The Young Art
Written and Designed by Carter Lee
Dedication I Dedicate this book to William Dias, the head instructor at Ralph Gracie Jiu-Jitsu academy for allowing us to do this documentary on his establishment, and all Ralph Gracie Jiu-Jitsu students for making my experience at the academy the best martial arts experience I have ever had.
Table Of Contents Foreword Introduction Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Conclusion Works Cited
7 8 10 16 20 24 30
Foreword When I first heard about this documentary project I was first puzzled about what to do, there weren’t many places I was interested in writing about, as time progressed I had the idea to do this project on the JiuJitsu academy that I attended. I knew a lot of the people at the academy and I thought that this would be easy to manage. When I first started this topic I was unsure about what I wanted the untold story to be, I got ideas about the controversies to the Gracie name, I had ideas about the history of JiuJitsu, but the one that I really wanted to tell was the fact that jiu-jitsu its own art, and its different in many ways comparing it to other martial arts, trying not to be biased against other martial arts. I organized the book the way I did to first just explain what jiu-jitsu was and tell people that this isn’t just a
book about any martial art, the next two chapters were to go deeper into the uniqueness and then to express the fact that any person can learn jiujitsu. The type of research that I did was hands on interviews and observation, this was very helpful in backing up my topics and explaining in-depth about each topic. The most challenging thing about this documentary has a whole was the writing and research, I am not the best writer and it was challenging to write a good research paper, and it was hard to write 3 chapters without doing the same chapters as my film partner who was doing a similar topic. I learned a lot from this project, as hard as it was I learned how to write a research paper, and more impor-
tantly learned how to develop good questions for interviews, also learning how to use all the microphone and new camera equipment was nice, and as hard as this project was I am glad to have done this topic and finish it.
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Inroduction
A giant window covers the front of the academy, open to everyone outside to gaze into the academy. When you look through this window on the outside the only thing to be seen is the logo and blurry figures on the other side. This sparks the curiosity of viewers to see what is it like on the inside. A place where it rains, a place where the walls and giant window seemed smooth and wet. All in one place is where the sweat of the figures make this small place rain and cover the academy in sweat, covering the giant window from the viewers on the other side. The feeling of intimidation rushes throughout the entire academy, but when looked at past the fighting, you see ordinary people just working their bodies hard and fighting. With-
out overworking or throwing strikes, and soon finding out that this style of fighting is Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, defined in Japanese as “the gentle art�. There are hundreds of martial arts all over the world. Most of which focus on throwing strikes with certain form or style, but have you ever heard of a fight that was finished without throwing any strike? Jiu-jitsu teaches the art of fighting without throw-
ing strikes, known as grappling, it teaches how to fight on your back and be able to end a fight on the ground. Almost every Martial artist can claim that their martial art is different whether that difference is big or small, and just like any other martial art, jiu-jitsu has its differences.
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Chapter 1
Jiu-Jitsu: the “gentle art”
With the rise of Brazilian Jiu-
around the world. Every dif-
back. One blue belt student of
Jitsu only occurred a few gen-
ferent martial art has its own
Ralph Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Academy
erations ago, it has been one of
uniqueness, but the majority of
who has studied and practiced
the fastest growing martial arts
martial arts had the common
this martial art for over 6 years
in the world. All over the world, style of throwing strikes, Brazil-
David Lee Defines Brazilian
every country, every culture has
ian Jiu-Jitsu has the big differ-
Jiu-Jitsu in his words. “Jiu-jitsu
had its own style of fighting or
ence of being able to fight with-
focuses on ground work, so
self defense, over 150 different
out throwing strikes and being
when an altercation is taken to
martial arts have been practiced able to defend yourself on your
the ground, jiu-jitsu is used to
help you advance your position or keep you safe.” Through this
unfolding, so was the true defi-
nition of fighting. On November Royce Gracie and other Gracies state
explanation from David, people
that if
who did not know about Jiu-Jit-
you don’t
su would understand Fighting
know how
in terms of the grappling point
to ground
of view, understanding that ev-
fight, then
ery fight goes to the ground and
you can’t
that jiu-jitsu covers how to fight
finish the
on the ground and put your opponent into holds, locks, or pins 12, 1993 a 176 pound man Royce in order to control the fight and/ Gracie steps into the octaor finish the fight. Until 1993 no
gon against 3 fighters over 220
one knew about jiu-jitsu, think-
pounds and de-
ing that
fighting and
all of them
martial
arts
feating without
was a
throw-
way of
ing strikes,
throw-
Royce Gra-
ing
the birth of Gracie jiu-jitsu was
fight, especially on your back. Most martial arts, before jiujitsu was shown to the world, did not teach ground fighting, and only in Japan was where the idea jiu-jitsu had started. The History stated from yourbjjcoach.com and Wikipedia informs that jiu-jitsu was derived from the samurai fight-
cie States “If you ing arts, used when unarmed
strikes with style, and when
have no business in fighting.”
don’t know how to fight
on the ground, you
against an armored opponent where strikes would not be
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effective. In 1904 judo and
landed in Brazil where the
jiu-jitsu student Mitsuyo
Gracie family learned this
Maeda left Japan traveling
art and modified it to make
to different countries ac-
it its own very unique style
cepting challenges against
of jiu-jitsu.
boxers, savate, and various martial artists proving the effectiveness of ground-
12
fighting, and in 1914 Maeda
“Self-defense, selfconfidence, discipline and emotional control. The Values you learn are priceless.�
-Rickson Gracie
13
Mitsuyo Maeda (below)
Student of Kano/Teacher of Carlos Gracie
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Jigoro Kano (below) Founder of Judo
“I believe anyone can practice jiu-jitsu� - William Dias
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Chapter 2 The Gracie technique
lot of people back in the early 80s thought that bigger was ronger. Boxers, WWE wresers, weight lifters, and others at were physically big were ways oked pon nd vored ver the little guys. With the rise Bruce Lee, that image was estroyed, he proved that biger was not always better. Bruce
had a big impact on the view of martial arts and up until UFC 1 November 12, 1993 the new image was people who knew kung fu, karate, taekwondo, boxing,
“What the samurai did with their swords, we do with our hands�
- Helio Gracie etc. were the ones who were favored. On that night in UFC 1 Royce Gracie changed the image of martial arts once more,
beating guys over 200 pounds only being 175 and making them look like they knew nothing, and on that night people knew what jiu-jitsu was. At the time the Gracie family had started to learn jiu-jitsu the Gracie family members were physically small, and that was considered as a disadvantage, which was why the Gracies had modified the Japanese art into their own. William Dias, head instructor at Ralph Gracie Jiu-Jitsu
anybody can do it, and for me it felt good to see a smaller person to be able to practice and be very efficient” In making this statement, Will explains that during his years of learning from Ralph Gracie he found that jiu-jitsu was used Academy, describes his personal experience with jiu-jitsu and why he liked it so much. “I’ve been a martial artist all my life when I lived in Brazil I did karate I did capoeira I did judo, but only when I saw jiujitsu that I could really see that
for the small guys and that size and strength aren’t what decide a fight, and if the
technique was used properly then that was what decided a fight. Carlos Gracie, the starter of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu was a small person in size and refined the art to give himself an advantage over opponents bigger and stronger than himself. JiuJitsuSweep.com states in its definition for BJJ that BJJ promotes the concept that a smaller, weaker person can successfully defend against a bigger, stronger assailant by using le-
verage and proper
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technique, taking the fight to the ground – most notably by applying joint-locks and choke
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holds to defeat the other person. Before the Gracie family grew, Jiu-Jitsu was taught and
learned for the sake of the small guy, now that the Gracie family has grown, the art has spread
and been taught different ways. The official website for Ralph Gracie Jiu-Jitsu informs, Ralph’s focus on his teachings consist
mainly of learning the techniques, executing them correctly and training. There are hundreds of Gracie Academies
in the USA, and each academy has its own rules and its own way of teaching jiu-jitsu.
chapter 3 Bigger, not always better
Around the time jiu-jitsu was created no one really hear about this let alone knew what it was, to make it public and show its effectiveness Carlos Gracie and Helio Gracie, Creators of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu held open challenges to anyone
who wanted to, big or small, the Gracie’s would accept these challenges and then and there the effectiveness of Jiu-Jitsu was shown. The two then made an old film and gave demonstrations to the public about Jiu-Jitsu and called it “Jiu-Jitsu,
not what you think it is” and in that video they explained and demonstrated that this small guy could take anyone no matter the size or age, specifically saying. “Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is for a smaller person actually to be able to defeat a bigger oppo-
nent, bigger, faster, stronger, by using leverage, superior position and tech-
younger, older, and sometimes
nique.” Through this video and demonstration, and there open challenges the art of Jiu-Jitsu was really shown to the world that anyone can learn Jiu-Jitsu. In Ancient Japan the way of the samurai was taught to anyone born into the class or anyone who earned the right to be in the class, and there were students who were bigger, smaller,
even blind or deaf, but there belief that anyone can learn this art and be just as good as anyone else was strong, and too this day the belief carries on not just in Jiu-Jitsu, but in almost anything in this world today. Head Instructor at Ralph Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Academy Will Dias describes himself as a small guy compared to the
average man his age and he states “For sure that’s exactly what jiu-jitsu is for, before people had some restrictions or anything that they decided not to take martial arts Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu changed that” Like will states this martial art is for anyone. When you see the window on the outside of the academy there is text that clearly says Jiu-Jitsu Self Defense: Men, Women, Kids, you walk into the academy you see a multitude of people different sizes ages and genders, there have even been women self defense classes, and students at the academy even say you can be fairly old and still be able to learn Jiu-Jitsu. 6 year student at Ralph Gracie Jiu-Jitsu academy answers the question “how has
21
jiu-jitsu impacted your life?” He replies, “Jiu-Jitsu has had a great impact on my life, I’m turning 50 years old and this
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is what has kept me in shape all these years, though I never hope I have to use in a bad situation, I would feel confident I
could use it if I needed.”
Conclusion
When I first walked into that Jiu-Jitsu academy I was intimidated, I remember seeing the students roll and train and it looks rough, but watching Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and actually taking part in it were very different things. You look at Jiu-Jitsu and see hard working men and women almost like they’re beating each other up, but actually taking part in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu was completely different. JiuJitsu was proven to be one of
the most superior martial arts in the world, through Heilo and Carlos in Brazil and Royce Gracie in the USA Jiu-Jitsu and its effectiveness were displayed. Jiu-Jitsu isn’t just like any martial art with kicks and punches elbows and different strikes, or a work of art for”show”, jiu-jitsu is a martial art that uses superior position and technique to defeat a bigger, stronger, faster opponent. Jiu-Jitsu is one of the fastest growing martial arts in
history, its popularity has grown greatly and I believe in the future it will continue to grow, Jiu-Jitsu helps people on and off the mat, it has helped me get through my years of being bullied and it helps people stay in shape and keep them fit in a way that makes it easy and fun for people. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu has had a great impact on the world and it will continue to grow in a positive way.
Works Cited “Brazilian Jiu-jitsu.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 18 Mar. 2014. Web. 20 Mar. 2014. “Carley Gracie.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 15 Mar. 2014. Web. 20 Mar. 2014. Dias, William. Personal Interview. 20 February 2014 Dias, William. “Philosophy.” Yourbjjcoach.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Mar. 2014. “Gracie News.” Pure Gracie Jiu-Jitsu -. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Mar. 2014. “History.” Yourjjcoach.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Mar. 2014. “Jujutsu.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 18 Mar. 2014. Web. 20 Mar. 2014. Lee, David. Personal Interview. 1 February 2014 “Royce Gracie.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 18 Mar. 2014. Web. 20 Mar. 2014. “Ralph Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Official Website - Www.ralphgracie.com.” Ralphgraciecom. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Mar. 2014. “The Founder of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.” Ralphgraciecom. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Mar. 2014.
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The Young Art
The Author of this book is Carter Lee, thanks to Freestyle he was able to write and design this book. Carter Lee is a junior at Los Altos High School/Freestyle Academy, a 3 year film and film editing student outside of Freestyle, a 3 year high school varsity wrestler, a 2nd track and field hurdler, and a 6 year Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu student. Carter Lee has excelled at Jiu-Jitsu and is now a young blue belt, his experience at Ralph Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Academy has been the greatest and with the understanding of Jiu-Jitsu history and popularity he decided to go further into the definition of Jiu-Jitsu and make this documentary about it. Carter Lee plans to go to a 4 year college after high school, major in Film/Video Production, and hopefully achieve one of his big goals to wrestle on a college team.
The Young Art
Carter Lee
Written and Designed by Carter Lee