Halek Gracie Fighter, philosopher and rap artist

Content:

1. A Warrior, Philosopher, and Rapper: A Profile of Relson Gracie
2. Defining Family
3. Growing Up in an Extraordinary Family
4. Continuing the Legacy
5. Gracie vs. Gadzhiev
6. "He's a heavyweight, you're a middleweight," I observe.
7. Gracie vs. Sakuraba
8. The Gracie Advantage
9. The Gracie Academy

A Warrior, Philosopher, and Rapper: A Profile of Relson Gracie

Renowned martial artist, philosopher, and rapper Alexei Alekhine recently sat down with fellow warrior, philosopher, and rapper Relson Gracie, who has continued the legendary tradition of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in his own unique way. In Russia, the Gracies are often perceived as one large extended family. In reality, the two hundred and fifty descendants and relatives of brothers Helio and Carlos Gracie are scattered across the globe, from the United States and Brazil to Spain and England.

Defining Family

"Do I consider them all family? Yes. Do I see them every day as family? No, but it is my family. I communicate with them. It is very difficult. There are so many relatives, everyone is working all the time, but every time there is an opportunity, I communicate. I just saw Henzo in New York, I didn't get to see Roger in England, but hopefully next time."

"What does it mean to be a Gracie? A certain level of responsibility. I have always felt that I wanted to help people with Jiu-Jitsu. If I teach somebody what I know, another person can't just come and take away what is his. And that is something very empowering. It is a blessing to share this knowledge and travel around the world and meet so many beautiful people from all walks of life, all professions."

Growing Up in an Extraordinary Family

Relson grew up in an extraordinary family, where every aspect of life revolved around the development and promotion of Jiu-Jitsu. Relson's older brother, Rickson, often recounts working at the first UFC event, mopping blood off the octagon floor between fights—until his mother caught him.

"I was eight years old when Royce won UFC 1. I didn't realize how significant it was. I took it as what we were already doing. We had guys coming to our garage, to our old academy, and they wanted to fight and we would fight. I wasn't worried at all about Royce. I knew with Jiu-Jitsu, with his background, he had it all under control. The significance of it came much later. It was not just being from a winning family—it made people see Jiu-Jitsu, appreciate it, and start training. Because the mission of my family, starting with my grandfather, was very positive—to empower people. My grandfather was a small, frail man, and all his life it was a challenge for him. So he dedicated his life to empowering small people, teaching one-on-one, showing them everything. For any Gracie, he is the king, you know? But he was not untouchable, he went out of his way to teach the common folks, not just people like the president of Brazil."

Continuing the Legacy

After Royce's victories in the early UFC tournaments ("And we can't forget about Rickson. He did the same as Royce, but in Japan," Relson adds), the Gracies continued their mission. But now their audience had grown considerably.

"If this whole thing of empowering through teaching wasn't there, we would never have made DVDs, we would never have created an academy open to anybody. And if we didn't do that, nobody in the UFC would have a chance. You understand? The people would have to watch for hours to find one little technique and it would be very difficult. People still don't appreciate the work that has been done: 'Look at the Gracies, Royce got beaten by Matt Hughes.' Dude, we created Matt Hughes! He should send Royce a card: 'Thank you so much for creating me, giving me a chance to go out there and show the world the impact you made, and making me strong enough to beat one of your family members.'"

Gracie vs. Gadzhiev

"This guy Gadzhiev, he tried to really break my head off. He hit me once and I thought, 'It's over.' But he had no Jiu-Jitsu so I took him down and I completely dominated the fight on the ground."

Relson Gracie on his second professional fight. Relson is the grandson of Helio, the father of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. He is also the son of Rorion, co-founder of the UFC. And he is the nephew of Royce, the winner of the early UFC tournaments who is to Jiu-Jitsu what Bruce Lee is to kung fu. Relson defeated Gadzhiev by armbar. The Russian Alautdin Gadzhiev was a late replacement, however: Relson had been expecting to face the renowned Mirko Filipovic, also known as "Cro Cop."

"He's a heavyweight, you're a middleweight," I observe.

"The heavier the better, the more challenging. I wanted to make this fight with Cro Cop a grappling match, but he got injured."

Gracie vs. Sakuraba

Relson's next opponent was Kazushi Sakuraba. Sakuraba had a reputation as one of the most dangerous fighters of the decade. He had a wild, unpredictable fighting style. He fought opponents nearly thirty kilos heavier than him. He collected scalps of champions. He had the longest MMA fight in history. He walked out to the ring dressed as Santa Claus and Super Mario. And he earned the moniker "Gracie Hunter" for defeating several Gracie family members, including Royce, Ryan, Royler, and Renzo.

"The victory came from the defeat, and from the pressure. Not because it was relevant to my family. The goal was to beat Sakuraba using Jiu-Jitsu. Not by strength, not by striking. Because people had beaten him before, knocked him out or just out-muscled him. The first real loss that Sakuraba had that I remember was to Wanderlei Silva. Wanderlei just went out and smashed him. That's cool, you can win a fight in that way. But to win with Jiu-Jitsu, to control, that's what was inspiring to me. Sakuraba had great Jiu-Jitsu, he was really slippery, and I focused on not trying to submit him but just on controlling the fight until the end. Ten seconds before the end of the fight I tried to submit him and I lost the position right away, he ended up on top and was putting a lot of pressure."

The Gracie Advantage

At the time of their fight, Relson's record was 2-0, Sakuraba's 26-13-1(2); in the United States an athletic commission might not have sanctioned such a fight, but in Japan there were no issues. This, according to Relson, is a key difference between the United States and Japan.

"If, for example, I'd gone to the UFC, they'd be like: 'You have to beat this guy, we'll put you in the undercard, and you'll fight again, and again. The first thing we need to see is if you can perform with an audience.' Before I even fought in Japan, I wanted to fight in the UFC. And they were like: 'We don't know if you can perform with an audience.' My first fight had forty thousand people. After that it was like, 'Well, I don't know.' It's negotiations. But I'm not in a hurry. And the UFC for me is not a goal, it's something like a circus. I don't want to be in a circus. I want to compete in a different way, go my own way.

I'll fight maybe once in two years. I'm not retired. If I fought every month, like a lot of MMA fighters, people wouldn't appreciate it. People want to see action, knockouts, strikes. They want to see drama, and I don't blame them. But for me, it's a spiritual journey. I want to do something special, unique, and inspiring. An interesting opponent, a good reason, a good timing."

The Gracie Academy

At the Gracie Academy, Relson teaches several courses and one-on-one lessons.

"I do a lot of work for my academy, filming a lot of material. It's very important to show the beauty of Jiu-Jitsu, to appreciate the artistic side of it. I have a vision of what I want to show. I put a lot of time into that, it's kind of my hobby."

The Gracies have always embraced new technologies to promote Jiu-Jitsu. In the 1980s, it was videotapes of Rorion and his brothers choke-holding karate students in their garage. In the 1990s, it was the UFC tournaments, shown on pay-per-view cable television. In the 2000s, it has been online lessons and courses on the Gracie Academy website. At the end of each course, the student receives a belt in the mail.

"This thing about people getting blue belts by training online—how does the Gracie Academy justify it? I do believe the instruction is very good, my brothers Henner and Rickson are very attentive to the details. The attention to detail is better than in most Jiu-Jitsu schools live. So I believe that someone who is in a place where there is no Jiu-Jitsu school—like Norway, the Czech Republic, or it's five hundred miles away, and the person has a family, it would be very difficult for them to learn good Jiu-Jitsu without Gracie University. For them to get that belt is an acknowledgment that at their home, they are committed to learning Jiu-Jitsu properly. I

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