Why do so many people hate the Gracie Family?

Question

the gracie family have developed jiu jitsu in such a great way and proved to everyone that their art is the most effective in the ufc, yet people still disrespect the gracies. i don't know whether it is jealousy or the is somthing about the family that i don't know.

give your opinion on what you think of the gracies and why half the people in the martial arts world hate them.

Answer 1

Because for a long time they were at the top of their game.  People always seem to hate those at the top and then want to bring them down.

Answer 2

because they didn't create anything they teach. it was all in judo/jujutsu before they ever learned any of it. 90% of their technqiues i've seen judo guys do before. they are generally nice, and have done many great things for martial arts. namely...1 the importance of practicing against someone who is fighting back. and 2 the importance of ground fighting.

they preached that their art is better than all others, and it simply isnt true. its but a piece of the puzzle. where are all the gracies now?  most of em aren't in mma, theyre in bjj, which is what they know. so i think they got a taste of their own medicine. bjj has become one of the "traditional" arts they so despised in some ways.

the only thing they ever had on anyone is simply the fact that noone knew how to take them out of their game...which ended relatively quickly actually.  

i think alot of people (maybe including them) realized that going to the ground intentionally isnt a very smart thing to do most of the time.

so in the end, they are doing their art just like they've been doing it, they have faith in it, and love for it...which makes them nothing more than all the other arts they used to badmouth not so long ago.

when people now talk about the best bjj players, the name gracie doesn't come up so much anymore. and even most gracie's will admit that there is a big difference between generic bjj, and gracie jujutsu which is a street fighting art.

Answer 3

Jealousy, plain and simple. They are BJJ both sport/self defense (by the way there is a big difference).

2nd reason is money and pride. UFC 1-4 (and 5 -? where almost every winning competitor has had some relation to the Gracies) Pride (Japanese heros consistently being obliterated by Rickson and Renzo) Extreme fighting (Ralph Gracie and Mario Sperry making Karate/TKD/Kickboxers look like fools) Gracie challenges (inviting any master around the country to come to their academy and fight a Gracie, and of course they all lost and Rorion filmed the whole thing) you get the point!

Well, they made it a point that 90% of what you (the student of these modern so called TMA schools) were learning was totally useless in actual combat. These schools made a lot of money on uneducated people who thought they were getting something substantial.

A lot of people stopped going when they saw a Karate/TDK...master get taken down and subbed by a wirery little brazilian guy with in two minutes. Much like Bruce Lee  (who was hated just as much) the Gracies proved that these snake oil dealers in the modern TMA world were shames. These people have lost a lot of their business and have been disrespecting the Gracies ever since.

As for pride (small p) imagine you train all your life in a martial art and come to find out that it is all neutralized instantly by a superior art. Imagine you are a Japanese superstar, recognized as the glory of your country only to be another humiliation brought on by a Brazilian in your own country. *notice the Japanese fought back only after Rickson and many of the original Gracies had retired and with a man who had a very strong tie to a certain Brazilian academy which owes a lot to the Gracies themselves.

Number three: People hate it when someone seems "too confident" they hate it even more when they can back it up! Gracie and Gracie disciples can back it up, their record in Martial Arts from the ADCC to Vale Tudo to MMA to just kicking butt on the streets to celebrity endorsements (Chuck Norris, the United States Military and most of the world's armed forces, Bruce Lee and all his disciples, almost every successful fighter in MMA) attest to this. People want a slice of their pie, and instead of stepping up they try to cowardly discredit the name.

Bottom-line: The Gracie system, name and members who use it revolutionized Martial Arts. The are one of the most important names in Martial Arts 3000 + year history and rightfully deserve that recognition. When you are on top, you will have detractors, but that does not take from the facts of the immense things they have accomplished. Against any style, any person, any size, any gender you have the best chance of winning if you know BJJ.

Away from the arena and into everyday life the Gracie's main goal was to provide the smaller man a system of self defense that equalizes the unfair size advantage that predators and bullies often use. They did this and have probably saved countless lives, for this I say thank you Gracie family!!!

Answer 4

The Gracie's have put jiu-jitsu on the world stage and as a student of Japanese jiu-jitsu myself long before the Gracie's where known in the UK I was delighted at their success as it put jiu-jitsu be it Brazilian on every ones lips.

I'm a fan and have their excellent dvd ( the gracie supremacy ) amongst many others in my collection,but I agree with Mito Sensei and pugpaws2 that gracie jiu-jitsu is just modified judo and shouldn't really be called jiu-jitsu as they where taught initially by a judo master with some knowledge of jiu-jitsu.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitsuyo_Mae...

There are many styles that are useful in the street including the original Japanese jiu-jitsu and okinawan karate ,various kung fu styles like wing chun etc and good old fashioned Boxing.

Best wishes :)***

Answer 5

they charged to much for there gyms

p**s me off

Answer 6

Gracies are cool people but some of them are cocky.

They proved a lot, but it doesn't depend on the style, it depends on the person itself.

That's what most BJJ practitioners don't think of.

I was in a MMA school and they disrespected every other style other than BJJ and Muay Thai. It sorta pissed me off so i left.

Answer 7

I don't hate the Gracies, because I don't know any of them. I think that their style is very effective, and works well for what it is designed for. I do not respect them as practisers of the martial arts for the following reasons:

1) The original UFC was totally designed for the Gracie style. No time limit with being on the ground. The fighters were hand picked for Royce, as I do not beleive there were any other grappling styles involved until later. Also have you heard anything from any of the people that he fought in 1 or 2? No because they were not extremly goo examples of their styles.

2) The famous statistic, dependign on who reeats it, that 90 - 98 percent of fights go to the ground. I asked a question on here for proof through actual statistics of this and nobody was able to provide it. the truth is that this falicy came from a LA police report on officer involved altercations with suspects. Keep in mind that these are men who have to restrain suspects with the least amount of damage possible, and even then the actual statistic was only 60%. So they lied. I still have an open challenge for anyone to provide me with proof that this statistic is real. And I mean self defense situations, not two morons street fighting.

3) they breed people like reality who posted an answer, and Jack D another idiot on here, that slam any style other then BJJ, although they think Muay thai is ok. they slam any traditional style that is not involved in MMA, and show a total lack of respect, even though the Gracies only refined moves that were already there and they were taught.

So no i don't hate the Gracie's, I just think that they have gotten way to much credit thanks to all the MMA fanboy's and wanna be's. I will say one thing for MMA, at least it proves that BJJ is not the ultimate style becasue guess what, there isn't one.

Answer 8

Many people tend to dislike the Gracies because many of them were arrogant about themselves and their style after Royce Gracie won matches in the first 4 Ultimate Fighting Championships. The Gracies would talk a good game after beating someone, but when one of them would lose they would come up with the lamest excuses for as to why they lost. Royce Gracie once said, "No one who is not a Gracie will ever be able to beat a Gracie." This statement proved to be false on a number of occassions as Royce lost in both Brazilian Jiu Jitsu tournaments and in MMA events.

The Gracie family is at their best when they aren't running their mouthes about how great they are. In my opinion the greatest MMA fighter who ever lived was Rickson Gracie, and he was very humble about how good he was, as a fighter should be. Rickson's son Kron is doing very well in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu tournaments, but he may never enter MMA tournaments for a number of different reasons.

Answer 9

First off I respect the Gracies alot and enjoy BJJ.  I think they are somewhat arrogant though.  They win in the UFC, which they created, under UFC rules (again they created it).  So they claim that BJJ is the best and all other arts are "useless".  That is very arrogant, because I think the usefulness of an art is better determined in a street fight, not UFC.  

In the street an attacker will most likely not be a trained fighter, so most arts properly taught will be effective.   Also some fights in the street will involve multiple attackers or weapons and fighting on the ground in those situations is really not a good idea.  So yes they have modified a great martial art (Judo) and made it somewhat more effective in some ways for UFC, but don't go and call a bunch of other arts that would most likely work in the street "useless".   That is what really annoys me.

Answer 10

I respect the Gracie family for the success they have had. They put a lot of work into what they are doing.  What I do not like boils down to two things.

1) their arrogance

2) I feel that what they do is not jujitsu but more like wrestling. I don't think it should be described as Jujitsu

Answer 11

I dont know any martial artists traditional or otherwisw who hate the gracies except for a few wannabe muay thai and mma dorks who have had a total of maybe 20 training sessions in their lives .You know the type "all the gear not a clue".

I attended 4 day long seminars with them and didn't find them arrogant in person .The TV personna?That's all hype and salesman ship.Welcome to AMERICA.

BRUCE LEE was accused of being cocky and arrogant .He was cocky most little guys who can handle themselves are but arrogant no one I know who met him ever said he was arrogant.

Answer 12

Because they are way too arrogant.

Answer 13

I believe it has more to do with the different styles of fighting. For a long time jujitsu fighters dominated MMA, which the Gracie family contributed greatly to. Then along came the strikers that wanted to prove that their style was more dominate. There are still few fighters that are extremely proficient in both and I emphasize the word few. This continues to be a debate in gyms and training everywhere. I personally don't understand why fighters don't see it neccesary to work on better escapes.

Answer 14

I respect the Gracie family alot... I dont know why anybody would hate them exept maybe jealousy? My BJJ instructor is part of the Gracie family... Carlos Machado

Answer 15

they are at the highest level of warriors in martial arts , competition fighting, and due to their lifeworth of training even self defence however contrary to the average mma fan many posses an ego. they try to say gracie ju jitsu is the best style and the only one u need to know and support it with the ultimate fighting championship history however in truth wen the greatest judoka of the time went against the greatest gracie of the time judo won in bjj rules wen kimura beat him after houres of fighting an then heilio admits that 3 min in the match he was technicaly knocked out an the ref didnt notice. they consistently say that they have reached a style that is perfect wen it is easy to see how a low ranking practitioner would have trouble using this sport fighting in a self defence situation. so yes if they lost to judo in their own rules not even mma or vale tudo how do they say their style is the best?? Also how can their style be the best if they have every submission known but havent a clue how to strike that is as ignorant as ignoring the ground game in mma.plus they can not all but some of them do things they  just dont teach and ansewer just do gracie ju jitsu. also they act like they never lose ever but there is the gracie killer there was royce gracies loss in pride fighting championship and even his hometown ufc he got ****** up by matt hughes not even at his best without even taking too many strikes[lose by submission] which is a compliment to him saying that gracie jujitsu prevails but they act like they dont lose and that there truely are different styles at war or summin. perhaps in competition but as grandmaster level martial artsist they should understand there truely arent any styles just way ppl seperate themselves or learn to have difference and even ali who said he was the greatest didnt act like he didnt lose. they to this da6y feel that the only art u need is gracie ju jitsu and that it is unbeatable but by no means is that true by no means.   domnt get me wrong they are graet fighters but they posses plenty of human flaws that sometimes are notable prety easily