Helio Gracie

Grandmaster

On October 1, 1913, Helio Gracie was born in Brazil.  As a teenager, he and his older brother Carlos were introduced to traditional Kano Judo by Mitsuyo Maeda, a Japanese immigrant to Brazil.  Not having the physical attributes to perform some of the techniques, Helio, over a period of several years, modified the art to rely on leverage, positioning, and timing rather than strength and aggression.

In 1925 Carlos and Helio Gracie founded the original Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Academy in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil.  Over the next 50 years, the brothers and their sons taught and spread the art, fighting all challengers to prove the effectiveness of their style.

During the last 10 years of his life, Helio wore a royal navy blue belt instead of the currently acceped red.

When Hélio Gracie was asked why he was wearing a royal navy blue belt, he explained that in the original Gracie Academy there were no belt level differentiations based on fighting skills. Belt colors were awarded only to distinguish instructors from students. In order to separate themselves from Judo instructors, who were teaching what they considered to be a limited sport for competition rather than a complete martial art, they didn’t utilize the black belt. At that time, Gracie Academy Instructors wore a light blue belt and head professors wore the royal navy blue. Only those who completed the professor’s course under the Grandmaster himself could wear the royal navy blue belt.

With the creation of the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation in 1967, the belt system of Judo was adopted. In addition, a framework for sport Jiu-Jitsu, including a point system and weight divisions, which had never been accepted by Grandmasters Carlos and Helio before then, was established. As Judo was attracting a large following in Brazil under this sportive system, Grandmaster Helio agreed to adopt this structure under the assumption that recreational Jiu-Jitsu tournaments would not have a negative effect on his complete system of self defense.

In the early 1990’s, Grandmaster Helio realized that the mutation of his art was a direct result of the point-based, sport Jiu-Jitsu competitions, and that red belts were being awarded without his consent by individuals who weren’t red belts and black belts were being awarded to practioners who had a less than complete understanding of his self defense system. For these reasons, he decided to return to his original royal navy blue belt to separate himself from the federation and from sport Jiu-Jitsu. Grandmaster Hélio felt very comfortable wearing a belt that indicates the first level of learning, and it was his favorite color.

Jared Jessup

3rd degree Black Belt Professor

Jared Jessup began his Jiu-Jitsu journey in late 1995, inspired by Royce Gracie’s triumphs in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Over the next two decades, he was profoundly influenced by the Gracie family, having the privilege of learning from Grandmaster Helio Gracie himself and becoming a devoted apprentice to Royce.

In 2005, Jared founded iQ Jiu-Jitsu, and by January 2008, he began imparting his knowledge in Benton, Illinois. His dedication and relentless efforts culminated in the opening of the inaugural iQ Jiu-Jitsu academy on July 17, 2010, marking the establishment of the first Royce Gracie Network in the state of Illinois. During the initial seven months, he demonstrated his commitment by sleeping on the mats as he worked tirelessly to build the business and foster relationships.

On October 10, 2022, Jared Jessup was awarded the rank of 3rd Degree Black Belt Professor by Royce Gracie. In February 2024, after careful consideration, Jared made the difficult decision to depart from the Royce Gracie Network to establish his own iQ network. With 28 years of mentorship under Royce Gracie, Jared is no longer a representative of Royce or the Royce Gracie Network.

As an insatiable seeker of knowledge, Jared immersed himself in educational resources across various disciplines. Throughout a lifetime of exploration, he discerned common themes that transcend all fields of study. After years of contemplation, he distilled these universal axioms into principles that underpin every facet of Jiu-Jitsu. While these governing principles are intrinsic to the art and employed by all practitioners, Jared’s contribution to the Jiu-Jitsu community lies in his ability to identify, organize, and elevate them to a level of conscious awareness.

Jared’s mission is to preserve the purity of Jiu-Jitsu in its entirety, leveraging its foundational principles and philosophies to enhance our comprehension of the art.