Goodbye, Helio Gracie. Thanks for Revolutionizing Grappling and Martial Arts.

Helio Gracie is dead at 95. It's a sad day.

Don't bother telling me he didn't invent Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu all by himself. Don't bother telling me it should be spelled "jujutsu" and it's really judo anyway. Don't bother telling me the Gracies are marketing machines.

I know all that. Doesn't matter. The fact remains that Helio Gracie was a fighter in an age of jobbers. A long age of jobbers. Every submission fighter, grappler, hobbyist and fan out there owes him a debt.

(The photo is Helio grappling with his son Rickson. I used it without permission of the site where I found it, but you can get to that site by clicking the photo.)