From Rio de Janeiroto London
Sixty years,one art
- 1955Rio de Janeiro
Born 25 July in Rio de Janeiro, into a family already on the mat: his father held a brown belt in Jiu-Jitsu.
- Age 4First steps on the mat
His father takes him to classes at João Alberto Barreto's academy. Six decades later, he has never stepped off.
- 1977First championship
As a teenager he joins the academy of Rolls Gracie. The same year, he wins his first Rio de Janeiro State Championship.
- 1981Black belt from Rolls Gracie
In 1981 he wins the Rio de Janeiro State Championship again. Shortly after, Rolls awards him his black belt. He remains one of the few men who can say so.
- 1982Carrying the lineage
Rolls' tragic death leaves a small circle of students to carry his Jiu-Jitsu forward. Mauricio - alongside lineage-carriers like Romero “Jacaré” Cavalcanti and Marcio Stambowsky - spends the next decades doing exactly that, teaching in Brazil and, later, Japan and the UK.
- 1997The first Gracie Barra in Tokyo
Mauricio opens the first Gracie Barra academy in Tokyo, staying a year to build a base for others to continue the work. The same year, he wins his first major international gold.
- 1998The first Gracie Barra in the UK
Mauricio wins a second international gold, relocates to the United Kingdom, and builds the very first Gracie Barra gym there, taking on the British BJJ scene from the ground up.
- 20178th-degree coral belt
Promoted to 8th-degree coral belt on 25 August 2017, in recognition of more than five decades of service to Jiu-Jitsu.
- TodayThe legacy continues
Through the Mauricio Gomes Legacy Mentoring Affiliation, he mentors academies across the UK: old-school Jiu-Jitsu, kept pure, adapted to the modern era.
Into theGracie family
Through his ties to the Gracie family, Mauricio met Reila Gracie - daughter of Carlos Gracie Sr. They married and had a son: Roger Gracie. Under his father's guidance, Roger became a dominant force in BJJ, winning ten IBJJF World Championships at black belt - an achievement unmatched in the sport, and one that made him, in the eyes of many, the greatest competitor the art has produced.
His students describe him as a deeply passionate teacher who always reinforces the principles that make Jiu-Jitsu effective. His dedication to keeping Jiu-Jitsu pure - and maintaining the traditions of the art - remains at the core of his teaching philosophy.
“My father was already training with Helio Gracie in the 1950's, so I was introduced to the sport from an early age.”Mauricio Gomes
