| Maurição Motta Gomes | |
|---|---|
| Born | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil |
| Residence | London, England, UK |
| Nationality | Brazilian |
| Style | Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu |
| Teacher(s) | Rolls Gracie, Carlos Gracie, Jr., Joao Alberto |
| Rank | 7th Degree black and red belt |
Maurição Motta Gomes is a practitioner of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, one of the six people (most commonly known as the "Famous Five") to have been promoted to Black Belt by the famous Rolls Gracie prior to his untimely death. He has been training and teaching Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu for over 25 years and at present holds the rank of 7th degree black and red belt.[1][2] He is the father of Roger Gracie.[1]
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At the age of four, Mauricio was taken to BJJ academies by his father before he started training with Joao Alberto. In 1977, he began training with Rolls Gracie and was awarded his black belt in 1981. He married Reila Gracie, the daughter of Carlos Gracie in 1979. He is the father of the current BJJ and ADCC World Champion Roger Gracie.[3]
In 1998 he moved to England and set up Gracie Barra UK, teaching in Birmingham and then in London, Edinburgh and Belfast.[2] He was instrumental in bringing Brazilian Jiu Jitsu to the UK and also bringing Felipe Souza, his son Roger and Braulio Estima to the UK to teach. Other Gracie Barra World Champions who subsequently came over included Carlos Lemos, Victor Estima and Lucio " Lagarto " Rodrigues. Mauricio promoted his first UK students to black belt in 2005, Jude Samuel, Rick Young and Marc Walder.[3]
Mauricio now divides his time between Brazil and the UK to teach at the Roger Gracie Academy in London.[3]
With Felipe Souza and his son Roger Gracie - Mauricio also established the first Gracie Barra Jiu Jitsu School in China in Shanghai in 2002.[4] Felipe Souza was the first Black Belt from Brazil to teach in China - for 6 weeks in 2002 and again for 4 weeks in 2004.
The Famous Five was a nickname for the black belt students of Rolls Gracie. In fact, it is a misnomer since Rolls promoted 6 men to Black Belt
Mitsuyo "Count Koma" Maeda → Carlos Gracie, Sr. → Helio Gracie → Rolls Gracie → Mauricio Motta Gomes