7 Surprising Insights on Life And BJJ From Rickson Gracie

Jiu-jtsu com sangue

Rickson Gracie is perhaps one of the most respected experts in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu walking the earth and a few years ago he gave an amazing interview that really focused on his views about Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, training, life and martial arts.

When we watched this interview we really had to share this because it is packed with insights.

The interview is at the bottom of the post and is 30 minutes long, so for those of you who don’t have time we have pulled 7 concepts from the interview and we break them down for you and give you the views of WOMA TV for each of them.

As always, we have included the times of the comments/ concepts raised so that you can heck them out directly.

 

Contents

1. Part Of The Reason That Jiu Jitsu Developed So Differently in Japan Than Brazil Is About The Challenge.

At around the 2.45 mark in the interview, Rickson talks about the way that Jiu-Jitsu in Japan and Brazil are different and the reasons for this. He states that people in Brazil want to challenge you to see if you are good and even talks about random people coming in off the streets and challenging you to fight.

He goes on to say that in Brazil there are a lot of fights because there is a lack of respect.

This is a really sweeping statement, but Rickson does a great job of explaining this.

In essence, he talks about the attitude of respect in Japan whereas in Brazil people are so quick to fight you and as such the art of Gracie Jiu-Jitsu had to evolve to deal with these threats.

2.You Learn Martial Arts To Become More Peaceful

At the 4.19 mark, Rickson talks about the benefits of martial arts and that people learn them to become more confident and peaceful.

This is a really insightful comment because a person at peace is less afraid, more confident and secure and this is something everyone can recognise as a benefit of training.

3. 60 to 70% Of The Black Belts That Attend Rickson’s Seminars Have No Understanding of Self-defence

At the 7.01 mark, Rickson makes a huge comment about the standard of BJJ when he talks about high grades having zero knowledge of the self defence aspect of the art

4. 8 out of 10 BJJ Matches Are Very Boring

Rickson Gracie tells us that 8 out of 10 matches in BJJ are boring. This occurs at 13.35 minutes

5. The Efficiency To Get A Medal Is Different Than the Effectiveness In Real Life

At 14.05 minutes Rickson really digs into the sporting aspect of BJJ and talks about how training in BJJ for sport can really hinder and reduce the ability of a person fighting ability.

He acknowledges that people in sports BJJ are really tactical and have a great understanding of strategy. However, he also states that those activities in the sport such as stalling to win on points will not be practical in the street.

6.If You Have 5 Masters And Learn From All 5 You Will Not Become A Super Master

Rickson delivers a superb insight here.  During the interview, he talks about how a person will go to multiple teachers to learn but he states that this will not make a person necessarily better.

We can all only learn so much and he refers to this as a funnel. All the information is at the top but only so much can enter the funnel at any one time and this then drips into the brain.

 

7. Gracie Jiu Jitsu Is Enough For Anyone

Bang at the 26.00-minute point Rickson gives us his views on cross training.

Rickson is in no doubt that Gracie Jiu-Jitsu is enough for anyone and students should focus on making the art work against anyone.

Sure they might spar against boxers and other martial arts specialist but the Jiu-jitsu representative should learn to make their style effective and not try and learn other martial arts to fill a gap they think exists.

 

So these are the seven key points but please watch the whole interview because it is packed with learning points.

 

 

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