Back in 1995, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu fighter Rickson Gracie fought in Vale Tudo Japan and the entire tournament and build-up was captured on video. This resulted in the release of Choke, which has now gone on to achieve iconic status within both the BJJ and MMA communities. In short, this documentary genuinely inspired an entire generation of fighters, as well as BJJ practitioners too. So, why was Choke so good?
Choke showed a less brutal side to fighting
Back in 1995, the MMA scene was much different compared with today’s more slick and modern image. At one point, senator John McCain even compared it to ‘human cockfighting’ and lobbied to get it banned. There was a good reason for this too. In Choke, one of Rickson Gracie’s opponents was Japanese MMA pioneer Yuki Nakai, who Rickson eventually beat to win the 8-man tournament.
Earlier in the night, Nakai had suffered a brutal eye gouge whilst fighting Dutch kickboxer, Gerard Gordeau. Sadly, this resulted in Nakai losing his vision in this eye whilst Gordeau had a reputation of fighting dirty and was an alleged Nazi. Crazily, Nakai fought on and kept quiet about his vision afterwards to protect the already fragile image of MMA.
In this sense, early MMA was genuinely brutal. Having said this, Choke did a wonderful job in showing the human side to fighters. For instance, it painted Nakai in a deservedly favorable light, whilst also showing that Rickson Gracie was an intelligent and smart man.
Unlike Gordeau, he wasn’t your typical knucklehead and was also very spiritual. His breathing methods proved that strategically, fighting was more than just throwing punches and involved your entire body. As a result, this changed the public perception of MMA and fighting, as Choke did a fantastic job in showing life beyond the cage.
Choke showed a hero’s journey
Every good story needs a good plot, and Choke certainly delivered in this sense. This showed Rickson Gracie’s life behind the scenes and that he was a decent, hard-working family man. The result is that many viewers could relate to him. Although his profession of choice was unusual, he had many relatable traits of a champion, which included bravery, hard work, and undying confidence. As said, this all added up to make for a great hero’s journey story.
For example, after watching the flick, many asked ‘Who is the kid in the Choke documentary?’ The answer was Rockson Gracie. Sadly, Rockson suffered a death early in his life and this devastated his father Rickson Gracie.
As seen in Choke, Rockson is merely a young boy at this point with a clear bond with his father. It’s sad how things turned out but also showed the human side to Rickson too as well as the Gracie family’s legendary affinity with fighting and grappling.
Choke showed the dominance of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu
As much as anything, Choke was also a great advertisement for Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Like Royce Gracie’s dominance in UFC 1, this was also proof of BJJ on the big stage. During this Vale Tudo event, Rickson won all of his fights by using the rear naked choke to finish and the longest bout was just over 6 minutes long.
Obviously, this showed just how effective BJJ was. Remember, back in the mid 90s, most people associated fighting with striking and grappling arts such as BJJ, and wrestling were fairly rare at this point. Rickson changed everything by using chokes to finish, which is obviously where the documentary’s name comes from.
Furthermore, it also showed a different way of defeating an opponent. It didn’t matter if your opponent was tough as they would be choked unconscious. Even today, this idea still echoes in modern MMA as if you take the back, there’s a huge chance of winning by securing a choke.
Put another way, before Choke, BJJ was a fairly obscure martial art that was barely known outside of Brazil. It was just starting to be seen in MMA but after Choke, it truly showed how effective it was as a martial art.
It’s no surprise then, that the likes of Relson Gracie speak so glowingly about BJJ and are in awe of its ability to end a fight in seconds. These days, many take BJJ for granted, but before Choke its skills were massively underestimated and unknown.
Choke was honest and didn’t hold back
Again, you can’t view Choke through a modern lens. Back then, behind-the-scenes footage of MMA just wasn’t easily available like it is today and MMA promotions like PRIDE and UFC weren’t as mainstream as they are today.
This means that what Choke showed was a very honest look at MMA during the time. Here, we got to follow Rickson Gracie in his build up to the Vale Tudo event which showed his home life and interviews from the dressing room.
There was no PR involved or glamorizing of MMA either, it was refreshingly honest and showed that fighting can be hard work, yet very rewarding. Perhaps if it tried to be more sensationalist, it simply wouldn’t have had such an impact.
Choke’s legacy
Although Choke was released back in 1999, it’s since gone on to achieve iconic status and even if you’re not into BJJ or MMA, you should still check it out as it’s very unique and interesting. For more information, Rickson Gracie’s memoirs book Breathe can be found here which was written years later.
If you’re looking to watch Choke then you’re in luck. The entire DVD can be seen in the video below.
