Originally embraced as a small guy’s sport, with the objective of getting the maximum results for the minimum energy expenditure, jiu-jitsu then entered a long phase of over-the-top machismo.
Small, weak guys became little grease spots on the mat at the hands of big, strong guys who knew jiu-jitsu too.
Though often spectacular to watch, jiu-jitsu gradually became farther and farther removed from its origins as the average guy’s martial art.
On Facebook, one of those modern innovations that has failed to completely win over old-school Pires, Ricardo’s daughter Renata answered the following question about her father: If Ricardo Pires were a superhero, which superhero would he be? Her answer? “My father,” wrote the daughter of Ricardo Pires, “Already is my superhero.” Interview with Ricardo Pires Question : Those guys looked pretty tough.
Just to give you an example, before my first match this guy came to me said, “How come I didn’t see any videos of yours on the internet?” I said, “I just don’t like it, it’s not me to try to put my videos and promote myself on the internet.” He said, “Yeah you should have your videos up, I wanted to study you.” I wasn’t sure if he was joking or serious and actually he was very serious.
Then came the other guy, and the guy was like more polite, a really nice guy too.
The match started and after the match I was away sitting talking to my son Victor, Josh, and Victor’s girlfriend and the guy was crying.
You see a guy that age, I mean we’re not that young anymore.
People actually joke about it, like you should fight masters, but guys who win major adult tournaments fight in the masters and they lose.
To see how seriously that guy took it it really caught my attention.
Randy Couture is not the only one but he’s the most famous guy probably who is fighting at the age of 47 or 48.
Nowadays you see guys at the peak of jiu-jitsu in their 30’s. That’s when they are in the best shape of their lives, and they have experience too.
The guys who are now between 44 and 50 are the guys that fought at a young age 15 years ago, when they were 30, or 28, which is when the tournaments started picking up and jiu-jitsu really got big.
Of course the guys that came later have something to look forward to, you know, “I can not only train but also compete, that’s nice! And I can compete at my age and my level? That’s really nice!” They don’t have to compete with kids, the young guys, they can compete in our age bracket.
Like the guy didn’t fight me hard but he congratulated me anyway.
I’m not calling myself Roger Gracie, but when you see him do a position, or a move, it just looks so perfect, it looks like he’s not making an effort and the guy’s not defending himself.
In one match I pulled half guard, and obviously, if the guy gets the advantage he’s going to stay there.
Bottom line, you give the guy an advantage, he’s going to win with the advantage.
Q: Somebody said to me you passed the guy’s guard as if he was a white belt, just because it was so tight.
In Formula 1, you see guys going on the curve, and they lose it a little bit.
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