15 Questions for Royler Gracie
Considered by many the best tactical and technical jiu-jitsu competitor in history, Royler Gracie recently relocated to San Diego.
The three-time Brazilian jiu-jitsu world champion and three-time Abu Dhabi Combat Club Submission Wrestling World Championships winner sat down with Sherdog.com for an exclusive interview.
Sherdog: You had the opportunity to move to the US right after your brother, Royce, won the first UFC in 1993. Why did you decide to move there now?
Gracie: I’m probably the last of the Mohicans to leave Brazil. Actually, 10 years ago, I lived in L.A. I stayed one year there, but I didn’t like the lifestyle, so I decided to return to Rio de Janeiro. Last year, I decided to move to San Diego, which is more like Rio. I’m living in La Jola, which is an amazing place very close to the beach.
Sherdog: What was behind your decision?
Gracie: Actually, it was for two reasons. First, I was kind of fed up being the head of the Gracie Academy for almost 25 years -- taking care of every single detail, from the classes to the lamps, cleaning up the place and everything. I was getting tired of it, so I decided to take a break. Actually, I didn’t come to America to open a jiu-jitsu academy. I can change my mind, but for now, I’m just planning seminars around the world. My working papers are fine, so it’s been a great experience. I don’t know how long it’s going to last. Maybe one day I’ll change my mind and return to teaching classes and spending my day inside an academy. For now, I’m just planning to travel and give seminars, something that I really like to do; they normally happen on weekends, so I have the whole week to stay at home with my family, go to the beach or surf. The second reason is that I was so overloaded in Brazil that I didn’t have time to put on a gi and train. I had to change my whole schedule to be able to surf. Here in San Diego, I totally changed my lifestyle. This week, I was cycling with my daughter in the middle of the week, something I couldn’t do for a long time in Rio. Last week, I was surfing on Wednesday. My lifestyle improved a lot. I’m taking care of myself, which is something I couldn’t do in Brazil. My plan now is to just return to Rio on vacation.
Sherdog: When you want to train in the US, where do you go?
Gracie: My training center is at the University of Jiu-Jitsu, with Saulo and Xande Ribeiro in San Diego. When we have important competitions, I go there to lead the training, but it’s important to make it clear that I don’t teach there. Me and Saulo have an excellent relationship; sometimes he sends a private student to me. I have built a nice dojo in the garage of my house, and it’s a nice area where I receive friends and give private classes. But Saulo’s academy is definitely my headquarters in US.
Sherdog: Where do you give seminars, and how can people who are interested contact you?
Gracie: I have given a lot of seminars since I came to the US -- in Colorado, Miami, Canada, New Jersey, New York, Philadelphia. I’m very impressed that, even with all these world crises, the invitations for seminars didn’t decrease. People normally contact me by sending e-mails to my personal e-mail:
[email protected]
Sherdog: How did your father react when you told him that you decided to come to the US?
Gracie: The crisis had just started. I went to talk to him, to tell him I had made that decision, and went to ask him what he thought about the crisis. He said “The crisis has existed as long as the world has existed. Every 10 years, the world passes through a big crisis, not only the world but all the families and people pass through natural crises that are naturally overcome. Go there. I’m sure you are going to do great.” Unfortunately, three months later, he died.
Sherdog: How do you compare jiu-jitsu today to your time?
Gracie: In competition, I believe it will always be evolving because today you have the technology, something we didn’t have 20 years ago. On the other hand, the jiu-jitsu game is getting more tied down, but I believe a good competitor has to know how to study the opponent, not just think about submissions. He must know how to win using advantages, points and, of course, submissions. The competitor must know how to play with the crowd, with referees in mind, and make the audience support him. There are a lot of things nobody taught me that I just learned competing.
Sherdog: How do you compare the growth of jiu-jitsu to the growth of MMA?
Gracie: I believe jiu-jitsu is going to be much bigger around the world than MMA. Actually, it already is because MMA fighters are restricted, between 18 and 35 years old. In jiu-jitsu, you start training when you are 3 years old, and you can train until you’re 80 years old, so it’s a much bigger range. I’m sure there are many more people practicing jiu-jitsu than MMA around the world.
Sherdog: How do you view the jiu-jitsu representatives in MMA?
Gracie: We are very well represented. We have Demian Maia, who is probably the number one representative of jiu-jitsu in MMA after Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. Actually, I met Rodrigo last week, and he is an amazing person. That’s what the sport needs -- good examples of idols. I don’t have too much contact with Anderson Silva, but he also looks like a nice person, and, for me, he also represents jiu-jitsu, even as a striker. When he’s fighting on the ground, he never disappoints me. We also have Thales Leites, who is doing a nice job in the Octagon. Roger Gracie also had a nice beginning, and we have Xande Ribeiro and Rolles Gracie coming.
Sherdog: During your career, which competitions impacted you the most in jiu-jitsu and MMA?
Gracie: In jiu-jitsu, I think the world championships in 1997 will always be remembered. I had seven fights -- in my weight category and in the absolute division. In my category, I defeated Vitor “Shaolin” Ribeiro, in the final. He was a 17-year-old boy who came in hungry, and I was 35 years old. Actually, I could have been his father and that was a landmark moment for me. I got the third place in absolute, even though I weighed 65 kilograms. I remember that I was on the same podium with Fabio Gurgel, Amaury Bitetti and Mario Sperry. Right after that, I was champion in Abu Dhabi, so 1997 was a very important year for me.
Sherdog: What about in MMA? Which fight impacted you the most?
Gracie: The fight against Kazushi Sakuraba. He was much heavier than I was and was also in the prime of his career, beating a lot of top guys. Actually, I didn’t go in presuming I’d beat him. I just wanted to know how he could beat me; that’s all I wanted to know. I was the sniper. I thought if he made some mistakes, I would catch him. He had the right game plan; he avoided the ground. I have no doubt that he was clearly superior in both the first and second rounds, but I never ran from the fight. He wanted to fight standing up, and I stood up and fought with him, but what affected me was the referee’s attitude of stopping the fight. In the contract, they said unless there was a knockout or submission, the fight would be declared draw, but the Japanese fans wanted to see him fight against Rickson Gracie. Nobody knows how our fight would have ended, if he would have broken my arm, if I would have tapped or if it would have finished in a draw.
Sherdog: Your fans can see you fighting again. Is there any possibility of it happening?
Gracie: I don’t know; I’m not worried about that. In jiu-jitsu, I’m more focused on being a coach. I’m not planning to compete anymore, unless there is a good proposal in ADCC. As far as MMA goes, I would like to have a retirement fight. My last fight against Hideo Tokoro was very nice, but, unfortunately, the referees judged him the winner. I thought it was a really even fight. If it had been in Brazil, I probably would have won, but since it happened in Japan, I can’t complain.
Sherdog: Have you put together a video in which you teach your best techniques?
Gracie: That’s true, and I’m very happy with the result. In this video, I teach some important techniques that I used in competitions. The video shows the fights, and after each one, I teach exactly the same position in a studio.
Sherdog: What’s the secret to your staying young?
Gracie: I keep following the Gracie diet. Even when I travel, I try to eat fruits and keep doing the right things. The secret to everything is what my father used to say: “If you put old gasoline in your car, it will break down.” The human body is just like a car. My father always said, “You are what you eat.”
Sherdog: How do you feel about the recognition of the Gracie name in the US?
Gracie: In Brazil, everybody knows me, but here in America, I have to say I’m impressed by how many times people stop me on the street. Even though my face is not shown anywhere on TV or the Internet, when it appears in MMA or jiu-jitsu magazines, I’m really impressed by that. I think when people recognize me it’s because of the years of hard work from my dad, my uncle, my brothers and all the practitioners of jiu-jitsu.
Sherdog: How do you view the importance of your father and uncle in the history of MMA?
Gracie: Without them, we wouldn’t be here in China doing an interview. The world wouldn’t be practicing jiu-jitsu and MMA. We have to thank that skinny man who must be over there looking down on us, the great master Helio Gracie and his brother, Carlos. They planted the seeds that we are all reaping nowadays.
