Rorion Gracie was upset that the Machado brothers and Rickson were awarding BJJ black belts to non-Brazilians, according to Chris Haueter. Haueter explained that Rorion wanted to keep BJJ black belts only within the tight-knit Brazilian culture, similar to how the Italian mafia only allowed pure Sicilians to become “made men.”
In an episode of the Combat Base podcast, Haueter described interesting conversations between the Gracies.
Haueter described how in 1998-1999 at Gracie Academy, he overheard Rorion discussing this issue with other senior practitioners, though he couldn’t join the conversation due to rank protocol. He recalled Rorion telling him
“I know you’ll make the right choice”
regarding staying at the academy, but Haueter ultimately chose to train elsewhere.
According to Haueter, had he stayed with Rorion, he would not have become part of the “Dirty Dozen” (first 12 non-Brazilian BJJ black belts) since Rorion was not awarding black belts to non-Brazilians at that time. In contrast, the Machado brothers had several American black belts who made the Dirty Dozen list.
Haueter also mentioned there were rumors that Rorion had bugged the men’s locker room at the new academy. He recalled being called into Rorion’s office, where Rorion graciously explained that Rigan Machado‘s jiu-jitsu wasn’t as good as “the real stuff” and implied Rigan hasn’t learned the secret techniques yet.
“Like—there were rumors, and it’s probably true, that Rorion had bugged the men’s locker room at the new academy. And I never talked about anything, but I remember one time after class—it was Rickson’s Wednesday class, and Rickson didn’t teach there very long either.”
“And Rigan Machado had a private room door that said ‘Rigan Gracie.’ Like—they were giving him a chance to come back into the fold.”
“And I’m sure he had heard, probably through Royce, that I was training in Rigan’s garage while simultaneously being at the new Gracie Academy.”
“So after class, I would try to leave pretty quickly.”
“He called me into the office. He was very warm and gracious and basically explained how Rigan’s Jiu-Jitsu is not as good as the real stuff.”
“It was almost like Rigan hadn’t learned the secret stuff yet.”
“And, ‘If you ever want to get the secret, real stuff, you have to train here and stop training with Rigan. And I know you will make the right choice.'”
Haueter’s wife interjected:
“And here’s the thing—the kicker: Had you stayed with Rorion, you wouldn’t be the Dirty Dozen.”
Haueter agreed:
“I would not have been the Dirty Dozen. There’s no way.”
“Because he wasn’t giving out black belts.”
