu Jitsu he had finally found his true calling as a
martial artist.
AUSTRALIA’S FIRST GRACIE JIU JITSU
BLACK BELT
It was after an eventful Pan Am’s in Florida in 1999,
that Pete reached an important goal when he was awarded his Gracie Jiu Jitsu
black belt by coach and mentor Carlos. This made him the first, and to date,
only Australian ever to train and be graded to the coveted rank of black belt in
Brazil. In fact for a long time Pete was the only ‘gringo’ (non-Brazilian)
training Gracie Jiu Jitsu regularly at Barra, until around 1994-95 when some
Americans began to make the pilgrimage to Brazil to learn the art of Gracie Jiu
Jitsu.
GRACIE JIU JITSU IN AUSTRALIA
With Carlos Gracie’s approval Pete was able to open
the first Gracie Barra academy in Australia. He established a small club in his
hometown of Torquay, which at that time made it only the 14th Gracie Jiu Jitsu
academy in the world - a rare honour. As the popularity for Gracie Jiu Jitsu
training grew, the need for a Melbourne based club became apparent. Peter
started a second Gracie Jiu Jitsu academy in Highett, but in 1996 moved the club
to 179 Barkly Street in the fashionable inner Melbourne suburb of St. Kilda
Beach, where it is presently located.
With his loyalty and connections to the Gracie Barra
family firmly established, Pete became an active member of the Barra competition
team in 1995. He has since competed in seven Pan American and six World
Championship events to date. His competition record is impressive and includes:
a Pan American silver medal in 1996, Pan American Masters gold and a World
Championship 5th place in 1997. In 1998 and again in 1999 he won bronze at the
Pan Americans. At the 2000 World Masters Championship he received silver, and in
2001 another Pan American bronze medal. In 2003 he finished with a 5th place in
the World Championships after retiring with illness, and in 2004 he became an
International Super Fight Champion after winning a professional challenge match
in Sao Paulo, Brazil.