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Rorion Gracie is the oldest son of Hélio Gracie. Helio, and his oldest sibling, Carlos Gracie, had helped spread the family's reputation in their native Brazil with Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ), a ground-based martial art they successfully modified from Japanese jujutsu. Helio taught his children, and, with Carlos, the Gracie family members would challenge practitioners of other martial arts with "The Gracie Challenge", and often won. At age seventeen in December 1969, Rorion Gracie traveled to the United States for the first time on vacation, and for a year he toured New York, Los Angeles, and Hawaii. Gracie had kept cash and return trip airline tickets at a YMCA in Hollywood, California. When his money and airline tickets were stolen, he worked in a restaurant, and later at a construction site where he would often sleep. When he became destitute, he begged for money on the streets until he was able to return to Brazil in 1970. He spent five years studying law at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro and earned a degree.
In 1979, Rorion Gracie returned to the United States and settled in Torrance, California. He trademarked and started using the term "Gracie Jiu-Jitsu" to prevent confusion with that of Japanese Jiu-Jitsu. Gracie brought his version of "The Gracie Challenge", which included a $100,000 prize to opponents who could beat him with their fighting style. Gracie met noted kick-boxer Benny Urquidez and demonstrated Gracie Jiu-Jitsu in practice sessions. Gracie challenged Urquidez to a fight, however it did not happen because the two could not settle on terms. While teaching out of his garage, Gracie did various jobs, including cleaning homes. While on a house cleaning job, he met a woman whose husband was a television and film producer. She recommended that Gracie become an actor. It was while working as a background actor on set of Lethal Weapon (1987) that he caught the attention of director Richard Donner, to whom he gave lessons. Donner had seen a video of Gracie fighting and defeating Ralph Alegria, a kick-boxer, and asked Gracie to choreograph fights scenes in the movie.
In 1989, Gracie created the Gracie Jiu Jitsu Academy in Torrance, California. He gave an interview published in Playboy magazine touting the Gracie Challenge. The article got the attention of Art Davie, a marketing professional. Davie was based in Los Angeles and employed by J &P Marketing, and sought new ideas on what to market. Davie met Rorion at the Gracie Academy in Torrance, California. They met again when Rorion invited Davie to watch Gracie Jiu-Jitsu being used on visiting karate opponents. Davie met film director and screenwriter John Milius, while witnessing Royler Gracie defeating karate opponents. Gracie and Davie became business partners, seeking a large media platform for Gracie Jiu Jitsu. They formed WOW Promotions on May 12, 1993, to seek investors. Davie received interest from Semaphore Entertainment Group (SEG) when he sent them fight videos of the Gracies. SEG programmer Campbell McLaren convinced his boss SEG President Robert B. Meyrowitz to invest. There was early friction between Gracie and Meyrowitz. Gracie was a purist in wanting the bouts to emulate real street fights as much as possible without rules or time limits. Meyrowitz, a veteran producer of radio and television content, was conscious of timing and presentation. On November 12, 1993, UFC 1: The Beginning (1993) was held and aired live on Pay-Per-View. Rorion's brother, Royce Gracie, competed in the tournament and defeated Art Jimmerson, Ken Shamrock and Gerard Gordeau to become UFC's first ever tournament champion. Royce's victory also validated the effectiveness of Gracie Jiu-Jitsu against traditional martial arts. Royce would become tournament winner of UFC 2: No Way Out (1994) and UFC 4: Revenge of the Warriors (1994). Seeking to capitalize on Royce Gracie's dominance and popularity, Robert B. Meyrowitz arranged a meeting for him to act in movies and merchandise be made based on him. Meyrowitz wanted a financial share in any such ventures, which Rorion opposed. This further heightened tension between Meyrowitz and Rorion. Rorion later sold his stake in UFC, and Royce stopped competing in the promotion. Rorion continued his family's legacy of teaching Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu through the Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Academy.
