A little about the TPMMA Logo...

The Phoenix - the legendary mythological bird of fire, is probably the most popular of all the rebirth and resurrection symbols. There are stories and fables that touch on the Phoenix myth in the ancient Middle East, India, China and the Greek and Roman Empires. In the myth, the Phoenix is an extraordinarily long-lived bird of greatbeauty and luxuriant plumage (often described as golden or red-hued), living five hundred years or more, a fact attributed by one early Jewish legend that the Phoenix refused to eat the forbidden fruit of Paradise. At the end of it's life the Phoenix would build a nest of aromatic twigs, set fire to itself, and be consumed in the funeral pyre of it's own making, only to be reborn form the egg in which it laid.

The Triangle - the widely recognized symbol of the Gracie Jiu Jitsu Academy, has evolved over the years. Today, it appears on the storefront of every martial arts school that is committed to teaching the techniques and philosophy of Gracie Jiu-Jitsu in its purest form. The triangle represents the stable base possessed by a Gracie Jiu-jitsu master. Regardless of which side it rests on, the Gracie Triangle always has a strong base. The three sides represent the mind, body, and spirit – the three components of Gracie Jiu-Jitsu mastery. The shpape is also a type of hold or choke in which a type of figure-four chokehold which stragnles the opponent by encircling the opponent's neck and one arm with the legs in a configuration similar to the shape of a triangle The technique is a type of lateral vascular restraint that constricts the blood flow from the cariod artiers to the brian. The move is often utilized in mixed martial arts, usually by Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioners.