Love him or hate him, Ralph Gracie has helped change Brazilian Jiu Jitsu forever. He is from a legendary family and has trained since a child. Because of this, his knowledge of the game runs deep and he has a wealth of experience. Whilst he is also known to let his fists do the talking, he also has a few words of wisdom too. Often, people think about him on the violent side of things. However, as the quotes below will show…he is also very articulate and speaks lovingly about Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and how it can help improve your life, on and off of the mats.
“One day, someone is going to try to take something from you, and you are going to have to choke them out. It’s that simple.”
“If I go to heaven I’ll be fine. But if I go to hell as a Ralph Gracie black belt, the devil will be afraid of me.”
“A lot of fun in my life happens on the mats. It happens training, with friends in training. With people that I like that are involved. It’s a culture, a lifestyle.”
“Everything that I have, that I know – I learned from Jiu Jitsu, from time on the mat. I got self confidence, discipline and my business. It’s all from Jiu Jitsu.”
“Fighting is a small aspect of martial arts. When you’re walking tall, knowing you can protect yourself. If someone cusses at you, you don’t care as you know what you can do. All this, I learned with Jiu Jitsu.”
“I got in a fight in school. I told the guy who beat my friend, ‘now it’s my turn to beat you up’. I took him down, hit him a couple of times then took him down again, mounted him and hit him again. I said ‘had enough? You understand me?’ He said yes. I gave him a hand and picked him up.”
“I would say 90% of my students are not athletes. They’re businessmen. I say that’s ok, we’ve got a place for you. I want to get the average joe and make him better for himself.”
“When people train with a competitive point of view, a lot of people are forgetting the other part of Jiu Jitsu which is the self defense, learning how to fight. Just because you know Jiu Jitsu, it doesn’t mean you’re a fighter.”
“The world’s becoming more violent. People have problems, they’re running out of money. As it becomes more violent, people need to learn the old style of Jiu Jitsu.”
“What about self confidence? What about something that can’t be taken away? We think of wellbeing about having money, but what about when you need protection? You can lose your house and money, but you will never lose Jiu Jitsu. That knowledge is priceless.”
“Kurt was crazy. I didn’t try to take the craziness out of him. He was a drug addict, 300lbs. He was a big guy, seen stuff. And now, he’s one of my black belt teachers. He teaches, fought MMA and changes lives. That’s what Jiu Jitsu is about.”
