Rickson Gracie

“There are a lot of beneficial aspects of jiu-jitsu regardless of kicking butt in a fight.”

“A Japanese diplomat and jujitsu expert, Konde Maeda Kome, came to Brazil in the 1920s and there he met my grandfather, Gaston Gracie, who was also a diplomat. My grandfather then became a student of Kome. He passed the jujitsu on to his sons, and my father Helio, the most creative of the Gracies, took it and made it very effective.”

“If there's no penalty for stalling, fighters will find a way to control the match and the time, looking for a comfort zone.”

“Never head into a fight just to win, but make sure you aren't beat.”

“There is no tomorrow, because life can change forever in the blink of an eye.”

“I believe in a code of honor, my personal Bushido. I'm not in a fight to make blood. I'm there for the technique.”

“A real match, with fighters going for all or nothing, is what people want to watch.”

“Even though I admired my father as an example, as a general... on the relationship side, I felt he lacked a bit.”

“What makes you tough is your mindset and I believe anyone can be tough.”

“Jiu-Jitsu taught me to have respect for the people around me as well as respect for myself. It made me believe in my own strengths and knowledge.”

“We want to create a new paradigm and recover values from the fight that were lost over time.”

“I breathe jiu-jitsu, so I never had this outside view of the sport.”

“I think martial arts, when it's practiced with a complete idea, is a metaphor for life.”

“Sometimes people are going to hate what I said.”

“I never liked clashing heads - I always liked catching someone when they were distracted, to surprise them.”

“My uncle and my father had the intention to create a clan of fighters and, in order to do that, they couldn't be limited to one relationship and two or three kids.”

“I know this might sound like an exaggeration, but Helio Gracie was to Jiu Jitsu what Albert Einstein was to physics.”

“People think just because you get slapped on your butt and start to cry when you're born, you know how to breathe and stay alive.”

“It's not only for the young, but people in general - jiu jitsu helps you make the most of yourself and understand yourself with skills based on leverage, strategy and techniques that help you become more confident about positivity which once you know how to apply, becomes very valuable in your life.”

“Jiu-jitsu is an animal that never stops growing.”