Rickson Gracie FAQ

[dr.feelgood]

My life will never be complete unless I get an opportunity to at least attend a seminar with Rickson.

 

[DonkeyKong]

Last year he did a tour in Brazil called " Invisible Jiu Jitsu",in which he revisits basic positions and submissions and shows the minimal details he has tweaked that improve their efficiency to the maximum.

They were all packed to the limit and over half of the participants were black belts. I was halfway across the world and couldn't make it but those who went said their minds were blown.

So I guess we're on the same boat.

 

[knoxpk]

I think the point he was making is that Rickson does not agree with people cross training like Minautoro does for exemple.

Rickson believes Jiu Jitsu by itself is sufficient to win in Vale Tudo fight therefore he is not a MMA fighter.

IMO BJJ itself is a mixed martial art, adding sambo, wrestling as time progressed so I find that to be a wildly inaccurate statement. He can consider himself whatever he wants but BJJ is and always will be a MMA.

Aside from that this was a GREAT post and background on a true legend of the sport.

 

[Ninjamurf]

I am after the BB given to Brasilians only.

Not a comprehensive list as it's quite old (in fact my instructor is now a red and black.) I think it's from the old bjj.org pic that listed everyones lineage? Anyway, I have, as Rickson's BB's...

Henry Akins
Leandro Almeida
Octavio de Almeida
Romolo Barros
Marcelo Behring
Luiz Claudio Augusto Goncalves
Mauricio Costa
Wellington "Megaton" Dias
Luis "Limao" Heredia
David Kama
Luiz Palhares
Jorge Pereira
Fabio Santos
Pedro Sauer
Chris Saunders
Leandro Sotero
David Terry
Rodrigo Vaghi
Carlos Valente
Takamasa Watanabe

Of course, since this list, I want to say Rani Yayha and Kron. Others?

 

[DonkeyKong]

IMO BJJ itself is a mixed martial art, adding sambo, wrestling as time progressed so I find that to be a wildly inaccurate statement. He can consider himself whatever he wants but BJJ is and always will be a MMA.

Aside from that this was a GREAT post and background on a true legend of the sport.

Yes, you are correct. BJJ has evolved through times, absorbing whatever would work. True Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is really the principle of closing the distance, controlling your opponent and ending the fight by disabling your opponent by crippling or unconsciousness while not giving your opponent any chance to hurt you. Any technique through which this principle can be applied can and will be used in BJJ for self defense.

Rolls was the first to actively seek cross-training in other grappling arts, but many popular moves were rediscovered and reabsorbed through the times. Two famous examples are the triangle choke, which was not passed on to Carlos and was instead learned from a Judo challenger, and the Ezekiel choke, which was developed by a judoka called Ezequiel to be used against the BJJ guys in the guard, and was subsequently absorbed into Jiu Jitsu.

You can not unlearn something. Every new thing shown is something in the arsenal.

 

[lechien]

IMO BJJ itself is a mixed martial art, adding sambo, wrestling as time progressed so I find that to be a wildly inaccurate statement. He can consider himself whatever he wants but BJJ is and always will be a MMA.

Aside from that this was a GREAT post and background on a true legend of the sport.

QFT.

But who is gonna go argue with Rickson about it?

For exemple Renzo Gracie is great believer in cross training, Rickson just talks against it.

 

[knoxpk]

QFT.

But who is gonna go argue with Rickson about it?

For exemple Renzo Gracie is great believer in cross training, Rickson just talks against it.

Umm I didnt say anything....What are you talking about?

 

[DonkeyKong]

Rickson has a reason not to believe in cross-training. He has the same mentality as his father, Helio. Helio did not believe in winning fights. Some fights, he said, are impossible to win. He believed in not losing and not getting hurt. He had this belief, that the attacker is always at a disadvantage, and that a man with a perfect technique who does not attack , leaves no holes and can not be defeated.

Rickson believes that training in striking arts will deviate the focus from the principle of jiu jitsu, which is being safe, having no holes in your defense, and attacking when the opponent has an opening. He believes striking exchanges are something of a lottery and he does not believe in risks. He believes in control from beginning to end.

Because of that principle he pretty much advocates using only the principles behind jiu jitsu. This also led to the Big Nog controversy when he said that he wished Nog would believe more in his jiu jitsu and focus less on striking and more on safety, because he was always hurt in striking before finishing on the ground. Nog did not like that comment, even though Rickson also said that Nog was a legend, an admirable fighter with a great heart.

The thing about Rickson is that, because he is Rickson, whatever he says will have a lot of weight. And when he says something negative...well.... it affects people.

Likewise, Rickson said about 2 years ago, that he believed the level of jiu jitsu in MMA was not up-to-par, and that it could and should be applied better. Wanderlei took it personally and challenged Rickson, prompting Arona and Saulo Ribeiro to join the discussion , and creating a ruckus in the MMA world.

 

[Etheral]

Awesome read, thanks for posting this it was very entertaining.

 

[knoxpk]

Rickson has a reason not to believe in cross-training. He has the same mentality as his father, Helio. Helio did not believe in winning fights. Some fights, he said, are impossible to win. He believed in not losing and not getting hurt. He had this belief, that the attacker is always at a disadvantage, and that a man with a perfect technique who does not attack , leaves no holes and can not be defeated.

Rickson believes that training in striking arts will deviate the focus from the principle of jiu jitsu, which is being safe, having no holes in your defense, and attacking when the opponent has an opening. He believes striking exchanges are something of a lottery and he does not believe in risks. He believes in control from beginning to end.

Because of that principle he pretty much advocates using only the principles behind jiu jitsu. This also led to the Big Nog controversy when he said that he wished Nog would believe more in his jiu jitsu and focus less on striking and more on safety, because he was always hurt in striking before finishing on the ground. Nog did not like that comment, even though Rickson also said that Nog was a legend, an admirable fighter with a great heart.

The thing about Rickson is that, because he is Rickson, whatever he says will have a lot of weight. And when he says something negative...well.... it affects people.

Likewise, Rickson said about 2 years ago, that he believed the level of jiu jitsu in MMA was not up-to-par, and that it could and should be applied better. Wanderlei took it personally and challenged Rickson, prompting Arona and Saulo Ribeiro to join the discussion , and creating a ruckus in the MMA world.

Thats an excellent post and very valid indeed.

I do have a qyestion then.
Obviously Jiu Jitsu is superb on the ground both from the back and on top. With the MMA explosion more and more fighters are training wrestling and Judo and more and more martial arts clubs are devoting time to grappling.

With the huge focus now on countering a guard game and avoiding being taken down how does a Jiu Jitsu student "force the action" to the ground if not by a takedown of his own or punishing a man with strikes until he is compelled to take you down himself.

Lets look at the likes of a Dan Henderson or Chuck Lidell for example or other fighters that have devoted more time to actually defending a takedown, how do you force them to your world if you dont strike well and cannot secure a takedown?

 

[DonkeyKong]

Thats an excellent post and very valid indeed.

I do have a qyestion then.
Obviously Jiu Jitsu is superb on the ground both from the back and on top. With the MMA explosion more and more fighters are training wrestling and Judo and more and more martial arts clubs are devoting time to grappling.

With the huge focus now on countering a guard game and avoiding being taken down how does a Jiu Jitsu student "force the action" to the ground if not by a takedown of his own or punishing a man with strikes until he is compelled to take you down himself.

Lets look at the likes of a Dan Henderson or Chuck Lidell for example or other fighters that have devoted more time to actually defending a takedown, how do you force them to your world if you dont strike well and cannot secure a takedown?

That is a very good question, but I don't think you're going to like the answer.
Jiu jitsu is self-defense. It is meant for the smaller man to take out the bigger man. Remember, it was always used as a system of self-defense or to answer challenges, never as a style to be used in the ring. The family always saw, and still sees, professional fighting as a mean to show the efficiency of their style.

So what happens if the other guy is exceptional at defending the takedown? In real life,nothing, if he's not attacking you. There is no fight, and you will be fine. Safe and unhurt.

If he is attacking you, he's close, and if he's close and attacking, he will open a hole that you can explore to take him down. It is not the same as in the ring when a jiu jitsu fighter actively tries to take the guy down offensively. In that case, using purely jiu jitsu leaves you open to weaknesses. If you deviate from the principle, then you are taking risks. Using it aggressively brings risk. BJJ is not about risks. It is about control.

That is the reason why Rorion sold the UFC when it required time limits. The Gracies did not want to fight with time limits because that did not allow them to maintan control and use patience and persistence without taking risks, all the way to victory. Rorion felt that giving that up would be assuming a risk which, compounded with the lack of weight categories, would be too unfair on Royce.

 

[yeahiknow]

How good was Rorion compared to the rest of his brothers? Is his bjj skills just average or is he really good like his sons? All three of his sons are very good bjj players.

 

[DonkeyKong]

How good was Rorion compared to the rest of his brothers? Is his bjj skills just average or is he really good like his sons? All three of his sons are very good bjj players.

Relson and Rickson were both gifted, Rorion not so much. They are all good, and consistent. How can they not be, when they were raised on the mat? But even in that environment some stood out more than others. Helio could never hide the disappointment he felt due to Rorion being an average player, especially when Rorion had a rivalry with Rolls, who sorely outmatched him despite the size difference.

Even though Helio loved Rolls very much, having raised him since a baby ( Rolls was Carlos's son, and as a grown up called both Helio and Carlos "dad"), he could never fully swallow his bitterness. This exploded when Rolls died. The big commotion afterwards prompted Helio to say something he would regret instantly, he said "Why is everyone calling him a champion? He wasn't a champion. Who did he fight?"

Rolls's wife replied in furious tears "I bet you are happy because now that the sun is gone, the little stars can shine".

 

[LocalNmass]

Nice Job compiling the info,
I have a couple questions...
What is Rickson's financial status?
Why doesn't he teach at an academy?
Why doesn't he do more seminars?

 

[[Tycho?]]

Cool, thanks for that. I've certainly been curious about that Rickson guy, and now I know what the deal is.

 

[DonkeyKong]

Nice Job compiling the info,
I have a couple questions...
What is Rickson's financial status?
Why doesn't he teach at an academy?
Why doesn't he do more seminars?

I can't give you concrete information in this but I can tell you what is said mouth-to-ear in the jiu jitsu community in Brazil.

1- The divorce with Kim cleaned him out pretty good. California divorce laws are generous and she was a housewife, which makes them even more generous. Anyway, he is far from starving, that's for sure.

2-In 2008 he moved back to Brazil. He had had enough of the US, and after his divorce felt that not much was keeping him there. In his own words, he "had to come back to Rio to recharge his batteries". And just stuck around. I don't know if he is still in Brazil.

3-That is a good question. God knows there are enough people who want it. He is probably tired of it, or busy with other projects and helping to train Kron. I give seminars on motivation and I can tell you that a weekend of that drains you up hard.

 

[strike63]

YouTube - Rickson Gracie

awesome rickson highlight

 

[johil d'o]

Not a comprehensive list as it's quite old (in fact my instructor is now a red and black.) I think it's from the old bjj.org pic that listed everyones lineage? Anyway, I have, as Rickson's BB's...

Henry Akins
Leandro Almeida
Octavio de Almeida
Romolo Barros
Marcelo Behring
Luiz Claudio Augusto Goncalves
Mauricio Costa
Wellington "Megaton" Dias
Luis "Limao" Heredia
David Kama
Luiz Palhares
Jorge Pereira
Fabio Santos
Pedro Sauer
Chris Saunders
Leandro Sotero
David Terry
Rodrigo Vaghi
Carlos Valente
Takamasa Watanabe

Of course, since this list, I want to say Rani Yayha and Kron. Others?

Rani is not a Rickson black belt.

Shane Rice got his black belt from Rickson.

 

[yeahiknow]

Relson and Rickson were both gifted, Rorion not so much. They are all good, and consistent. How can they not be, when they were raised on the mat? But even in that environment some stood out more than others. Helio could never hide the disappointment he felt due to Rorion being an average player, especially when Rorion had a rivalry with Rolls, who sorely outmatched him despite the size difference.

Even though Helio loved Rolls very much, having raised him since a baby ( Rolls was Carlos's son, and as a grown up called both Helio and Carlos "dad"), he could never fully swallow his bitterness. This exploded when Rolls died. The big commotion afterwards prompted Helio to say something he would regret instantly, he said "Why is everyone calling him a champion? He wasn't a champion. Who did he fight?"

Rolls's sister replied in furious tears "I bet you are happy because now that the sun is gone, the little stars can shine".

Wow !! That is just.... I don't have words for that. I think this is the best thread ever.

 

[yeahiknow]

Do you know what his expectations for kron are? Does he want him to compete in mma or does he just want him to run his school in L.A.