In a revealing conversation on Jake Shields’ podcast, legendary UFC champion Royce Gracie offered a nuanced perspective on boxing, challenging the common misconception that Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioners dismiss boxing as worthless.
“Boxing is not worthless – it’s incomplete,” Gracie explained, highlighting that when boxers get into clinches, referees separate them, artificially limiting the fight. He emphasized that this demonstrates boxing’s incompleteness rather than ineffectiveness.
The UFC Hall of Famer went on to explain that all individual martial arts styles, including wrestling, karate, and taekwondo, are incomplete on their own. “If you separate style by style, they become incomplete,” Gracie said.
He pointed out that wrestlers face similar limitations, noting that “once you pin the guy down, the match stops, but what if there’s no pinning down? What if it keeps going? They don’t know how to finish.”
According to Gracie, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu serves as the “spine” that connects all martial arts together. He believes fighters need to know striking, takedowns, and ground fighting to be complete martial artists. This perspective reflects the evolution of mixed martial arts, where successful fighters must now integrate multiple disciplines rather than rely on a single style.
Gordon Ryan recently shared a similar critical perspective on boxing‘s practicality in real-life combat, asserting that its limitations make it less effective compared to more versatile martial arts. He argued that boxing, focused solely on punches, lacks essential techniques like elbows, knees, kicks, and grappling, which are vital in unpredictable situations. Ryan highlighted that martial arts like Muay Thai, kickboxing, and MMA offer a broader skill set, making practitioners better equipped for real fights. He dismissed the idea that success in boxing automatically translates to dominance in other combat scenarios, emphasizing that MMA fighters represent the pinnacle of actual fighting. Ryan’s comments challenge the perceived supremacy of boxing and reignite debates on its effectiveness outside the ring.
Training with Modern Champions
During a recent podcast interview, Gracie discussed his experience training with current grappling superstar Gordon Ryan, offering a candid assessment of the sport’s evolution.
“He would have smashed me with one hand tied behind his back,” Gracie candidly admitted after discussing their recent training session. “The guy’s awesome. We’re rolling and he’s giving to me like ‘go ahead catch me’ and I was like dude there’s no way if I catch you I’ll be an [jerk].”
“I don’t care what people talk about Gordon Ryan, man the guy’s awesome,” Gracie said. “He’s one of my good friends.”
Gracie’s comments highlight how Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu has evolved since he helped introduce it to mainstream audiences, with today’s practitioners benefiting from decades of technical development and full-time training opportunities that weren’t available in his era.
“The guys train today towards that they are better athletes today because it’s not the choke that got better but it’s how to cut weight and how to exercise and the food – everything got better today,” Gracie explained.
Challenging Martial Arts Claims
The Gracie family’s approach emerged from a genuine desire to test different styles against each other, rather than from a place of superiority. “A lot of people told my family ‘Oh the Gracies are arrogant, they’re challenging other styles, they’re trying to put down other styles’ – no, we’re just trying to find out if our stuff works,” Gracie explained.
He recalled how when he first came to America in 1984, various martial arts magazines would feature claims from different disciplines about being supreme. “The karate guys claim they’re the best fighters, and the kung fu guys claim they’re the best,” he noted. At that time, judo and wrestling weren’t even considered martial arts in many publications.
Rather than accepting these claims at face value, the Gracie family took a practical approach: “Let’s put a boxer against a karate guy. Let’s get the best karate guy, best boxer – they both claim that they’re both deadly. Let’s put them to fight and see which one wins.”
No-Time-Limit Fights and Weight Advantages
Gracie shared insights into his father’s philosophy of no-time-limit matches, particularly when facing weight disadvantages. “My father would say I’ll give you the weight advantage but you got to give me time… If I give you the weight advantage, you got to give me time to work,” he explained.
He argued that with short time limits, bigger fighters could simply maintain top position until time expired. “You can’t just put a round of five minutes and that’s it because the bigger guy would always win finish on top and he won because he’s on top.”
This perspective comes from Gracie’s extensive experience in no-time-limit bouts, including his famous 90-minute battle with Kazushi Sakuraba.
National Representation in Combat Sports
Gracie also discussed the complex issue of athletes representing countries where they don’t primarily train. “A lot of the Brazilians now they come training America,” he said. “They’re from Brazil but they grew up in America training in America.”
Drawing from his own experience, Gracie shared his father’s wisdom: “My father used to say you represent the world son, you don’t represent one country, you represent the entire world. It’s Jiu-Jitsu you represent.”
Today, Gracie observes that the martial arts landscape has evolved significantly. “Now it’s an athlete against an athlete,” he notes, explaining how modern fighters must be well-versed in multiple disciplines rather than relying on a single style.
