Known as ‘The Godfather of British Jiu Jitsu’, Mauricio Gomes is a key figure in UK BJJ and its development. These days, he’s known for teaching alongside his son Roger Gracie at Roger’s London academy. However, Gomes originally came to England in 1998 to set up the countries first ever Gracie Barra gym, Gracie Barra Birmingham.
As he put it, going to England was a ‘coincidence’ which happened after he terminated his contract whilst teaching in a gym in Japan. After a few months in Brazil, he got fed up and eventually got a call offering him to work and live in the UK, so he took up the offer.
Although he owned the first Gracie Barra in the UK, Gomes also claimed he wasn’t the first to do it in the country, saying “You had Rick Young up north, he was already a blue belt, Marc Walder was already a blue belt. So, Jiu Jitsu was around, just not strong, and I think I helped make it stronger”
He also spoke on why he came to England “A guy offered me to work in his gym in Birmingham. Small gym, in a really, really poor area. But that’s where we started in an old church and there was no real reason other than the fact he said ‘lets go to England as there’s nobody there.”. With this said, it makes you wonder what the state of British BJJ would look like without the influence of Mauricio Gomes, who taught the likes of Roger Gracie and Braulio Estima alongside many others over the years.
