| Carlson Gracie | |
|---|---|
| Born | August 13, 1932 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil |
| Died | February 1, 2006 (aged 73) Heart Failure |
| Nationality | Brazilian |
| Style | Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu |
| Fighting out of | Chicago, Illinois |
| Team | Carlson Gracie Team |
| Teacher(s) | Carlos Gracie, Helio Gracie |
| Rank | 9th degree red belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu |
| Notable students | Carlson Gracie Jr., Allan Goes, Murilo Bustamante, Mario Sperry, Wallid Ismail, Pablo Popovitch, Kevin Christopher, Andre Pederneiras, Ricardo Liborio, Julio "Foca" Fernandez, Marcelo Saporito Rodrigo Medeiros, Marcelo Alonso, Vitor Belfort, Miguel Angel Torres, Stephan Bonnar, Javier Vazquez, Carlos "Carlão" Santos |
| Website | http://www.carlsongraciefederation.com/ |
Carlson Gracie, Sr. (August 13, 1932 – February 1, 2006)[1][2] was a practitioner of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. He was the eldest son of Carlos Gracie, founder of the system with his uncle [3] Hélio Gracie, and learned the art from his uncle and his father. He was a member of the legendary Gracie family.
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Carlson Gracie would later split from Hélio Gracie's group. He founded one of top mixed martial arts teams, which spawned many champions. In 2000, following a financial dispute, many of Carlson Gracie's students would split from him to form another MMA team, the Brazilian Top Team, which would remain respectful to the master.
Carlson fought a total of eighteen vale tudo fights, with only one loss to Euclides Pereira in a fight that was held in Bahia. His first fight was against Capoeira practitioner Luiz "Cirandinha" Aguiar in this March 17, 1953. Carlson won after over an hour of fighting. His second match was a draw against Wilson "Passarito" Oliveira in May 1953. Carlson had a rematch in March 1954 in the longest fight of his career, which he won in the fifth 30 minute round. Most notable are his four matches with Valdemar Santana, who had defeated his uncle Hélio Gracie in a fabled match in May 1955. He beat Santana in the first fight avenging his family. In October 1955 Carlson fought Santana to a draw in a Jiu-Jitsu match. In 1956 and 1957 Carlson won two fights and in 1959 they fought to a draw.
Carlson Gracie trained many top competitors such as Allan Goes, Murilo Bustamante, Mario Sperry, Wallid Ismail, Pablo Popovitch, Kevin Christopher, Andre Pederneiras, Julio Fernandez, Ricardo Liborio, Marcus Soares, Rodrigo Medeiros, Ricardo "Rey" Diogo, Marcelo Alonso and was also responsible for introducing and mastering Vitor Belfort into Gracie Jiu-Jitsu.[4] Carlson Gracie also trained Stephan Bonnar, a finalist in the UFC reality show The Ultimate Fighter 1. He was in Bonnar's corner during his legendary fight against eventual The Ultimate Fighter winner Forrest Griffin. He is the author of a book on the subject of Jiu Jitsu titled Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu: For Experts Only, which includes his student Julio "Foca" Fernandez.[5]
The oldest son of Carlos Gracie, who founded Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in Rio de Janeiro during the 1920s, Carlson reigned as world champion for thirty years covering the '50s, '60s and '70s. During this time, he was also considered one of the preeminent teachers of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in the world; a reputation he holds to this day.
Carlson catapulted to fame at the age of 23 when he avenged the defeat of his uncle Helio Gracie. A former student of Helio's, Waldemar Santana, had defeated the much older Helio during a match in 1955. That match lasted four hours and is still the longest in modern history. Carlson's rematch with Santana in 1956 was a much shorter affair: four rounds of vicious vale-tudo combat came to draw.
Riding on his newly found fame, Carlson became the most sought-after Jiu-Jitsu instructor in Brazil. After teaching at his uncle's academy for several years, he opened his own, where over the past thirty years many of the greatest names in Jiu-Jitsu and no-holds-barred fighters have trained as members of the famed Carlson Gracie Arrebentacao Team.
Helio Gracie's academy taught only the most basic positions to outsiders, reserving the advanced positions for the family elite. Carlson opened up Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu to the masses, and the masses responded, hungry to learn everything they could. To compete for students, the other academy was forced to offer all their positions as well. This good-natured competition breathed creativity and invention into Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.
Carlson's influence on no-holds-barred fighting is extensive as well, for the style of Jiu-Jitsu he taught at his academy was distinct from that being taught by Helio. While Helio's brand of Jiu-Jitsu emphasized technical proficiency, Carlson favored a 'warrior style' of Jiu-Jitsu that encouraged physical prowess and barraging your opponent with a series of attacks.
Carlson Gracie died on February 1, 2006, in Chicago, Illinois, of heart failure, apparently the result of complications of kidney stones (and possibly his pre-existing diabetes), following a hospitalisation of several days. At the time of his death he was a ninth degree red belt and was referred to as Grandmaster. Carlson considers his proudest achievement to be the scores of students that he has instilled with his love for the sport that changed his life.
Mitsuyo "Count Koma" Maeda → Carlos Gracie, Sr. → Carlson Gracie [6] [7]
Carlson had 3 children; Rosane, Karen & Carlson Gracie Jr. and two grandchildren. Julia by Karen and Carlson, III by Carlson, Jr.[8]
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