Rickson Gracie FAQ

[Jinzumkei]

A black belt instructor of mine has been friends with the Machados and Gracies for years. My instructor is very close to Rigan and says even the great Rigan Machado is in awe of Rickson's ability. Rickson is the only person to have beaten Rigan as I understand and he's done it twice.

[DonkeyKong]

AVT, thanks for the Carlson and NU info. They helped make this thread more complete.

johil'do, if you're gonna meet the man, it would be very appreciatead if you could get him to take maybe a few seconds to clear up some of the doubts lifted in this thread.

[BrokBakJiuJitsu]

Originally Posted by DonkeyKong

This is absolutely priceless. Great addition, thanks a lot.

Orlando Cani
This is from BJJ legends interview with Alvaro- no mention of Cani
BJJlegend interview

Hey DK, Great thread.
I believe Alvaro Romano is a black belt under Rickson. I've seen some interviews on the net that Alvaro states he has trained Rickson about Ginastica Natural. But the article about Rickson studing under Orlando Cani seems clear. Orlando Cani in his own words says he's the one who trained Rickson.
Secondly, Alvaro doesn't seem to include Cani in any of his interviews that I have read. He makes it seem like he invented the whole thing on his own. I'm a bit confused, maybe Alvaro is a good marketer and left Cani to the side so he can the spotlight. What's your take on this?

[easy tiger]

Originally Posted by BrokBakJiuJitsu

Orlando Cani
This is from BJJ legends interview with Alvaro- no mention of Cani
BJJlegend interview

Hey DK, Great thread.
I believe Alvaro Romano is a black belt under Rickson. I've seen some interviews on the net that Alvaro states he has trained Rickson about Ginastica Natural. But the article about Rickson studing under Orlando Cani seems clear. Orlando Cani in his own words says he's the one who trained Rickson.
Secondly, Alvaro doesn't seem to include Cani in any of his interviews that I have read. He makes it seem like he invented the whole thing on his own. I'm a bit confused, maybe Alvaro is a good marketer and left Cani to the side so he can the spotlight. What's your take on this?

Read the Orlando Cani article again. If I recall correctly (the site is down right now), Cani covers the Alvaro Romano situation in it. When it's up, check it out.

[BrokBakJiuJitsu]

Originally Posted by easy tiger

Read the Orlando Cani article again. If I recall correctly (the site is down right now), Cani covers the Alvaro Romano situation in it. When it's up, check it out.

yea I did read it and Cani stats Alvaro was his student for 13 yrs. Cani also says Alvaro patented the name "Natural Gymnastic". Cani called it disgusting and disappointing. Cani says Rickson was his best student. If this is all true, it just seems Alvaro is back stabbed his teacher and is taking all the credit. I had no idea about Cani before this thread. I was hoping to clear up the who taught Rickson thing cause Alvaro is apparently make money off of bogus claims.
I don't know Alvaro, he might be a nice guy, but at the very least he should not b.s. everyone cause Natural Gymnastic is really blowing up

[DonkeyKong]

As well it should. It's an awesome fitness system.

[Connection Rio]

Thank you for this post DonkeyKong, I have been a Rickson follower for years.

[DonkeyKong]

I was just rewatching Choke, and in it Rickson explains his style in his own words.

He says that he seeks to be at a point zero, from where he can react to his opponents' mistakes and finish the fight. Point zero is where you do not expose yourself at all and are perfectly aware of your opponents.

Whenever a fighter attacks, with striking, or shoots in, or takes any chance, he leaves point zero. This is how Helio fought: tight, defensive, and patient, until his opponents made mistakes. This is the basic principle of GracieJiu jitsu as developed by Helio.

When fighting a man of inferior technique, it might compensate to take some minor risks, but against a much bigger, stronger or younger opponent, if you leave point zero he will make you pay.

This is why Rickson critiziced Nog, because Nog strikes, takes risks, instead of being at point zero.

Now, this mentality does not apply to MMA. MMA is a sport, with judges and time limits and rules. Which is why Royce quit the UFC when time was added and only went back to MMA with time limits as an MMA fighter, no longer just pure jiu jitsu.

Machida is an interesting example of a fighter who applies point zero principle to his standup. Only time I saw him take risks were in some minor flurries against BJ , Rashad, etc.

[anaconda]

Originally Posted by yeahiknow

But Rener and Ryron compete all the time.

Originally Posted by yeahiknow

I'm not a 100% but I think he competed in the pan ams and well Ralek fought in Dream, so is the bjj still considered just self defence?

They do not compete all the time at all. And they definitely did not compete in the pan ams.

Get your facts straight.

What they tell their students is that their bjj (excuse me, gjj) is self defense and made for the street. So a "competitive" bjj player will beat them in a competition but they would win in the street. The reality is a competitive bjj guy would win in a competition and in the "street" due to battle tested techniques and reactions.

[Calibur]

I must be the only BJJ practitioner in the world to find all this Rickson worship creepy.

Maybe it's because I don't believe in putting human beings on such high pedastools.