Rickson Gracie has dedicated his life to improving the efficiency of the basic techniques of Jiu-Jitsu.
An underlying principle of Gracie Jiu-Jitsu is that all techniques should not only be effective for all practitioners but also regardless of rule set or context. Rickson's Jiu-Jitsu focuses heavily on the efficient application of the basics. Because of this, he emphasizes the importance of a deep understanding of the principles and concepts behind the techniques such things as base, leverage, connection, and weight distribution. The precise application of these principles are often so slight that they are virtually impossible to see and need to be felt to be appreciated. This led Rickson to coin the phrase 'Invisible Jiu-Jitsu' to describe his conceptual approach to the art.