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Is this Renzo Gracie quote accurate from your experience?


As a purple belt with two master degrees (which barely sets me above average in terms of education in my family), BJJ taught me a lot of things, but I hate all this bullshit about how BJJ will make you smarter, cure your depression and make your dick grow bigger and longer. I hate even more how Renzo acts like he's a wise genius when he has consistently showed poor judgment and character in life.
 
“Truthfully, in this age those with intellect have no courage and those with some modicum of physical courage have no intellect. If things are to alter during the next fifty years then we must re-embrace Byron's ideal: the cultured thug.”

wild generalizations are typically false. I have intellect along with a great capacity and capability for violence. I know many like me ranging from military, LEO, and fight gyms. And that excerpt still does nothing to prove that there is more philosophy on the mats than an Ivy League school.
 
Quite the opposite.

Seems to me a lot of non-academically-inclined people want to regain a certain sense of self-importance via being more physically imposing or tougher "on the streetz".

We're no longer in the medieval times. This is 2020. This is the information age. Knowledge is king.
Yet you still need military to protect the knowledge and the people. Knowledge by itself won't save you.

People just got accustomed to being protected from the shadows that they forget the importance of the people that fight on their behalf because they are not capable to do so themselves.

This quote from Skyfall James Bond fits this perfectly. Q the intellectual, James Bond military.
Q: Every now and then a trigger has to be pulled.
James Bond: Or not pulled. It's hard to know which in your pajamas.
 
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I think everyone can agree the point of most sports is to test oneself. However, people shouldn't confuse the ability to endure the mental stress of a physical endeavor with enduring the mental stress of an intellectual exercise. I'm going to give an example. I work in a relatively high stress white collar job. I had a guy for a time who was my main partner at work. He was fresh out of special forces and had completed his college degree. He was into BJJ/boxing and competed in grappling. Fucking tough as nails, I mean nails. Any physical test was easy. He buried me in every physical undertaking we ever did. He could get beat and come back for more every day.

However, could he handle the mental stress of civilian high pressure work? He could not deal with it, at all. It destroyed him. Now works for a federal law enforcement agency. He understands training, sacrifice, diligence, discipline, etc., etc. but all of his understanding walked right out the door when the stress became purely intellectual.

My point is there are people who are not cut out for the physical stress of fighting but one shouldn't discount their ability to come to a place in life where they are a complete well thought out human.
Both are important and needed in society. People should play with the gifts they are given.
 
I appreciate your post. All of what you said can be found in an Ivy League school and then more. So again, Renzo’s egotistical proclamation is false.

I acknowledge the philosophies of combat sports and cherish them deeply, but I’m also not delusional enough to believe that there is MORE philosophy on the mats than an actual school. I’ve done both. Combat sports have their limitations.
I'm not talking strictly about combat sports, that's why I used Marcus Aurelius as an example. I would take his philosophies over people that just read books and are in classrooms all day. Most of life happens outside of a classroom. It's kind of a bubble effect.
 
I always lol when martial artists think their knowledge is comparable with the one of PHDs...
It may indeed be so, just in different endeavours. But how could such a thing ever be proved?

I believe Firaz has a degree in philosophy. Get him in here!
 
Training Jiu-Jitsu and MMA has been a huge part of my life since 2005. These places have often been filled with some of the dumbest people I've ever had to interact with. It would be hard to exaggerate how untrue what Renzo said is.

What I will say is that Jiu-Jitsu is a lot like a cult and professors get very used to forcing their idiotic theories on life to their students, while no one ever pushes back because they want to get promoted. Not sure if that's Renzo's idea of philosophy or not.

That's really unfortunate.
 
I agree but you knocked the Gracies for being thugs... and having the “capacity” for violence is worthless if you never use it! I bet only “thugs” are violent right? Lol just like the professors in universities who never apply their intellectualism in real life.

edit: my post might come off harsh but I don’t have time to thoroughly edit it. Please try to be objective when reading it. I like you as a poster. I have no I’ll will toward you.

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you seem defensive. I’ll try to clarify things for you.
First off, if you know the history of the gracies, they were dojo storming, fight picking bullies. I’m not knocking them. I owe them a great deal because of what they’ve given me and the world. But I can’t just ignore what Bjj was founded on. Hero worship is for cucks. Don’t be that. You don’t need to white knight for the older Gracie generation.

second, your logic is flawed. Having capacity for violence is important even if you don’t use it. Like having a gun. Better to never use it but it’s good to have it just in case. Sorry to disappoint you, but I have used my jiu jitsu in real life. Thankfully, I didn’t need to use it violently. But I’m glad I had it to defend myself effectively. Just because you’re able to be violent doesn’t mean you need to be violent. Work on your logic. Don’t be defensive. Be logical, not emotional.

thugs are not the only violent people. This is another logical error on your part.

and professors use their education outside of schools more than Bjj players use their skills outside of gyms.

lmao. Your whole post stinks of defensive emotions. I’m sorry that you have trouble grasping logic. Your heroes aren’t perfect. I mean damn son, they’re my heroes too! I love the gracies and what they’ve given to me and the world. I’m just not delusional enough to believe they’re a bunch of honor bound saints. Do your research. Learn some history. They were a miniature martial arts mafia. Storming dojo’s and beating guys up. Get a grip on reality my guy. Control your emotions.
 
I'm not talking strictly about combat sports, that's why I used Marcus Aurelius as an example. I would take his philosophies over people that just read books and are in classrooms all day. Most of life happens outside of a classroom. It's kind of a bubble effect.

Help me understand. Are you suggesting that because Marcus Aurelius was a brilliant philosopher, in part due to his combat experience, that his level of philosophy applies to jiu jitsu mats?

cmon man. Maybe the closest thing we have to a true martial arts philosopher in Bjj is Danaher. Other than that, the sport is mostly comprised of newbs looking to learn self defense and/or getting in shape. There is not as much philosophy involved as you might hope.

even the top level guys are half focused on surfing, competing, taking “açaí” and winning medals. They’re not a group of philosophers. Don’t be delusional.
 
Renzo is a fucking hack of a human being.

Watching SakuGOAT turn his arm into playdoh is easily one of the greatest things ever seen in MMA.

Fuck Renzo and fuck 99% of the Gracie clan.
 
Isn't it common knowledge that the Gracie family in general is a bunch of scumbags who run a giant cult-like scam?
Not that they don't know their grappling but everything else is bullshit and milking gullible disciples.
 
Probably the "philosophy" you get when weed is involved if you believe Rogan saying lots of guys smoke and roll.
 
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