UFC legend Royce Gracie has addressed long-standing claims about his family’s perceived arrogance in the martial arts world, explaining that the Gracies were simply on a quest to determine which style was truly most effective.
“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. “You have to test against other martial arts to see if it works.”
The Brazilian martial arts pioneer described how his family’s approach emerged from a genuine desire to test different styles against each other, rather than from a place of superiority. “It was a quest that my family had to find out which style is the best because everybody claimed even back then that their style is the best,” he said.
National Representation in Combat Sports
Speaking on Jake Shields’ podcast, Gracie highlighted a concerning trend in combat sports – athletes representing countries they don’t actually live in or train in.
“A lot of the Brazilians now they come training America,” Gracie said. “They’re from Brazil but they grew up in America training in America.”
He compared it to what he’s observed in the Olympics, where athletes train in the U.S. but compete under different flags. “If you’re living in a country you should represent both in my opinion,” he said. “If you represent your home country you shouldn’t just represent your home country, it’s kind of disrespectful to where you’re living.”
His father’s wisdom resonated even here: “My father used to say you represent the world son, you don’t represent one country, you represent the entire world.”
Perspectives on Martial Arts Disciplines
In a revealing conversation, Gracie offered a nuanced perspective on boxing and other martial arts. “Boxing is not worthless – it’s incomplete,” he explained, highlighting that when boxers get into clinches, referees separate them, artificially limiting the fight.
He emphasized 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.
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.
Training with Modern Champions
Gracie discussed training with current no-gi grappling champion Gordon Ryan, offering a humble assessment of the sport’s evolution.
“The guy’s awesome,” Gracie said about Ryan. “He would have smashed me with one hand behind his back and guess what – he’s rolling and giving to me like ‘go ahead catch me.’ He understands the respect hierarchy of jiu-jitsu.”
He noted that while fundamental techniques haven’t changed dramatically, today’s competitors benefit from advances in training methods, nutrition, and recovery protocols. “The choke is a choke, an armbar is an armbar,” Gracie explained. “But it’s the training camp, how can you cut weight, what food to eat for recovery – the ice baths and everything got better. The training camp got better.”
Historical Context of Style Testing
Gracie 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.”
This methodology ultimately led to the creation of the UFC, where Gracie would famously prove the effectiveness of Brazilian jiu-jitsu by winning multiple tournaments against larger opponents from various fighting backgrounds.
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.
Looking back, Gracie maintains that his family’s approach wasn’t about arrogance – it was about honest testing and evaluation of martial arts effectiveness through actual combat, which ultimately helped evolve fighting into what we see today.
