Rickson Gracie is widely considered as one of the BJJ legends. Gracie family had many representatives, but among them Rickson stood out by far. Many who have had the chance to roll with him have praised his ability to stay in control and dominate opponents.
But Gracie is ‘old school’ in many ways, and frowns upon many of Modern day developments in the sport.
In a resurfaced interview, Rickson Gracie expressed serious concerns about the current state of modern BJJ competition and many of today’s elite black belt competitors.
Gracie lamented that the competitive ruleset has strayed too far from the original self-defense concepts of Jiu-Jitsu. “Nowadays, someone can win by stalling for 9 minutes and then scoring a small sweep – but in the true art, that is totally irrelevant and insignificant,” he stated.
He argued that BJJ practitioners today are too focused on short-duration matches and rule-specific techniques rather than developing the resilience, adaptability and well-rounded skills needed for real-life combat situations without time limits or rulesets.
“Many can’t handle fighting an opponent 50 pounds heavier, can’t handle extended periods of fighting without gassing out, and make too many mistakes,” Gracie observed.
Another time he lamented: “When we arrived in the US, we were teaching Jiu-Jitsu to Karate black belts, who at the time felt like they knew everything. When they got exposed to real Jiu-Jitsu, they would say that they lost 20 years of their lives doing Karate, and now they realized what the real thing is. So somehow when I go to a (BJJ) seminar these days, I get the same impression from Jiu-Jitsu black belts. They’re like “Wow, I never taught that this existed in Jiu-Jitsu”. If we don’t do something very soon, Jiu-Jitsu will lose its fight identity.”
Gracie dismissed the practicality of many modern tournament positions and setups that rely too much on gripping gi pants or jackets. “Competitors get too focused on hyper-technical situations that only work under those specific constraints,” he said. “The true jiu-jitsu should work for everyone in any unpredictable situation.”
While respectful of the sport’s evolution, Gracie made it clear he views much of the modern competitive BJJ scene as straying from the core concepts, leading to a “better effectiveness for tournaments but not a better way to deal with real situations.”
He emphasized his mission and teachings today are centered on reviving the fundamentals, old school mindsets and time-tested techniques that never fail – the true essence that made Jiu-Jitsu an art of resilience, resourcefulness and adaptability in combat.
“I want to leave the best seeds for jiu-jitsu’s future,” Gracie declared, “by bringing attention back to the old testimony that created such a valuable, complete self-defense system in the first place.”
