Kron Gracie vs. Marcelo Garcia at the 2011 ADCC
[First published in 2014. To help us keep putting out great content in English, support us here.]
Kron Gracie paid a visit to GRACIEMAG’s HQ in Rio de Janeiro at the beginning of 2014.
He talked to our news team for hours and reflected on his career up to that point.
Here are some of the highlights of that talk.
“Everything I learned on the mat was from my dad, Rickson, until I was 18. After that I braved my own path and developed my own style.”
“At 12 I realized I wanted Jiu-Jitsu for my life so I decided I was going to channel my energy into it. Around 15, I noticed I had a knack for it so I began to dedicate myself, making sacrifices.”
“At 23 I started investing even more energy in my training, I improved my respiratory capacity and I gave myself physically more, but the crux was something else: I stopped making excuses.”
“After that match against Marcelinho at the 2011 ADCC, I started believing that I could not only beat a champion like him, but my Jiu-Jitsu could also submit even someone as tough as he is.”
“I won everything at brown belt because I had more mat time and competition experience than my rivals. At black belt, it’s a different story altogether.”
“The root of my Jiu-Jitsu is essentially based on where I place my weight; how I spread it; and how I use levers. I try not to root my Jiu-Jitsu on grips on cloth, because if you don’t have the gi, the grips lose importance.””
After the talk, Kron stepped on the mat area in the office and taught 3 breathing exercises he uses to improve his respiratory capacity. It took Kron years to master these techniques and he trusts them fully. He explained: “Notice that all animals breath properly, except for humans. With these techniques. I can better oxygenate every part of my body.”
Exercise 1 – Lying down
Lie on the ground and put one hand on the chest and the other on the belly. As you breathe, the chest hand should be completely immobile, or as much as possible. Your back also should not inflate. What moves is the hand on top of your belly, thanks to the use of the diaphragm, the muscle responsible for abdominal breathing.
Exercise 2 – Sitting down
You can exercise your diaphragm sitting down as well. Lift one arm and lower it slowly until it reaches the mat, while you exhale all the air from your body. As you raise the arm, inhale, gradually increasing the amount of time spent on exhaling and inhaling.
Exercise 3 – Warm up
Kron practices his breathing exercises while warming up as well. Repeat this and other natural moves using during a Jiu-Jitsu match while inhaling and exhaling by using the abdominal muscle.
