Rener Gracie has found a lucrative new market for his family’s martial arts empire, and it involves obtaining patents on techniques that grapplers have used for decades. His “SafeWrap” system, marketed as a revolutionary restraint method for police and healthcare workers, appears to be little more than common wrestling and jiu-jitsu positions repackaged under intellectual property protection.
The core of SafeWrap consists of two fundamental grappling techniques: the gift wrap, controlling both of an opponent’s arms, and the leg lace, crossing the legs to control the hips. Any wrestler or jiu-jitsu practitioner would recognize these as standard positions taught in gyms worldwide. Yet Gracie has obtained a patent on this “proprietary method” and now requires organizations to pay licensing fees to use techniques that have existed in grappling arts for generations.
The business model is straightforward. Organizations must send representatives to expensive certification programs, with four options ranging from standalone two-day courses to online certifications. Only after completing these programs and activating the appropriate license can agencies train their own staff. This creates a perpetual revenue stream from what amounts to basic grappling knowledge.
Gracie’s promotional video makes bold claims about SafeWrap being “the first systematic method” of lateral restraint and offers $1,000 to anyone who can escape at Santa Monica Beach. The demonstration conveniently ignores that these positions are regularly escaped in wrestling and jiu-jitsu competitions by trained athletes. The beach volunteers, while enthusiastic, clearly lacked grappling experience.
The medical endorsement from Dr. Gary Vilke focuses on breathing and safety, but never addresses whether these positions are truly novel or simply rebranded fundamentals. The testimonials from police departments, while positive, raise questions about why agencies need to license basic control positions rather than simply incorporating them into existing defensive tactics training.
What makes this particularly questionable is the patent itself. Patenting fundamental human body positions seems ethically dubious, especially when those positions have been documented in wrestling and martial arts for decades. It would be like patenting the rear naked choke or the arm bar, then charging police departments to learn them.
The Gracie family has undeniably contributed to martial arts education and popularizing Brazilian jiu-jitsu. However, this venture crosses into exploitative territory. Police departments and healthcare facilities, desperate for better restraint methods amid public scrutiny, are easy targets for expensive “solutions” that dress up existing techniques in proprietary language.
Organizations facing these proposals should consult with experienced grapplers and wrestling coaches before committing to licensing fees. The techniques themselves may be valuable, but paying patent fees to learn the gift wrap and leg lace represents an unnecessary expense when countless instructors already teach these fundamentals without intellectual property restrictions.
