Rickson Gracie: Modern BJJ Black Belts Remind Me of Karate Practitioners Clueless of Jiu-Jitsu

He’s not taking about BJJ in mma at all. But what has evolved into sport jujitsu where people play berimbolo or other sport guards or strategies that would get someone crushed if they were being punched in the face.

He’s just saying a lot of BJJ schools focus 100% on sport and ignore the self defense or real fighting aspects of BJJ.

And honestly if you’re training at an mma gym you’re learning most of that stuff by default already.

I know it’s sherdog and all but I find it kind of funny people are bashing him while basically agreeing with what he is saying.
 
Rickson is lucky he didn't face guys like Sakuraba.

Even Karate guys like Andy Hug will knock him out.
 
The point is that BJJ will be the next TMA.
 
TrueFightFan said:
Are we at Sherdog, such morons that we can't understand the quote? He is not talking about MMA as a sport, he is talking about Jiu Jitsu as a fighting style. To many, as you've just pointed out, it has become only a part of the "ring" with rounds and rules. "What about Hughes", "What about Sakuraba", we ask, but place them in an open field with no time limits or judges and things change tremendously. You may find the action boring but the results may surprise you. Two of the greatest fights I have ever seen would never have occurred or may have had different results under the new rules: Gracie vs Kimo and Gracie vs Severn. Under the new rules, I believe both fighters would have "Matt Hughes-ed" Gracie but under the old rules Gracie would have beaten Hughes. Show some respect and don't rush to elite levels of Shertardedness just because a Gracie speaks out every once in a while.
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No because Hughes was a better athlete with a grappling back round. He was too strong for Gracie and was in better shape. I see your point, but using Hughes is the issue. Strong wrestlers have all the attributes to add BJJ to their games pretty seemlessly. They also have better takedowns and TDD. They have proven time and again that it is a better base than BJJ by itself. No art works stand alone consistently anymore. Cross train or lose.
 
krelianx said:
People here talk as if he was a neutral party.

He doesn't sound sour or delusional, but like the representative of a brand. Which he is: he is a representative of Gracie JJ, and of his own brand which is an extension of it. In a day with thousands of academies and approaches, they have a lot of competition. Of course they are going to hype themselves up as the 'real deal'. They are a business.

You don't expect McDonalds to say they think In and Out makes a better burger.
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Actually, your comparison is terrible.
In and Out makes a tasty burger, and no McD’s rep would ever claim that theirs is better.
Maybe you haven’t been to In and Out.
 
When is this guy not complaining and making shit up about himself ?

How pathetic of a human being can you be to always be either complaining or lying ? Jesus dude, get some counselling
 
Hes the son of one of the founders of the art. I think he has the right to add his two cents.
 
PapaBherd said:
So many people missing the point. He isn't wrong; not every school has a high standard on those black belts.
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That's true. Too many people getting black belts in two three years that could get subbed by any blue belt at a good school in under two minutes .

If I look at this and only read it that way I can totally agree. However not so long ago her was another comment that was made insinuating that only Gracie JJ is real and other systems like 10th Planet are not true to the game and flawed. Guess I'm still thinking with that in mind and totally disagree. Especially where it counts ,on the mat. When you see the Death Squad and others doing very well.

It's a shame that this is even up for debate. I love BJJ, it's human chess and amazing. The Gracie's gave it to us and appreciate that to no end. Always get bummed when certain Gracie's ( or their team lose) and they shit on the ones that beat them. Such a respectful I find that hard to see.
 
Nothing against him and his families jujitsu style but in reality, we have judo, sambo, catch wrestling and different types of submission grappling styles that are just as effective. Now we are in a state that grappling in MMA is a melting pot and everything is mixed up. This leads to individuals picking a defensive grappling style so they could focus on ground and pound or striking game.

In reality, striking is and will always be the most exciting aspect and people are just trying to get paid.


That being said, I personally, love fighters like Karo Parisyan who have sick judo throws and unique chain submission and his fight with Diego and Nick was an epic grappling match. However, the likes of Conor and Chuck Liddle are ultimately the money makers of the MMA world.
 
I see where he's coming from actually. It could be some sour grapes but BJJ has been shifting too far away from self defense and too much just sport. That's largely where the divide in GJJ with BJJ is. It wouldn't be so bad if the sporty stuff applied to mma but you cant even use it there. That spider guard etc will get you hurt.
 
bully4me said:
That's true. Too many people getting black belts in two three years that could get subbed by any blue belt at a good school in under two minutes .

If I look at this and only read it that way I can totally agree. However not so long ago her was another comment that was made insinuating that only Gracie JJ is real and other systems like 10th Planet are not true to the game and flawed. Guess I'm still thinking with that in mind and totally disagree. Especially where it counts ,on the mat. When you see the Death Squad and others doing very well.

It's a shame that this is even up for debate. I love BJJ, it's human chess and amazing. The Gracie's gave it to us and appreciate that to no end. Always get bummed when certain Gracie's ( or their team lose) and they shit on the ones that beat them. Such a respectful I find that hard to see.
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Where is this happening at besides people trying to market a famous mma fighter (cough rashad) By definition a blue belt is supposed to be the equivalent of a shodan and just well versed in the basics while a true black belt indicates expertise.
 
Brazilian BJJ purists took a massive hit when Colby out of all people destroyed their last hope Maia and then openly mocked and insulted Brazil.
 
Vojislav said:
Brazilian BJJ purists took a massive hit when Colby out of all people destroyed their last hope Maia and then openly mocked and insulted Brazil.
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Under no time limit, it is a whole different animal
 
Is Rickson trying to say guys like Ryan and Ralph Gracie were monster BJJ practitioners too? I don't think so Tim.
The elite BJJ practitioners of today are light years ahead of the Gracie's of yesteryear.
 
Workaholic said:
Matt Hughes every single time under any rule set

And I hate Matt
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Yeah people forget when you've got a guy who is a skilled wrestler, proficient in bjj himself, and has retard strength that it's going to be a bad day for most Bjj only guys. I'd put my money on royce against most people on the street but high level mma is a different world.
 
Hmmmm. I wonder how much of this is pushing the "GJJ" thing, versus an actual opinion of the state of the sport.

That being said, there have indeed been some non-functional stuff creeping into sport BJJ over the years that probably should be addressed with rule set changes. Stuff like worm guard, prolonged (not transitional) use of inverted guard etc has very little utility in a MMA situation and probably isn't great for the sport from a martial arts perspective. Rewarding the takedown part of the sport wouldn't be a bad idea too. Wouldn't be the worst idea to emphasize top control a bit more too somehow (?1 point for obtaining top position when you don't already have it or something, regardless of takedown)
 
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