Gracie Jiu-Jitsu

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) is a ground-based combat system developed from traditional Japanese Jiu-Jitsu by the Gracie family of Brazil.  Known for its devastating ground fighting techniques, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu was specifically developed and designed to subdue or defeat a much larger attacker by simple application of leverage and technique. Gaining superior position to your opponent and applying a myriad of chokes, holds, locks and joint manipulations becomes the foundation for this exciting martial art and combat system.  Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is quickly learned and absorbed and can make any individual capable of defending themselves in virtually all self-defense situations.

We are affiliated with Professor Pedro Sauer, 7th Degree Red & Black Belt Master Instructor under Grandmaster Helio Gracie (Co-Founder of Gracie Jiu-Jitsu) and Master Rickson Gracie.  Our instructors at the Academy have experience training in Jiu-Jitsu for 9 years.

  FFMAA BJJ Lineage -  Professor Pedro Sauer (7th Degree) and his teacher Grandmaster Helio Gracie (10th Degree).

Professor Pedro Sauer was born and raised in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where from an early age, he began training in the martial arts. At age five, he began boxing and later took up judo and taekwondo. At age fifteen, however, his friend, Rickson Gracie, invited him to train jiu-jitsu with his younger brother, Royler, who at the time was only nine years old. The outcome of this experience convinced him that jiu-jitsu was the most effective of all the martial arts, and he began training the very next day.

Professor Sauer worked towards a double major (Economics and Business Administration) in college, and took post graduation course at Fundacao Getulio Vargas. He worked in Brazil as a stockbroker for eleven years before deciding to move to the United States and pursue a career teaching jiu-jitsu. In 1990, he moved to California with the original wave of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu instructors. He lived in California with Rickson Gracie and trained daily with the Gracie brothers (Rickson, Rorion, and Royce), their father, Helio Gracie, their cousin, Renzo Gracie, and the Machado Brothers, as well as many others. In December of that same year, he moved to Utah where he has lived for the past eight years, pioneering Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in the American southwest.

Professor Pedro Sauer’s Certifications

    * 1985 - Black Belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu from Helio and Rickson Gracie

    * 1986 - Tecnico de Jiu-Jitsu. This is a special certificate given in recognition of superior technical mastery of the art of jiu-jitsu, given to only a handful of students by Helio Gracie.

    * 1990 - Certified Black Belt Instructor by Robson Gracie and the Federacao de Jiu-Jitsu

    * Black Belt Judo

    * 1993 - 3rd Degree Black Belt from Rorion Gracie

    * 1996 - Level 6 Instructor Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Academy (Rorion and Royce Gracie)

    * 2000 - 5th Degree Black Belt under the Federacao de Jiu-Jitsu

    * 2003 - 6th Degree Black Belt

Professor Sauer Earned his Black Belt from Helio and Rickson in 1985. Long recognized for the superior technical efficiency of his jiu-jitsu, he then began his career as an instructor in 1986 when asked to teach with an organization known in Brazil as Corpo/Quatro (Body of Four) where he taught and continued his training under renowned jiu-jitsu instructors Alvaro Barreto (who is a red belt master under Helio Gracie).

After moving to Utah in December of 1990, he taught as one of only two non-Gracie black belts under the Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Academy (run by Rorion and Royce Gracie). In October of 1996, he became an official representative Black Belt Instructor under the Rickson Gracie American Jiu-Jitsu Association.

Currently, Professor Sauer resides in Virginia where he instructs at One Spirit Martial Arts and at Jeff Gordon's Self Defense Academy.  He also has several affiliated schools across the country, and he visits them on a regular basis to give intensive instruction to the students and instructors. He is one of the most highly sought after instructors in the U.S. (of any martial discipline) and has presented hundreds of public seminars around the nation.

Professor Sauer works extensively with military groups in Virginia, including the Marines and various groups from the Navy SEAL teams (including the snipers). He has also trained FBI and CIA agents in Texas. SWAT teams in Colorado and Utah. Also in Utah, Professor Sauer has trained the police in Provo, Orem, DARE officers, the Sheriffs department in Salt Lake City, POST (Police Officer's Standard Training) in SLC, and also the Orem Fire Department.

Professor Sauer's skill, confidence, and fearlessness as a jiu-jitsu practitioner win him the respect of all that work with him. However, it is through his sincere personality, his passion for teaching, and his ability to transfer his skills to his students in an efficient and professional manner, that he has earned the loyalty of students across the nation, and has established himself as one of the premiere military and law enforcement instructors in the U.S.

 The Francis Fong Academy is happy to announce that Coach Jorge Jimenez will be teaching our Saturday Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu classes on a regular basis, beginning November 14^th!

Few black belts today can legitimately claim to have learned the original self-defense techniques of Gracie Jiu-Jitsu under the direct tutelage of Master Pedro Sauer.

Jorge Jimenez began training Jiu-Jitsu with Pedro Sauer at the wrestling room of Bryant Junior High in Salt Lake City, Utah.  The year was 1993, and after his first experience with Jiu-Jitsu he never looked back.  He was awarded the rank of blue belt in 1994 and in 1996 became part of the staff as the 7 a.m. class instructor.

He was awarded all of his Jiu-Jitsu ranking by Pedro Sauer, including the promotion to Black Belt in 2004.  Shortly after, Jorge relocated to Georgia, where he founded Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Balance Academy.  Coach Jorge is currently a 1^st Degree Black Belt.