Since 1925, over forty members of the Gracie Family have dedicated their lives to developing the most effective system of defense the world has ever known. Carlos Gracie was the first to establish the Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Academy, where he taught Japanese techniques which he and his brothers learned from Esai Maeda. Since Helio Gracie wasn’t strong enough to take part in the grappling, he spent most of his time watching his brother teach the classes. Eventually Helio Gracie realized he couldn’t use his strenght against his opponents because he wasn’t very strong to begin with. So instead he used leverage, timing, and natural body movements. In 1931 Helio Gracie proved this by submitting Boxer Antonio Portugal in minutes. This later inspired Helio Gracie to continue modifying the Japanese techniques until he produced an art that would enable anyone to defend themselves  against a larger assailant. On October 23, 1951 Helio Gracie fought Masasliko Kimura, who was the best Japanese Jiu-Jitsu fighter of his day. Kimura was eighty pounds heavier than Helio, and Carlos Gracie  ended the fight to protect his brother from the shoulder lock known as the “Kimura”. On may 24,1955 Helio Gracie again proved himself by fighting Waldemar Santana for almost four hours (3 hours and 40 mins). The fight was once again ended by Carlos Gracie, but became known as the longest no-holds-barred fight in history. Helio Gracie earned a lot of respect for his ability to fend off a much stronger, and younger opponent. For more  info on the Gracie families history go to:http://www.gracieacademy.com/timeline.asp