Growing Up Gracie: Q & A with Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu's
Ralek Gracie
Growing Up Gracie: Q & A with Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu's
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It isn't every day that you get to sit down and pick the brain of a member of a martial arts dynasty. If any patronymic has ever embodied the concept of dynasty in its field of influence, the Gracie name is it. Ralek Gracie is the son of Rorion, the man who co-founded the Ultimate Fighting Championship in 1993 when Ralek was only 8. You have to wonder what it’s like to grow up in a family that big and that influential in the martial arts and even in popular culture. How does it shape the way you see the world? How does the world appear when you’re on the inside looking out?
That was my first fight, amateur or professional. How long did you train for it? Honestly, I’ve been training my whole life for that fight, but specifically, I knew three weeks in advance. I knew who my opponent was, and I trained specifically for this person, but the training never really stops. Who trained and cornered you? I had two of my good training partners, Jared Quity and Kevin Casey. Kevin trains out of Rickson Gracie’s academy. I thought it was good to get some of Rickson’s ideas into the whole thing because I definitely respect him as a fighter. What’s your weight class, and is it close to your walking-around weight? I fought at 205, light-heavyweight, but most likely I’m going to be fighting at 185 for the next one. My walking-around weight is closer to 210 or 215. Was it a lot of work to get down to middleweight? Not really. In two weeks of training hard, I cut weight like you wouldn’t believe. Did the bout go as expected? It went according to plan, more than I thought it would. I slipped on the mat at the beginning, lost my footing and fell over, but I quickly regained my balance and continued the fight. I didn’t know what the ring felt like. The day of the fight, I felt the ring and moved around a little bit, but it’s not really enough time to get accustomed to that kind of mat. How do you feel about your title chances? At this point, I’m just trying to get comfortable in the ring. Once I do that, I’ll set my sights on whoever’s on top at the time. Do you know who your next opponent might be? They want me to fight Mike Tyson. (laughs) No, definitely not. I’m just trying to put it out there. I would definitely take that fight, but that’s not what they want. Honestly, I don’t know who my next opponent might be. Do you see any specific mixed-martial arts skill areas that aren’t covered by Gracie jujutsu? As far as cross-training in general, I think training in muay Thai or any kind of stand-up will always improve your chances of taking a punch and understanding punch defense and also hitting somebody. You definitely should be as well rounded as you can be. I prefer muay Thai and trained at Fairtex for a while. The guys are good over there. I think jujutsu alone can take any style and is No. 1. It can also compete in MMA alone. However, I believe that it’s good for a fighter to know as much as he can when he steps into the ring. If you’re a black belt in kung fu, great; use that to be a better fighter. Do whatever you can to be your best. That’s my philosophy. What’s it like growing up in the Gracie family? Interesting. Crazy. There were many altercations—in a friendly way, though. While growing up, my brothers and I would always push it to the limit. We would check each other and test each other. I was always there to bug my brothers just to get a rise out of them. There were five of us in the house: my two older brothers, my younger brother and my younger sister. It was chaos. Everybody was just running around. Somebody would get choked out or tackled. But the respect was always there. We respected our elders. I learned quickly that I had to respect my older brothers and my dad. What was it like being a Gracie on the playground? Did it have repercussions? No. Of course, people know that you’re a Gracie, and they look at you, but they always think twice because they’ve seen the UFC and what Royce did to people twice his size. I did get tested. I would use my jujutsu in a different way. I’d try to help the kid who couldn’t defend himself. In the event that I would fight, I’d try to control the person and not pummel his face and make him bleed. My father used to say that controlling someone makes him feel the same as if you beat him to a pulp. He’s going to feel dominated, and you’ll win. When you’re in fifth grade and you just hold a kid down, it’s much more serious to him. Are there more advantages or disadvantages to having the family name? It’s a gift and a curse all the way. People think: “If I beat him, I’m moving up. If I lose to him, oh, I lost to a Gracie—no big deal.” OK, you can win, but we’re just going to keep coming. We don’t stop. Do you feel extra pressure to live up to the reputation? It helps me train harder than a lot of people. It helps me stay mentally [tough]. I have to be able to win fights and keep doing what the family’s done for decades. The family tradition is embedded in me. I want to keep a strong name in the MMA game. Every eight seconds there’s a Gracie being born around the world. You can’t run no matter what. Who else in your family, besides your father, do you rely on to help you make important decisions about your career? Royce. I trust and respect his opinion. He’s been around since the days when he and my father were teaching out of his garage. He’s very close to me. He’s almost like a dad because he was always there for me. I have pictures of him holding me when I was 2. What are your goals as an athlete, and as a Gracie? I want to keep the sound of the Gracie name in the MMA ear worldwide. I want to take it into different areas and do new things with the Gracie name. Like what? I want to have a Gracie toaster. You know it’s going to be a strong toaster and it will last long. It’s going to have longevity and really cook things. That’s metaphorically speaking. It could be anything. If something has the Gracie name on it, it has tradition, values, strength and dignity—all good qualities that we want in everything. Right now, I’m working on my clothing line, Ralek Gracie Apparel, and my Web site, www.ralekgracie.tv. About the interviewer: Edward Pollard is Black Belt’s managing editor. (This interview was originally published in the March 2008 issue of Black Belt.) 
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