> Gracie Humaitá

Gracie Humaitá traces its origins to 1925, when Carlos Gracie opened the first Brazilian jiu-jitsu academy in Rio de Janeiro’s Flamengo neighborhood — the school that would eventually bear the Humaitá name after relocating to the Padre Antonio Vieira High College in the Humaitá neighborhood in 1985. The “Gracie Humaitá” designation emerged in the mid-1980s as a way to distinguish this branch of the family’s instruction from other Gracie-led schools across Rio. The academy is most associated internationally with Royler Gracie, a son of Hélio Gracie, who competed at the elite level of BJJ competition for decades before becoming a principal instructor. Royler Gracie has lived and taught in San Diego, California, extending the Gracie Humaitá name to the United States. Gracie Humaitá is one of the foundational institutions of Brazilian jiu-jitsu and represents the direct lineage from Hélio Gracie’s technical development of the art in the twentieth century. In 2025, the organization marked its centennial year.