UFC 1 winner and Hall-of-Famer Royce Gracie has been known for his traditional mindset in terms of Jiu-Jitsu. He stands by the teachings of his late great father Helio Gracie, the man who engineered its concepts for the smaller man to be able to subdue a larger opponent through technique and leverage.
As big as the Gracie family is, with almost everyone a top Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioner, being divided within themselves was almost inevitable. However, the rivalry within the Brazil's royal martial arts family seems to have taken on a new level as Royce expressed his disdain over his nephews' manner of teaching and giving out promotional belts.
Rener and Ryron Gracie, sons of Royce's elder brother Rorion, run Gracie University, wherein beginners are given an opportunity to earn their blue belts through stringent online testing methods.
Initially, it was Rener who began the war of words as he adamantly defended his teaching methods, noting that online learning can be more effective than the traditional way.
"Online, each one has its specific class," the younger Gracie said in a statement. "Some people tried to learn in the classroom, but the lessons were random, and some students had difficulty learning. And what did they do? Resorted to Gracie University."
Royce had already criticized his nephew the first time around through a post in his Instagram social media account. According to the 47-year old former mixed martial arts veteran, his nephews are being blasphemous by associating their online teaching methods to Helio Gracie's name.
"It's a shame when your own family changes the concepts of everything you stood for then uses your name and then is actually tying to convince the world that it's better to learn from a screen then a person specially the art as complex and technical as jiujitsu," he said.
However, in another statement through the same social media site, the UFC 1 heavyweight champion further criticized his nephews, noting that what they are doing are not the true representation of how the system was originally intended to be.
Royce also noted that his main intention is to ensure that Helio's teachings are upheld, and that online testing or other means of self-help materials are no match for the live training sessions in the dojo.
"They have the right to modify our battle-tested jiu-jitsu system as they see fit, but we feel that it is our duty to ensure that our father's name is not misrepresented," the elder Gracie added.
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