Interview with Rickson Gracie: jiujitsu master and founder of theJiu-Jitsu Global Federation

Interview with Jiujitsu Global Federation founder Master Rickson Gracie.

A concise version of this interview was recently published by Blitz Martial Arts, Australasia's leading martial arts magazine.

This interview was conducted on 29th July 2014. 10am Los Angeles Time

Liam Wandi: How's your morning been?
Rickson Gracie: It's great man. Just waiting for your call and excited about this new endeavour.

LW: Of course, and we are all excited. The whole jiujitsu community is excited. We met a couple of times during your seminars, once in Amsterdam and once in Glasgow and I am curious, were you thinking about forming the federation as far as back then in 2012?
RG: The idea of doing something about the sport is always on my mind and a while ago a friend of mine tried to create a new federation and gave me that idea. But at the time he wanted to have me in it but also to be the main responsible for it which I disagreed with because once I get into a federation, it will have my body and soul and creativity and ideas and I cannot just be his employee so we didn't go through with the idea. Finally, I got into a position to go ahead and create my idea and everything just fell into place.


LW: Fantastic. What is your role within the newly started JJGF?
RG: My role, with my current experience, is that I could identify the real problem with we have to solve today. Then, I give my input and my ideas on how we can approach and address that.
My partners, experts in technology and the corporate sides, and I will get together and try to build a platform where the message can be exposed and shared. We are working to achieve a very balanced federation between the technological and the business sides.

LW: Absolutely. What would you say is the mission statement of the Jiu-jitsu Global Federation (JJGF)?
RG: It's service. Our mission statement is service because I think that's what is the most important need, not only for the sport but also for the community.

Interview with Rickson Gracie: jiujitsu master and founder of theJiu-Jitsu Global Federation Part VI

Interview with Jiujitsu Global Federation founder Master Rickson Gracie. Part VI

A concise version of this interview was recently published by Blitz Martial Arts, Australasia's leading martial arts magazine. Click here for Part I, II, III, IV & VI

29th July 2014. 10am Los Angeles Time

LW: Looking at the information on the JJGF website, I saw a distinction between "black belts" and "elite competitors". Can you please describe the difference and how practitioners can go from one category to the other?
RG: We aim to create a ranking system within our circuit, just like sports like surfing, tennis and others. Ideally, once we have everybody in that ranking system, we can look at the elite who may be the top 50 athletes. We will have premium events within the circuit which will have the elite athletes, which will become a professional tour much like in tennis and surfing. That, however, is a vision for the future ahead. We have to divide the average black belt competitor from the premium black belts who for instance already have sponsors and dedicate their whole life to training. We're trying to create a high level of competitors who will become like the professional reference for the rest. We are hoping that this worldwide premium circuit will bring our sport to the next level.

Interview with Rickson Gracie: jiujitsu master and founder of theJiu-Jitsu Global Federation Part V

Interview with Jiujitsu Global Federation founder Master Rickson Gracie. Part V

A concise version of this interview was recently published by Blitz Martial Arts, Australasia's leading martial arts magazine. Click here for Part I, II, III & IV

29th July 2014. 10am Los Angeles Time

LW: It sounds like you're trying to create something bigger than yourself, so,etching that can replace you. 

RG: oh man, you know that's exactly what I'm trying to do. If I look back at my life, I did everything I could do to represent, to fulfil my students' needs in order for them to become better. As men, as competitors, as parents or whatever. I feel like I've been dedicating my life to jiujitsu and as my body is physically fading, the best contribution I could do is to create some kind of pattern of quality control for our product and our community because what I see is our product being diluted and weakened. I see that my last challenge, my last fight, as very fulfilling and very motivational. I feel like if I can accomplish half of what I'm thinking, I'll be the happiest guy on earth. I'm out there fighting and providing service, working hard to conquer this challenge but in a much bigger position. For example, instructional videos: I will never, ever put my instructional videos on the shelf for anyone to buy. It's not about the money but for me it's about the principle. It's weakness from me if some guy I've never met pays $50 and takes my knowledge and a piece of my soul and then becomes my enemy. On the other hand, if a jiujitsu practitioner from anywhere in the country or the world, gets in contact with me and says "Master, I'm a jiujitsu teacher from wherever and I'd like to have your programme", I don't feel it's the same as selling it on the shelf to anyone. I feel like I'd be fulfilling that guy's needs as a black belt to become a better teacher. This is a completely different feeling for me because while I can be betrayed, but my intention is to serve jiujitsu  and I'd be giving another jiujitsu practitioner the elements he needs to become better. I'd be working with people who love the art, respect the art and live by the art and the knowledge so it's a. Completely different service. 

Interview with Rickson Gracie: jiujitsu master and founder of theJiu-Jitsu Global Federation Part IV

Interview with Jiujitsu Global Federation founder Master Rickson Gracie. Part IV

A concise version of this interview was recently published by Blitz Martial Arts, Australasia's leading martial arts magazine. Click here for Part I, II & III

29th July 2014. 10am Los Angeles Time

LW: Many in the community feel that existing or past "federations" carried the name federation but were actually run as corporations. It's embarrassingly visible out there and when there are suggestions for PED TESTING, rule changes or democratic votes, a blind eye is turned to that. What is going to be the organisational structure within the JJGF? Will it have regional / national divisions? Will there be a JJGF-Europe? Etc?

RG: 100%. I agree about the current situation. Our idea now is to create our new circuit and, instead of dividing everybody, to welcome everybody to be completely supported by us. This year, I'm not going to say "if you don't use our rules we don't respect or support you" instead, we want to welcome everybody to the federation. I will promote every tournament on the planet. I will accept and distinguish every champion, no matter the rules. I will try to bring attention to and suggest our new rules in order to create a strong body in the JJGF. the aim is to unify the community and bring major sponsors to the game and TV contracts. 

All this is in my vision for the growth of our beloved art. Depending on the reaction and retaliation from the community, we might end up drawing ourselves back and preserve our own vision and culture for those who share and accept it. But I don't want to try to create that kind of division to begin with.  

I need to talk to the promoters around the globe and get them on board. They need to see that they can't necessarily just double and triple the size of their events so if they can't expand horizontally, through the work of the federation, they can expand vertically through the involvement of sponsor and TV exposure. We'd be creating a very unique and sound business model and a very interesting development for the sport.

Interview with Rickson Gracie: jiujitsu master and founder of theJiu-Jitsu Global Federation Part III

Interview with Jiujitsu Global Federation founder Master Rickson Gracie. Part III

A concise version of this interview was recently published by Blitz Martial Arts, Australasia's leading martial arts magazine. Click here for Part I & II

29th July 2014. 10am Los Angeles Time

LW: This is fantastic. Jiujitsu has been around for a few years and we have had a few different federation but why do you think we have had these problems arise? Where do these problems come from?

RG: You know, I feel like it's nobody's fault. I feel like introducing advantages into the the game, which is presented like half points but they're not really points. It's like in basketball having a ball hit the ring and you reward the team for that. That would create a situation where the player don't feel the need to learn how to score the ball in the basket anymore. By touching the ball to the ring enough times, they'd already be winning the game. Advantages were meant initially to help resolve grey areas but unfortunately they created more grey areas. The evolution of he rules do the sort has meant that tough guys now don't actually need to go for scoring point anymore. They can just make an attempt at a technique or show the referee a set up, like "hey referee I ALMOST passed the guard" so when they have the advantage it's almost like they gained a point so they stop trying. The game had become so sophisticated around gaining advantages and lost objectivity on who the best guy out there is in passing the guard, gain the cross side, mount and submit. Using the rules to get the medal is now the goal and the objectivity of the fight becomes secondary. In order for is to restore effectiveness, which is part of our culture, we have to definitely make changes in the rules like i, cutting advantages and ii, penalising stalling. By doing these two things, you're going to see a completely different fight because if the fighter cannot stall and hold a position just because they got a few points they have to let go and do something. It brings a completely different action package that's going to be better for the viewers, for the training and ultimately for the fighters. I really believe most of the existing champions aren't going to be too happy with that but I'm trying to favour 85% of the competitive community today who are the white and blue belts who, without knowing, are being misled into believing that they have to use thee stalling positions to get the medal. 

If this keeps going, in ten years from now, jiujitsu will become something like taekwondo  or sport karate which had great athletes with great, explosive expression of athleticism but far removed from effectiveness in real life. 

Interview with Rickson Gracie: jiujitsu master and founder of theJiu-Jitsu Global Federation Part II

Interview with Jiu-Jitsu Global Federation founder Master Rickson Gracie. Part II

A concise version of this interview was recently published by Blitz Martial Arts, Australasia's leading martial arts magazine. Click here for Part I. 

29th July 2014. 10am Los Angeles Time

LW: That's great. I know you have mentioned in the past that you want the federation to become a meeting point for the jiujitsu community, very much like Facebook.

RG: That's right, because you know by using those tools I think because the federation is based around service, like I told you, and we focus on three different pillars of work. The first one is the "communication" aspect which I feel like there is a need in the entire community to have access to general information where everything is in the same basket. That means the biggest associations today have their own circuits and their own champions and they don't mix with each other. There is no one federation that represents even 50% of the community. The IBBJF has a good slice of the cake, NAGA has another, Grapplers Quest, DreamJiujitsu, SEVEN, Copa Pacifica, US Open. So many different associations and federation doing tournaments those days and they have no relation with each other. This is creating a divide in the competitor community.  and doesn't give them access to eventually look towards the olympics, or even before that look towards a premium world wide circuit, which would translate into a possibility to appear on TV or put major sponsors into the game. 

Interview with Rickson Gracie: jiujitsu master and founder of theJiu-Jitsu Global Federation Part I

Interview with Jiujitsu Global Federation founder Master Rickson Gracie. Part I. 

A concise version of this interview was recently published by Blitz Martial Arts, Australasia's leading martial arts magazine. 

29th July 2014. 10am Los Angeles Time

Liam Wandi: How's your morning been?

Rickson Gracie: It's great man. Just waiting for your call and excited about this new endeavour.

LW: Of course, and we are all excited. The whole jiujitsu community is excited. We met a couple of times during your seminars, once in Amsterdam and once in Glasgow and I am curious, were you thinking about forming the federation as far as back then in 2012?

RG: The idea of doing something about the sport is always on my mind and a while ago a friend of mine tried to create a new federation and gave me that idea. But at the time he wanted to have me in it but also to be the main responsible for it which I disagreed with because once I get into a federation, it will have my body and soul and creativity and ideas and I cannot just be his employee so we didn't go through with the idea. Finally, I got into a position to go ahead and create my idea and everything just fell into place.