Interesting article.
In some ways he comes off kind of whiny, very much like the stuff coming some of the other Gracies on Helio's side. Claiming that the athletes don't know the rules because they can't read English is pretty silly. The English version of the rules is basically the Portuguese rules put into Babelfish. Also, if the IBJJF refs are conspiring against Rhalan, that will be officially the first time ever that the IBJJF robs a Brazilian and gives it to an American. And claiming that it's not fair that regular guys can't win because serious competitors train TOO HARD? I didn't know that training hard was considered unfair now.
He does raise some valid points though about the athletes getting ripped off. The top black belts really should be treated better. The fact that some of the guys who are the best in the world have to pay airfare + hotel + entry fee to compete is kind of messed up. Steroids also should be controlled more than they are now.
His actual rules are a mix. Straight knee bars really aren't that dangerous. Heel hooks and neck cranks certainly are, but they are already banned. Wrist locks are in a gray area, but if they were banned I would understand.
Not giving points for passing half guard is ridiculous. I'd be interested to know what his reasoning for that was.
The stalling rules make the most sense to me. BJJ basically has no stalling as it is, and it would make sense to enforce stalling more along the lines of Judo or Wrestling. There is nothing wrong with establishing a dominant position (in fact that's a major part of BJJ), but you should have to try to finish eventually. 30 seconds seems fair.
Only red and black belts can establish rules is confusing. Does this mean they intend to keep changing the rules until they can win again? Once the rules are set, they shouldn't be changing much.
Black belt referees makes sense if you can find them. What is a high ranking brown? A brown related to the Gracie family? I thought a brown belt was a brown belt, and if you want to be ranked higher, you just get a black belt. I knew white belts loved to distinguish between low whites and high whites, but I didn't know this was popular amongst brown belts too.
Thanks for the article.