Five Things I Learned From UFC Legend Royce Gracie
Dec 11th, 2009 by Nut
Royce (pronounced Hoyce) Gracie is one of the greatest mixed-martial artists and Jiu-jitsu experts in the world. By simply watching his fights and listening to him speak, I’ve managed to reinforce a few important life lessons.
Don’t Judge a Book by its Cover
Watch any of Gracie’s fights against much larger opponents (like the one against Kimo), and you’ll wonder how long it’ll take for the big guy to completely destroy him. It just doesn’t look fair: one guy has huge, rippling muscles while the other guy is skinny and wearing a Ghi. You feel a little concerned for Gracie’s safety.
Until the fight starts. He knows exactly what he’s doing and he usually makes the big guys tap out. He may look harmless, but this man is lethal.
Anything is Possible
How on earth could such a small man force these hulking big men with lethal punching power to tap out? With technique, that’s how. But you wouldn’t believe it unless you saw it yourself.
Gracie proved that, while size and power may matter, technique and patience can trump it. It takes a lot of hard work and you have to be really good, but it can be done.
Stay Humble
Watch Gracie enter the ring and watch him win a fight: the look on his face stays the same. This is one cool cat. Watch some of the other fighters (and boxers especially) and see how long you can stand to listen to their ridiculous predictions.
These guys ooze cockiness and, while it can be entertaining, gets old fast. Gracie is the Barry Sanders of mixed martial arts: and that’s something I try to emulate all the time—act like you’ve been there.
Never Quit
Gracie has never been submitted. Matt Hughes almost broke his arm once, but looking at his face you’d think he was watching An Incovenient Truth: alert but kind of bored. Any other fighter would’ve probably tapped out to save his arm.
Not Gracie. He hung in there and did what he had to do to get out of the hold. He eventually lost that match by decision, but he never tapped out.
Nobody’s Perfect
As awesome as I think Gracie is, he’s not perfect. His career has three losses and three draws (one in which his corner threw in the towel before the fight even started because his leg was broken). You’d love to see the greatest UFC fighter ever with a spotless record, but that’s just not realistic.
Everyone makes mistakes, and when someone you admire this much has lost three fights and gotten his face beaten to a pulp, you realize that perfection isn’t realistic. It’s OK to fail.
