Carlson Gracie fought 18 Vale Tudo in the 1950’s and 60’s. His 17 wins make him the most successful Gracie fighter to this day. In the course of his long fighting and coaching career, he innovated many of the MMA training practices that we now take for granted.
Here are seven ways in which he was the first modern MMA coach and fighter…
Carlson’s radical-for-the-time ideas included that…
- No gi is more realistic for MMA, both for training and fighting
- You have to be a well-rounded fighter, able to survive on the bottom, fight on the top, punch, kick, grapple and cross-train in other arts
- Takedowns are just as important as being able to hold someone down
- Ground and pound is a valid way to win a fight, not just submissions
- Being on top in a fight is better than being on bottom
- Strength and athleticism are as important as technique and do not detract from technique
- For high performance you need to do lots of sparring with full resistance against a wide variety of opponents
These points were wonderfully articulated by Robert Drysdale in his excellent new book The Rise and Evolution of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, and are corroborated by my own observations and experiences.
I’ll be talking to Robert Drysdale about this era of jiu-jitsu in MUCH more detail on episode 387 of The Strenuous Life Podcast.
Seven Reasons Carlson Gracie Was the First Modern MMA Coach and Fighter – Audio Only
This conversation was also published as episode 386 of The Strenuous Life Podcast. You can also listen to the audio-only format of the episode on your podcast player.
It’s on all major podcast platforms, but here are some of the links to get you started…
- Apple Podcasts
- Google Podcasts
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- Stitcher,
- And most other podcast players
Or, if you want to stay on this page, please use the embedded audio player below…
Other Podcast Episodes…
If you enjoyed this episode then you might also like…
Fabio Gurgel on Fighting Vale Tudo in Brazil, Training BJJ World Champions, and More…
Here’s multiple time BJJ world champion Fabio Gurgel sharing his experiences training with Carlson Gracie, fighting in Brazilian Vale Tudo matches, and creating a team of world champion BJJ killers.
Click here to check out my in-depth interview with Fabio Gurgel.
Daniele Bolelli on Fascism
What is Fascism, with Daniele Bolelli
In episode 379 of The Strenuous Life Podcast I talk with podcaster, martial artist, and history professor Daniele Bolelli about the characteristics of fascism.
The term ‘fascism’ gets thrown around a lot these days. But words have meaning, and so you can’t just use it as an insult to describe anything you don’t like. So what is it?
As Daniele explains, there isn’t a single definition of fascism; instead it’s a checklist and the more items an ideology checks off then the closer they are to fascism…
Click here to check out the entire episode with Daniele Bolelli.
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