Episode #186 Roger Gracie on finding yourself through Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu!

September 9, 2023 Ian Dawson Mackay ALL PODCAST EPISODES, LEVEL UP YOUR SPORTS PLAYING, MARTIAL ARTS - FIGHT LIKE A CHAMP!, REAL-LIFE INSPIRING 1:10:35 0 Comments

TODAY's GUEST IS Roger Gracie!

Today’s guest is Roger Gracie! 

Roger Gracie is a retired mixed martial artist and former professional Brazilian jiu-jitsu competitor. He was one of the first people that taught me that you can build your own game by being yourself and not following what is currently the favourite of people that year! 

The son of coral belt Mauricio Gomes and grandson of BJJ founder Carlos Gracie, Roger Gracie is one of jiu-jitsu’s most decorated and accomplished athletes and considered by many as the greatest competitor in jiu-jitsu history. He taps black-belts with white-belt techniques, making it look effortless. His skill level is terrifying, and his ability to read the action borders on almost being able to see the future.  

A member of both IBJJF Hall of Fame and ADCC Hall of Fame, Gracie won 10 IBJJF world championship titles across multiple weight classes, every year from 2004 to 2010, becoming the first competitor to win the open weight division 3 times.

He is also a two-time European Champion, and a Pan Champion. Gracie is an ADCC Submission Fighting weight, absolute, and superfight champion, the only athlete to win gold in both his weight class and the open weight division with a 100% submission-rate.

Roger retired in 2017 after defeating then BJJ world champion Marcus Buchecha, leaving jiu-jitsu without a single submission defeat in his record.

He now spends his time coaching and inspiring the future generations of BJJ stars and helping the sport reach new levels. 

In this interview, we discuss how he transformed from meh to master ability, how he found himself through the sport, how you should approach BJJ to see greater development and why it doesn’t matter your age or ability, you can excel and grow through BJJ. 

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KEY POINTS, Links & Actions

Here are some key points that I would advise you to concentrate on

  • You can follow any path in life, not just one that your parents or family expect for you. If you cannot find a path, you can make one!  
  • You can create a life out of your hobbies, you just need to find the way to make a living out of it. 
  • Roger puts his motivation as the key part from him going from meh to GOAT. He found the motivation to transform himself, to become dedicated and focused on his end goal. 
  • Roger approaches training by having specific end goals for each training session and would rep attacks etc from specific positions a high number of positions to grow his skills and abilities.
  • A great teacher and coach are worth their weight in gold! They allow to ask questions, and push you to look to learn by self-learning, express yourself and not be spoon fed to develop. He should be a mentor not someone that makes you a copy of them. 
  • Roger highlights the importance of being relaxed in BJJ, to avoid being swept etc, and to truly use your body to control your opponent and win without falling back on the use of strength. 
  • Build your confidence by repping again and again, to gain the experience, the subtle weigh shifts and balance needed for a strong base. Learn to relax, switch off the power until needed and ab and flow and let your technique develop.  
  • BJJ can be learnt and used by everyone, you just need to learn the fundamentals and technique and learn to believe in  yourself. Roger was smaller than the partners he trained with, so instead of seeing that as a negative, he saw it as an opportunity to learn how to truly control someone and use technique and not strength.
  • The worst thing to bring to a BJJ gym is ego. Ego and the inability to lose or not do as well as they could are the biggest roadblock that stops people from progressing in BJJ. 
  • Training should be fun, about you and self-growth and learning about yourself, and not about if you win or not. 
  • BJJ is a great sport on how learning how to overcome obstacles, learn how to deal with people, and to stay positive in situations that feel unwinnable, remaining calm and thinking of how to work yourself out slowly, securely, using technique and control. The skills learnt from the sport are great to use also in life for better work, relationships and life in general. 
  • You need to focus on your weak areas and the bad positions, and learn how to defend, stay calm, and await the correct time to try and escape etc. Roger learnt this by being tapped hundreds of times, but he kept going, learning and growing so he improved each time. He let go of his ego and focused on learning each day, every session. 
  • Roger doesn’t go to competitions thinking of what he will do, as he knew no plan ever follows the rules after first contact. As he said, if it goes the opposite of what you thought, it can go wrong and you panic. He instead focused on leading them to his preferred places and techniques. 
  • Roger’s competition pre-fight routine is like he approaches life – gets to nature, slowly warms himself up, enjoy the beauty and get himself centered.
  • The hardest thing in life is knowing when to stop, when you need to stop doing something. Enjoy it now but have a plan for when you need to change. Roger knew he wanted to go into coaching more when he retired from competition, but so few men plan ahead, they fall back to chasing old victories and glory. Know time will pass and you will eventually have to stop things you do now and find others. Keep changing, keep evolving and keep living! 
  • Roger realized that for him the fight started well before the ref signals go – he learned about his opponent, watching how they act, how they behave and how they interact, to feel out his opponent. 
  • Roger found he struggled when he tried to match his opponents aggression or pace-setting, he stayed relaxed and found his rhythm and timing and took advantage by bringing the fight to his strengths. 
  • Roger changed his training methods to suit his health and ability to keep training. He listened to his body and adapted his training to suit. He left his ego at the door and changed his training to a style that would work for him, not to impress others, but to help him be healthy enough for life and training on the mats for a long time, not just a session like ego lifters do! 
  • Roger looks at losing as a need to improve, as a motivational tool to keep himself moving forward, growing and learning from it. He noticed though that his fix was to grow and mature rather than focusing on certain positions, he just needed to work on his ability to grow his ability to remain calm, and cool and not rush in.   

LEVEL UP Time WITH THIS KEY LESSON!

Key lesson from this interview 

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About the Author
I’m a podcaster who interviews great examples of people to discuss and highlight the methods, hacks, tips and procedures you can use in your own life to help you develop and better your life. I would definitely not consider myself an expert, so to improve, I ask them and action it in my own life! My personal journey has been marked by awkwardness and awesomeness, OCD and ‘OMG’. I have suffered with depression, shyness, unhappiness and lack of focus and motivation so I know what’s it like to feel lost and hopeless. Back then, I wished I had a podcast to listen to and find actual fixes and concrete action steps and not just unobtainable suggestions and promotion of their products but couldn’t find it … so I made my own!

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