Marco teen into Jiujitsu form

Rob Popoff / Eagle i contributor

Natalie and Paulo Ribeiro, Gracie Barra Jiujitsu intsurctors, with students Rob Popoff and son Alex.

Brazilian Jiujitsu, or BJJ, is a ground fighting system that has quickly popularized worldwide since its start in 1914 when Mitsuyo Maeda traveled to Brazil.

Mitsuyo was an expert of several martial arts and was sent from Japan overseas to teach his martial arts. When Mitsuyo landed in Brazil he was teaching his martial arts and that is when members of the Gracie family became interested.

Gastao Gracie, a businessman, allowed Mitsuyo to perform a seminar-type demonstration showing various precursors to Brazilian Jiujitsu, such as Japanese Jiujitsu, which is for the most part modern day Judo. Gastao brought his two sons to this martial arts seminar and they were both very interested. His older son, Carlos Gracie, was immediately interested and became a student of Mitsuyo. But, in the end, it was his younger brother Helio Gracie who is widely credited as the founder of Brazilian Jiujitsu.

Carlos and Helio began teaching this art and relocated to Rio De Janeiro, the true home of BJJ. In my opinion BJJ is the most complete martial art to this date. Although BJJ teaches strikes, there is no need to strike, no need to injure your opponent, it is a “smart” form of fighting. The way to submit your opponent is simple; make them tap-out either verbally or physically, tapping you or the matt. The way to make your opponent tap is by way of submission, whether it is an arm bar, kimura, triangle choke, knee bar, etc., all of which are without strikes and do not require a lot of strength. These techniques are based on speed and intelligence. A submission is either a choke, strangle, joint lock, or in some cases a pressure point.

I train at Gracie Barra Naples with my dad (Rob) and several others from Marco. It is definitely worth the 15-minute drive to say the least. My dad, along with Marco Police Officer Kevin Hennings owned a Mixed Martial Arts School on Marco Island where they taught traditional martial arts and ground fighting. They traveled to other cities just to have the opportunity to train for a day with a Gracie trained black belt. Now we are fortunate to have a Gracie black belt locally.

I have studied other martial art forms with my dad, but still find that Brazilian Jiujitsu is the best and will continue to train in it for as long as I can, especially at a welcoming place like Gracie Barra (pronounced Bah-ha) Naples. GB Naples is run by Professor Paulo Ribeiro a second degree black belt and his wife, Natalie, martial artist and kickboxer. There are less than 300 Gracie black belts in the world and less than a dozen in Florida, so having a Gracie Barra gym in Naples is awesome.

BJJ has been the quickest growing martial art over the past years. It has evolved from a Japanese form, to a Brazilian ground fighting system, to a complete martial art, to one of the best martial arts in the world. It can be seen in grappling tournaments, self defense and MMA fights such as the UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) which is the most popular fight company in the world and growing. BJJ is here to stay and is getting more popular everyday,

I am proud to be a part of the Gracie family and confident in my abilities. I look forward to competing in a North American Grappling Association sanctioned tournament and will keep you updated.

For more information on Gracie Barra Jiujitsu contact Professor Paulo Ribeiro at 331-7320 or visit their Web site at graciebarranaplesfl.com.