Rickson Gracie Quotes and Short Biography

Rickson Gracie is considered by many to be one of the greatest grapplers and Jiujitsu Practitioners alive today. Although there are many other highly skilled and technically proficient grapplers competing today, none exemplify and personify the spirit, mind and body approach to Jiujitsu the way that Rickson has.

His timing and energy in executing the right techniques at the right time are greatly responsible for his level of proficiency. Rickson was born into a Jiujitsu family. For years Rickson has been reported to be undefeated in over 400 fights. These included Jiujitsu tournaments, No Holds Barred matches, Wrestling, Sambo, Open Weight Freestyle Competitions and street fights. One of his most well known fights was against the well-known Brazilian fighter, Zulu, who at the time was undefeated in over 140 matches.

This fight and victory brought Rickson national notoriety and increased his popularity tremendously in Brazil. Zulu went on in the press about how this time he would beat Rickson. In another well know and documented fight, a popular video, that was eventually featured in the Gracie In Action Videos shows Rickson fighting Luta Livre Champion, Hugo Duarte on the beach in Rio De Janiero.

Although this video unjustifiably depicts Rickson as a street fighter, nothing could be further from the truth. In the end, Ricksons fighter was awarded the decision victory. The other team was visibly not happy, because they strongly felt their fighter had fought the better fight and should have won the match based on the point system. Rickson along with his brothers, had learned Jiujitsu from their father, Helio Gracie, who had been taught by his brother, Carlos Gracie.

Carlos had learned Jiujitsu from the then Japanese Jiujitsu champion Esai Maeda. 65 years later this would bring Carlos' nephew Rickson to Japan to compete using the modern, adapted form of Jiujitsu. When during interviews, Royce was asked, "Are you the best fighter in the world?" Royce would reply that his brother Rickson was much better than he was. This elevated the interest in Rickson by the Japanese media as well as the media all over the world. Rickson's name and abilites would then gain legendary status. He trains all three components, the physical, mental and spiritual, but not separately. To be a capable fighter you must be able to beat a stronger, faster or more agile opponent. Probably the most special aspect of Rickson's approach to Jiujitsu lies in how personal it is.

The fighter who has technical skill looks to use that skill to achieve an end result. It's obvious that Rickson's view is that training in the martial arts is a very personal activity.

That is flexibility, cardiovascular conditioning and ideally some strength training.
Much of this type of training can be done on your own and Rickson himself spends a lot of time solo training.

Here is a quote taken from Rickson Gracie himself,

"Jiujitsu is a fight which combines all elements and all virtues of being human. Rickson's view is that the greatest strength of Jiujitsu lies in its adaptability, and that adaptability is what allows it to bring different functional martial arts together in a Mixed Martial Arts arena. A Jiujitsu fighter must adapt his approach to what his opponent is doing. The biggest point being that Jiujitsu enables a fighter to have a strong defensive base from which he can attack and from which he can further develop offensive skills and striking.

It's important to note that although Rickson considers himself a grappler and Jiujitsu fighter first, he ultimately considers himself a complete fighter and mixed martial artist in the truest sense. The most accurate description of Jiujitsu for Rickson Gracie is not a martial art but more accurately a philosophy, a philosophy for dealing with and confronting everyday life.

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