A colossal gym; retirement interrupted; children and a not so conventional conjugal relationship; lots of philosophy and jiu-jitsu. Dive, from here on, into the conclusion of the saga of Grandmaster Helio Gracie... but don't go too deep, or you may be bitten by the sharks pf Abrolhos.
Text and cover photo by Luca Atalla / art by Cleiton
GRACIE MAGAZINE
POSING BEFORE A TRAINING SESSION, AT THE END OF THE 1970’S: “CARLSON SAID WE HAD A FAMILY UNITED BY THE HEAVENS," HE REMEMBERS. STANDING: RICKSON, ROLLS, CARLOS, HÉLIO, RÓBSON, MAURIÇÃO (STUDENT OF ROLLS, AT THE TIME MARRIED TO REYLA, CARLSON’S DAUGHTER); SEATED: ROYLER, CARLINHOS, CRÓLIN, RÓRION, ROLKER AND ROYCE.
Despite the setback, Hélio went about his normal routine, taking care of the gym and going with the family to the house in Teresópolis during the weekends. “The house was spectacular, with eight bathrooms, 24 bedrooms, 24 telephones, on which six people could talk at the same time. There was a Swiss television set, 18 servants. It was a luxury hotel that could house up to 100 people during a single weekend,” describes the teacher. That was where Rórion, the master’s favorite son, has his first memories. "At that time," says the son, "there was still a train in Teresópolis, somewhere. I must have been about two or three years old, dad rode Quilate (his favorite horse) and I would sit in front of him, on the saddle. The train would pass by beside us and we would gallop, alongside the train, like in a cowboy movie. Actually, as I've come to understand from others, every weekend, we would go to Teresópolis. Everybody's history is in Teresópolis. The place was paradise."
TWENTY BROTHERS YOU DO NOT HAVE, MY SON, BUT YOU HAVE FOUR,” HÉLIO, WHEN HE REVEALED TO RÓRION HE HAD CHILDREN WITH ANOTHER WOMAN.
The master would do everything to keep the family together. And Teresópolis was fundamental in doing so. “Once, we had a carnival party with 1,200 people at the house, with a band and everything. It was such a success that the folks from Higino (the city’s club) came to ask the old man to not throw the party anymore, because it was effecting their business,” remembers Rórion who, at 15 years of age, when he believed Relson and Rickson were his only brothers, he heard a surprising revelation from his father. "We left the gym, passing the Aterro do Flamengo, when my father asked me: 'My son, would you like to have more brothers?' I thought it was the coolest thing that Uncle Carlos had 21 children, so I responded: ‘Of couse, 20 more, if that is possible.’ So he told me ’20 you don’t have, but you have four more,’ and he took me to a house in Botafogo where I got to meet Rolker, Royler, Royce and Therika, and Vera, their mother. At first I was sad, no son would ever want his parents to separate, but no, he explained that he was not going to abandon my mother, but she could not have any more children, and I understood.”
The story, at first glimpse, is kind of crazy, but the Gracie family, under the philosophical guidance of Carlos, always believed sex was for procreation, and as Margarida, his wife, could no longer become pregnant, Hélio did not look the other way when he met Vera, in the Gracie gym, and saw his chance to have more children. “I was friends with Oneika, one of Carlos’ children who was brought up by Hélio. When she started taking an English course and, for lack of time, she needed to divide her secretarial duties at the gym, she called upon me,” remembers Dona Vera, who would come to marry the instructor in 1992, two months after Margarida's death, many years after the couple's relationship began.
“On the first day, I ran away because I saw Hélio yelling at one of Carlos' kids, Reylson, for something he did wrong in one of the classes. I was scared to death. But Oneika called me back and, one day, when I couldn't find one of the students' forms he had asked me for, I took the blame. Crying, I locked myself in the store room to find what he wanted. Then Hélio opened the door, say me in a panic and felt sorry for me. From then on, he started treating me well, and I became enchanted by him," confesses Vera. As time went on, they began to flirt, but Hélio made it clear he would not separate from his wife. The story continued, and after one of their first encounters, Vera became pregnant. “She had three children in a row, with a year of difference between them. That is very rare,” exalts the master.
Much later, when Robin and Ricci, the last of the couple's children, had been born, a letter from Margarida arrived, letting on that she had discovered everything. “She asked me and I told her what had happened. I told her that, if she wanted me to leave, that was fine. But as my wife she knew of my desire to have kids, and she forgave me," remembers the teacher. Margarida did not only accept it, one day, secretly, she went to find Vera and the two, without anyone knowing for a long time, became friends. "She, who was very sophisticated, started taking the bus and subway because of me," remembers Vera. "When Margarida became sick, Vera would take food to her in the hospital," recounts Hélio.
After Margarida’s discovery, all the children came to spend time together, and now, to the joy of the father, all the men in the family live Jiu-Jitsu. “My brother Carlos would tell me we had a heavenly family, and all my children had come to do Jiu-Jitsu,” he remembers. The first three, Rórion, Relson and Rickson, along with Royce, now live in the United States. The two girls married and live in Brazil, with Royler and Rolker, who both teach in the Humaíta neighborhood of Rio. The youngest, Robin, is in Spain, and Hélio lives in his “Nosso Vale” ranch, in the Itaipava. There he teaches private lessons, takes care of the property and uses his free time to philosophize and write down his thoughts. The path Jiu-Jitsu, the modality that, as he likes to say, “was the vehicle, the machine," has taken bothers him, but following his own line of thinking, is that way for us to learn something. “Or would you put in doubt the wisdom of nature?” he would say.
(ABOVE RIGHT) HELIO AND VERA, THE MOTHER OF SIX OF HIS NINE CHILDREN.
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