The Gracie-Barra academy is one of the most widely recognized teams in jiu jitsu, who has by far the most affiliated academies throughout the world and over 500 registered black belts, having set the standards for organization in the BJJ fight game. The team�??s creator, Carlos Gracie Junior built the team in the 1980�??s making the most of a fantastic generation of students which he transformed into talented competitors who went on to dominate many of the world�??s most important tournaments, rivalling big teams such as Alliance, Nova União and Carlson Gracie in the 1990�??s. Since turning its focus to the widespread of its franchises around the world (with more incidence in the United States), Gracie Barra lost much of the competitive edge it had in the 90s and early 2000s in the main competitions such as the Pan Ams, Mundial and World Professional Cup, though it is still regarded as one of the top teams in the world.
Though Gracie Barra was officially inaugurated in 1986, its story actually started a few years prior, on 1983, when Carlos Gracie Jr took control of the team left by Rolls Gracie, after his brother�??s tragic death. �??Carlinhos�?? had been the head coach of the main Gracie academy for a few years, coaching alongside Rickson Gracie before heading to Rolls Gracie�??s school to be an assistant instructor there. Rolls was a great influence to Carlos who stayed at the helm of his brother�??s group for 3 years before deciding to open his own place at the Barra da Tijuca burg in Rio de Janeiro.
The team started being called Gracie Barra because people would refer to the academy as �??os Gracie da Barra�?? (the Gracies of Barra). The terminology ended up being shortened to Gracie-Barra and used as a way to differentiate the two schools (Gracie Academy and Barra Gracie).
Gracie Barra St Peters started to operate in November 2013 and provides high level Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu training to Sydney's Inner West Suburbs.
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