Triangle Jiu-Jitsu Academy

Welcome to Triangle Jiu-Jitsu Academy!

What is Gracie Jiu-Jitsu?

Gracie Jiu-Jitsu is the World's Most Effective form of unarmed combat. GJJ is a healthy lifestyle based around physical activity, healthy eating, and self confidence gained through the practice of realistic and effective self defense. It is a complete system of Striking, Takedowns, Throws, Pins, Joint Locks, and Chokes that is learnable and usable by anyone regardless of size or physical attributes. Gracie Jiu-Jitsu techniques are based on the principles of timing and leverage and do not require strength, speed, or any other athletic quality. For this reason, combined with the ease with which it can be learned, the US Army has adopted Gracie Jiu-Jitsu as its official form of combatives. Jiu-Jitsu is for everyone! It is for Women as well as Men. It is for children as well as adults. It is for the weak as well as the strong. And it will bring a confidence and control that everyone wishes for but few have.

The History of Gracie Jiu-Jitsu

Gracie Jiu-Jitsu truely began in the early part of the 20th century. Esai "Count Koma" Maeda, a Jiu-Jitsu and Judo Master, was sent to Brazil to assist with establishing a Japanese Colony in Brazil. Gastao Gracie, a prominent politician, helped Maeda establish this colony. In exchange for this help Maeda offered to teach Jiu-Jitsu to Gracie's son Carlos. Carlos learned everything that he could from Maeda and eventually moved to Rio de Janeiro in the late 1920's and opened up the first Gracie Academy. However it would be Carlos' little brother Helio that would revolutionize Jiu-Jitsu. Helio was a small and frail child weighing no more than 145 pounds. He watched and learned as his brother taught classes. One day, Carlos was late for a lesson and Helio volunteered to teach the student. The student agreed and enjoyed Helio's class so much that he requested for Helio to be his instructor from then on. Over time Helio slowly began to modify the techniques to fit his small and unathletic body. Needing a way to test his new techniques, Helio began to engage against open challenge matches against other styles of martial arts. Helio and his family and students would take part in these challenge matches for the next 70 years without suffering a defeat.

In the late 1970's, Helio's eldest son Rorion moved to America with the intention of spreading Jiu-Jitsu to a worldwide audience. Gradually over time, the volume of students became too great for Rorion to handle alone and he brought his younger brother Royce to California in the late 1980's. In the early 1990's, Rorion began looking for a larger outlet to bring attention to his family's techniques. To meet this need, Rorion created the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) held its first event in November of 1993. Royce was selected as the family representative and triumphed. He would again be victorious in the second and fourth UFC tournaments. Over the course of the first four UFC events Royce won 11 consecutive fights, often over opponent's 50 to 100 pounds heavier than himself. This, followed by many victories from his brothers and cousins, definitively proved Gracie Jiu-Jitsu as the most effective form of Unarmed Combat in the World.

History of Triangle Jiu-Jitsu Academy

The Triangle Jiu-Jitsu Academy was founded by Royce Gracie Student Jake Whitfield in May of 2007. Jake had originally been a student of Royce Gracie Black Belt Greg Thompson and a member of the powerhouse Team-ROC. He led one of the main Team-ROC academies in Chapel Hill for several years before splitting and forming Triangle Jiu-Jitsu. Since the split, Triangle Jiu-Jitsu has established itself as one of North Carolina's premier teams for Gracie Jiu-Jitsu and Mixed Martial Arts. Triangle Jiu-Jitsu is also the ONLY Jiu-Jitsu and Mixed Martial Arts school in North Carolina that focuses its main curricullum on Self Defense. Here at Triangle Jiu-Jitsu we pride ourselves on our supportive and open atmosphere and we welcome anyone that wants to learn.

Rodrigo Gracie, Royce Gracie, Jake Whitfield, Travis Wheeler, Royler Gracie, and Ralek Gracie

In Loving Memory

Grandmaster Helio Gracie

1913-2009