RENZO GRACIE INTERVIEW

Earlier this year I had the prestigious honour of training with Renzo Gracie, at a weekend seminar organised by Gracie Barra UK, which is fronted by Mauricio Gomes, who is Renzo's uncle and fifth degree black belt in the famous Gracie Jiu-Jitsu system. Being from such a pedigree, I knew that his skill level would be impressive and felt sure the event would be worthwhile attending. However, what impressed me even more was this man's positive aura. Renzo is a humble and respectful individual, with not a shred of arrogance or cockiness about him. He was polite, helpful, humorous and professional in his attitude and conduct, in addition to this, he is an excellent instructor.

As I've already mentioned, Renzo comes from the pioneering Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu family. His brothers are all world renowned fighters, the most famous being Rickson, considered by many as the world greatest fighter. Renzo himself as achieved a significant record. In his early years, he took numerous trophies and titles from a variety of competitive events, including Judo and Wrestling. A particular highlight in his competitive career was an impressive knock-out victory over Oleg Taktorov. He has a number of events planned for this year, with one of them being his first UFC. With his positive attitude and potential, Renzo looks set to progress to similar fame heights as his brother, Rickson.

After the seminar I was fortunate to get the opportunity to interview him, the result of which follows. I hope you enjoy it.

DB: First of all I'd like to thank you for doing me the honour of giving this interview.

RG: No, thank you. It's an honour for me to be in your magazine, believe me.

DB: Thank you very much. Renzo, could you give us some information regarding your training background, when did you begin?

RG: Yes, in my family everybody begins very early, I started when I was five years old, actually you are never forced into it. I always saw my father at the academy, training, and I always admired that a lot, so I was crazy to go training. So when I was five they started to take me to the academy. In the beginning it was kinda like a play, then with the time and the years it starts to get more serious and I start to get a pretty good fighter.

DB: Were you very keen then, with the influences around you to compete from an early age?

RG: Yes. I started to compete when I was seven. At seven I was state champion for my belt division, that belt was a yellow belt which is the first belt you get in Jiu-Jitsu when you're a kid. So I used to compete a lot and I always enjoyed that feeling. I believe it is something in the human nature that is the same feeling, that is the same aggressiveness that drives us forwards to maybe climb the Everest's, I believe it's the same one that drives us forwards to improve and get better in our martial arts.

DB: Obviously the Gracie name is almost legendary nowadays, why do you think this is?

RG: I believe it's because we are connected to Jiu-Jitsu. We see Jiu-Jitsu as such a perfect way of fighting and a perfect way to defend yourself. So luckily our name was connected to Jiu-Jitsu, so today if you think about Gracie, you think about Jiu-Jitsu. If you think about Jiu-Jitsu, you think about Gracie. So I believe that's why our name became famous, it's not because of us, but because of the martial art that we defend.

DB: Who do you consider to have been inspirational figures for you?

RG: I'm a very lucky person because, like, while every kid has his hero when he's growing up, like he sees Batman, he sees Superman, he sees a hero that he wants to be like, that he admires. I had the chance to have my hero's inside my family. Like, my hero's were my friends, they were my Uncle, they were my Father, they were my Grandfather, so by admiring them that inspired me to go forward and to look for the same technique and the same art that they developed, that they worked for, for their whole life.

DB: When do you feel that your competitive spirit surfaced, when did you feel the urge to really fight. Was it a natural progression or was it something that was encouraged?

RG: I can't really remember myself about the competitive feeling in me. I believe it surfaced since my early age, since I can understand myself as a person I've had that feeling, I believe every human being as that feeling.

DB: Do you feel pressured at all by the fact that every time you step into the arena you carry the Gracie reputation with you?

RG: No, no. The only pressure I feel is the obligation to those who will proceed me. So all those who come after me, I hope they learn from my mistakes and from the things that I do right, I hope they learn and they improve in the same way I saw what my Uncles and my Father and my Grandfather did right and wrong, and could improve myself, now I see future generations improving on my mistakes and right moves.

DB: Can you tell us about some of the tournaments you have taken part in?

RG: Yes. I have competed a lot through my whole life. I competed at Judo in Brazil, I compete in Wrestling, I always like to compete and I tried to learn as much as I could through my life and I see competition as a way to improve yourself. People sometimes only see it as a way to win or lose, I see it as you always win because, no matter whether you lose or win, you always win something, you always learn something, you always grow your spirit, you always grow your will and always find where your mistakes are so you can improve in the right direction. So I see competition as a way to improve the athlete, to improve the fighter.

DB: Like a progression?

RG: Yes, like a progression. It's a natural way that all the fighter should go on in the competitions, that's the way he can better himself.

DB: What would you class as your most memorable fight?

RG: I had a lot of good fights. The one with Oleg Taktarov was nice, I liked that a lot. It was very surprising to me because it was so quick, but I trained so much and so hard for that one that I felt sure something like that would happen.... so that's what happened, I knocked him out in one minute from the beginning of the fight.

DB: What would you say has been your hardest fight?

RG: It was those at the time I was having trouble with my business partner in the United States, because he was trying to get me kicked out of the United States because my working visa was connected to him. So it changed my whole life. One thing is, when you're alone everything is nice, like I have a saying that I was born naked, not dressed, so I'm winning, I am ahead. So if I walk out with just my clothes on I'm happy, you know, like, nothing can change my spirit, but once you have a family and everything, like kids, and you have someone else to take care off, so then your way of thinking must change. So back then I was in a bit of trouble because I couldn't concentrate on my training, I could not even imagine myself fighting because I was so involved in so much trouble with my partner, that I couldn't go around with all that. During that time I did two fights and those fights I had I draw. Even though I dominate them and I beat them for the whole fight, I didn't like it at all, so this was my hardest fights because I could have finished them, I could have finished job and I knew that I could do it easy....