When Carlson Gracie died on Feb. 1, 2006, the fate of his jiu-jitsu academy in Brazil was left in the hands his wife, Marly, the mother of his two sons, both of whom live in the United States: Carlson Jr., who leads a school in Chicago, and Karen, who resides in Los Angeles.
Even with Marly’s considerable efforts and those of trainers Ari Galo and Marcelo Saporito, the Gracie dojo spent the last eight years struggling to make ends meet. The academy closed its doors on Aug. 25.
“It’s a request of my mother, who cannot run the school anymore due to health reasons and the fact that I live in the USA,” Carlson Jr.