Kyra Gracie was born on May 29, 1985, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. She is the granddaughter of Robson Gracie, who is BJJ founder Carlos Gracie (senior)’s second son.
Kyra was raised in the same home as her three BJJ black belt uncles, Ralph, Ryan, and Renzo Gracie. So she began playing around with jiu jitsu when she was a little child. Around the time she was 11 years old, she decided to modify how she approached BJJ and began attending regular classes.
Her family totally supported her competitive drive when she reached her yellow belt level. But as she advanced to her blue belt in her teen years, some of her family’s more conservative views were apparent.
As jiu-jitsu was seen as a violent sport in the family, the males (especially her uncles) attempted to talk her out of competition. She disregarded the family’s counsel and persisted in making jiu-jitsu her life, demonstrating that she was a tough Gracie family member.
In 2005, Kyra Gracie shifted her training to the Gracie Barra headquarters to be closer to another one of her uncles Carlos Gracie Junior. He gave Kyra her black belt when she was 21 years old.
Prior to that, Kyra had studied intensively with Alexandre Soca. In addition, Kyra Gracie enrolled in the university to pursue a degree in law. She had previousy abandoned the degree after her first year to focus only on competing and teaching jiu-jitsu.
Kyra Gracie chose to enroll in boxing lessons in 2009 in Brazil with renowned boxing trainer Claudio Coelho, indicating that she would pursue an MMA career. She worked hard on honing her judo techniques with Leonardo Leite, a member of the Brazilian Olympic judo squad.
In 2010, Kyra Gracie started competing for the newly established Gracie Elite Team. It is a Brazilian jiu-jitsu competition team made up of athletes representing the different schools of Rilion, Renzo, Ralph, Cesar, and the late Ryan Gracie.
To supplement her grappling abilities, Gracie trained in boxing in 2010 in the Nobre Arte gym in Rio de Janeiro’s Morro do Cantagalo neighborhood under the guidance of boxing coach Claudio Coelho.
Kyra temporarily trained with the Atos team in 2011.
In 2005, 2007, and 2011, Gracie won the women’s under 60 kg division at the ADCC submission championships. She won the lightweight and absolute classes of the IBJJF world championships thrice in 2008, 2010, and 2006. Additionally, she came in second place in the years 2004, 2005, thrice in 2009 (light and open divisions), and 2011.
Kyra Gracie soon gained recognition in the Brazilian media as one of the most well-known jiu-jitsu competitors due to her appearance, charisma, and competitive record. Kyra made cameo appearances on a number of popular prime-time TV programs, such as the renowned Programa do Jo (a show with a similar concept and popularity to the Tonight Show in the United States).
Kyra Gracie is only one of the two women in the Gracie family to have earned a black belt in BJJ. She is also the first Gracie woman to take part in the sport actively.
Gracie resided in the United States permanently for a number of years during which time she maintained close ties to the Renzo Gracie Academy in New York and the Gracie Barra Academy in Lake Forest, California.
