Professor Pedro Valente speaking on behalf of Grandmaster Helio Gracie and his son Royce Gracie at the Tokyo Olympic Stadium in Japan.  Professor Pedro Valente speaking on behalf of Grandmaster Helio Gracie and his son Royce Gracie at the Tokyo Olympic Stadium in Japan.

What is Jujutsu?

Jujutsu (Jiu-Jitsu) is the most complete and efficient martial art known today for a weaker person to defend him or herself against a stronger aggressor. Jujutsu is the art of yielding flexibility, adaptability, pliancy, and astuteness. It characterizes the triumph of human intelligence over brute strength.  At Valente Brothers we teach a complete self-defense system that will prepare you to defend yourself against a potential life threatening assault. It emphasizes simple movements, practical techniques, and realistic scenarios. The practice of jujutsu affords an ideal means for the cultivation not only of great physical endurance, and of bodily and mental alertness in swift adaptation to an ever changing situation, but also of the moral qualities of perseverance, steadfastness of purpose, concentration, cool judgment and presence of mind to cope with an emergency. Many people currently believe that jujutsu is limited to ground grappling techniques. This could not be further from the truth. All you need to do is look up the word jujutsu in the Webster dictionary and you will find that it stands for “an art of weaponless fighting employing holds, throws, and paralyzing blows to subdue or disable an opponent.” Our style of jujutsu is the official hand-to-hand combat system of the United States Military and of law enforcement agencies all around the country. The principles of jujutsu that enable a small person to defeat a much larger attacker can also be applied to improve all areas of a person’s life.

Why Valente Brothers?

The Valente brothers were born into a family of jujutsu practitioners and were raised from childhood to educate others on its amazing benefits. From a young age their father Dr. Pedro Valente Sr., who was a 9th Dan jujutsu Master under Grandmaster Helio Gracie, managed to transmit the jujutsu lifestyle to the brothers. This philosophy was ingrained in them from childhood and positively affected every area of their life.  The Rational Nutritional Regimen promoted by Grandmaster Carlos Gracie was strictly followed in the Valente household. Their father encouraged them not only to develop their physical jujutsu skills, but also their intellectuality by attending the best schools and universities throughout their lives. The Valente Brothers hold undergraduate and graduate degrees from prominent American Universities. The combination of their extensive academic experience with the countless hours they shared with GM Helio Gracie both on and off the mat put them in a unique position to organize and spearhead one of the most structured, articulate, coherent, and effective jūjutsuprograms in existence. The Valente Brothers are extremely honored that many of the most successful martial arts schools in the world are utilizing many of the methods that they pioneered.

Is this the right school for me?

Before joining any school consider your goals and objectives. Today many martial arts have developed competitive sport organizations, and jujutsu is no different. These jujutsu gyms focus on training athletes for sportive tournaments. If your goal is learning self-defense, make sure to find a school that concentrates on realistic street scenarios rather than a competition team that prepares students for point orientated tournaments. Our school’s mission is to provide the most effective self-defense instruction in the world by giving students the elements to defend themselves in real life, with no rules, no points, and no time limits. The practice of jujutsu is also an excellent physical recreation where every single muscle from head to toe is called into active use in a balanced and healthy way. If you are looking for a family oriented, clean, respectful, and noble environment where you will learn jujutsu in its purest form, Valente Brothers is the right school for you.

Why did Grandmaster Helio Gracie stop supporting sport competitions?

The original Gracie brothers, Carlos and Helio Gracie, always considered jujutsu to be the most effective art of self-defense and not a competition sport. In order to prove the superiority of jujutsu over other styles, they participated in high profile Vale Tudo (MMA) fights. Through Helio’s epic battles against the best fighters of his time, they were able to prove their point and attain international notoriety.  Many years’ later, by influence of some students and family members who wanted to compete against other jujutsu practitioners, Grandmaster Helio decided to take part in an effort to create a jujutsu federation for the organization of grappling competitions. However, as he noticed that these regulated competitions were causing a decharacterization of the fundamental principles and objectives of his style of jujutsu, he decided to resign from the federation. According to the Grandmaster, this occurred because the awarding of points for positional superiority and the institution of time limits prevented the utilization of a defensive strategy from the bottom, which is what had enabled jujutsu representatives to defeat their biggest and toughest opponents.  By examining some of the most important fights in the recent history of jujutsu, such as Rickson Gracie vs. Zulu, Royce Gracie vs Dan Severn and Rodrigo Nogueira (Minotauro) vs. Bob Sapp, one can conclude that the utilization of a defensive strategy from the bottom enabled the jujutsu representatives to tire out their opponents and defeat them once they committed a mistake, as predicated by Grand Masters Carlos and Helio Gracie. It is important to note that all three jujutsu representatives would have lost if the sport jujutsu tournament point scoring system and time limit had been applied in those fights.

Does Valente Brothers participate in grappling sportive competitions?

Valente Brothers is proud to abide strictly by Grandmaster Helio Gracie’s training philosophy, and to focus 100% of our attention on teaching a combat system. As per Grand Master Helio’s recommendation, Valente Brothers does not participate in any point competitions. According to Grandmaster Hélio, sparring and technical practice should always emphasize street like conditions, including strikes, hard flooring and multiple opponents. Moreover, we want our school to be a center that promotes personal development and self-confidence rather than a breeding ground for athletes who want to compete in regulated tournaments. Tournaments were first established to serve as a means to better self-defense skills. Unfortunately the means became more important than the end, and the techniques of jujutsu were modified to fit tournament rules rather than the realities of hand to hand combat. It is important to note that Valente Brothers is not against sportive competitions of any kind.

Can women learn jujutsu?

Absolutely! Women often learn better and faster than men. This occurs because they are less inclined to rely on muscle and often adapt to the efficient techniques of jujutsu very quickly. The Valente Brothers recognize the specific self-defensive needs of women and possess a specially designed curriculum that addresses the realities of an assault against a female. Women participate in all our classes and some have achieved the coveted rank of black belt.

Is jujutsu effective against multiple opponents?

Jujutsu gives students the best possible chance when facing an attack by one or more opponents. The overwhelming superiority demonstrated by Royce Gracie in the Ultimate Fighting Championship by taking his opponents to the ground, created a misconception that jujutsu is exclusively a ground fighting system. Jujutsu is a complete fighting system and not an exclusively ground grappling art.  A jujutsu practitioner learns strikes, which include techniques with the elbows, hands, feet, head, and knees. Students learn that the optimum self-defense strategy is to maintain a safe distance from the attacker. This battle-tested method teaches defenses against the most common street attacks, the majority standing, which quickly neutralize aggressors. The practice of jujutsu corrects a long lasting myth that real life fights are like scenes from martial arts movies where protagonists KO dozens of “bad guys” one after the other.  A jujutsu practitioner possesses the most realistic chances of safely overcoming a multiple opponents’ attack.

Is training safe?

Student safety is a primary concern during all classes. The completion of the Fighting Foundations curriculum reduces the possibility of injury to a minimal level. The practice of jujutsu at our academy is safe and sound. Our teaching methods constantly emphasize the importance of keeping students out of harm’s way. Lack of seriousness during training and the resultant careless application of technique or counter-technique contribute greatly to injury. Careless practice is disrespectful to the spirit of jujutsu and is not tolerated in our academy.

How should I learn the art?

To learn the ABC’s of any subject requires a certain amount of hard work and dedication. This certainly applies to the learning of jujutsu. Learning the fundamental techniques of jujutsu is extremely important since they indicate the principles on which the whole of the art is based. When the fundamentals are neglected the student will not have a strong technical base and will try to compensate by using personal athletic abilities. All practitioners should realize that it is better to learn the fundamental techniques and principles well than to saturate the mind with hundreds of subsidiary techniques that cannot possibly be mastered in one lifetime. Frequent practice is essential if efficiency is to be gained. The key to learning jujutsu is repetition. The ultimate goal is to condition your unconscious mind with jujutsu so that you can react automatically to any unpredictable situation that might arise. Once you complete the Fighting Foundations program you will have the opportunity to join the Advanced Program. This program consists of different specialized classes and focuses more deeply on each separate element of a fight. In the course of the Advanced Program, you will learn new techniques and combinations, improve your reaction time, and refine your current knowledge.

Can anyone learn jujutsu?

Men and women, girls and boys, may safely experience the benefits of learning jujutsu even if they have little or no previous experience with any physical activity.  The techniques of jujutsu are based on natural movements that can easily be performed by anyone. We currently teach several elderly students as well as students with disabilities.

Is jujutsu a good a physical exercise?

As a means of physical exercise jujutsu has no superior. Every single muscle from the neck to the toes is called into active use, and certain sets of muscle are not unduly exercised to the neglect of others, as happens with so many sports.

Is it a cardiovascular workout? Can I lose weight?

With persistence and dedication, you can lose inches while developing muscle tone over the entire body as well as increasing endurance of the heart and lungs.  We have several examples of students who have lost as much as 80 lbs. after entering our school. Many have improved their diet, quit smoking and other negative habits due to the practice of jujutsu.