Has anyone here ever rolled with Rickson Gracie or seen him in action?

[ViperXL]

The reason I ask this question is that Rickson is considered to be such a legend here on the forums. I never thought much of it, till I attended a Ze Radiola seminar. After the seminar we were all on the mat asking questions and exchanging stories. When asked who had the best BJJ ever, Ze quickly replied that it was Rickson hands down. He said something along the lines of that he would never see anything like that in his lifetime again. He said his technique was simply inhuman, and that he made black belts look like white belts. After hearing this I began to realize that the Rickson myths must have some truth to them. So anyone got any Rickson stories?

 

[IanMoone]

cant remember who, but an american bjj black belt described rolling with rickson as rolling with a 400lb mind-reading anaconda. filho, arona and nog say rickson toys with em like children. no personal stories myself, but id love to roll with him

 

[vonanaka]

I asked Alexandre Paiva the same question when I studied under him in Rio, and he said the same thing, Rickson is the best there is.

 

[ViperXL]

cant remember who, but an american bjj black belt described rolling with rickson as rolling with a 400lb mind-reading anaconda. filho, arona and nog say rickson toys with em like children. no personal stories myself, but id love to roll with him

That "mind reading" ability is another thing he mentioned. Somehow he could counter subs before you even started them. I guess he was so in tune to what was going on, the slightest movement or muscle contraction of his oppenent would let him know what was going to happen. Crazy shit.

 

[killer carlson]

Sounds incredible. I hope I get to witness it with my own eyes one day!

 

[shanks8318]

I asked my instructor about Rickson when I was training down in LA. He told me that he would toy with black belts like they were nothing. He also told me that he once saw rickson let a black belt mount him, and rickson choked him out with a collar choke.

 

[sproggdawg]

This article has been posted before, but its probably appropriate for this thread. Its by Dave Camarillo.

http://www.onthemat.com/articles/DATM_Rickson_Gracie_Stands_Alone_01_01_2003.html

 

[Sax MMA]

It would be an honour to roll with such a legand. That article sums it up well

 

[armtriangle]

never rolled with rickson, but i did roll with gokor if anyone cares. Not the same thing but still an eye opening experience. Here i am a 220# 24 year old (at the time) getting humiliated by someone half my size. He could literally tap me with 2 seconds notice at any point from any position. My instructor said the same thing, a 280# machado bb, that gokor could submit him any time he felt like it. Really opens you eyes to everything you dont know. I imagine teh rickson experience is even more eye opening. Just makes you feel stupid and liek you know nothing.

 

[YeahBee]

I am no BJJ but I love this larger then life thing. it does seem true to me but I may jsut be like those fundie people that talk in tounges, gets into trance at sermons and whatnot. they themselves believe the myth so it is an selfforfilling prophecy.

on the other side, wouldn't someone by now atleast have claimed to bested Rickson? (apart from that judoka/samboist)? I mean imagine an unknown young stud in Brazil or a hardnosed american wrestler, beating Rickson would propel him into the limelight of BJJ/grappling, but alas it has not happend

 

[YeahBee]

my own experience is with a 6th dan Swedish judoka, pretty smallish the fucker had a running commentary and said "say when" to the people on the sidelines, he was an ex world senior champ thou

 

[irc]

my own experience is with a 6th dan Swedish judoka, pretty smallish the fucker had a running commentary and said "say when" to the people on the sidelines, he was an ex world senior champ thou

What are you talking about?

 

[dipset1]

Wow thats crazy. Why doesn't rickson hold seminars or tell all video. I heard that they try to keep something secret. I wonder why?

 

[YeahBee]

What are you talking about?

somebody mentioned Gokor, jsut like the Camarillos, Pe De pAnos of this world I told my story about being humiliated severly

 

[Spoonman7]

I have heard some noteworthy grapplers say that Rickson is lke an alien, that he can flat out do things with his body that most can not.

 

[hayliks]

I trained at Rickson's place a number of times one summer and was lucky enough to catch him at the academy one day. He taught the no gi class, showed 2 simple yet effective techniques for taking the back from half guard. The techniques were nothing special and nothing innovative, but when we rolled, rickson took everybody's back with those techniques. I was only a 1 yr blue belt at the time so I couldn't tell the difference between how rickson rolled vs any other black belt.

I've also heard from some very credible sources about some amazing things Rickson has done in training.

 

[batman69]

here is what i know, my instructor, eduardo rocha, has trained with him and says he is above everyone technique wise. that his style, he just traps you as you roll. one moment you feel fine, the next you're fucked, with no warning in between.

he has a funny story about rickson and a surfing tournament. rickson wanted to a bjj tournament and a surfing tournament. so he showed up at the bjj tournament, got the promoter to start his bracket, went through everyone like they weren't anything and then hauled ass over to the surfing tournament.

 

[eastcounty]

ive always heard people compare to him but never seen him. itd be a great lesson just watching

 

[wOg]

I always thought that Helio had the best explanation of Rickson's greatness: "His timing is impeccable."

I've tried to work on that more than anything else since coming back to the mat after a three month layoff. More than new techniques, more than flexibility, more than strength, more than conditioning ... Just trying to do the right thing at the right time as often as possible, focusing not on what I want to do to but exclusively on what my opponent gives me.

Perfect timing + perfect technique = perfect jiu jitsu.

 

[nuckles]

My trainer trained with rickson and i rolled with my trainer does that count?