Roger Gracie Gomes (more commonly, Roger Gracie) is the most accomplished Brazilian jiu-jitsu competitor in history. He has beaten every man who has gotten on the mat with him and he has never been submitted in competition. Roger is a true living legend that many know little about outside BJJ circles. My plan is to right that wrong with this blog post.
Roger is a fascinating guy because he is the culmination of so much technique, yet he wins against the top competition in the world using the most basic techniques. The cross-collar choke from mount, the thumb-in variation, the ezekiel choke, the armbar from S-mount, the mata-leao/kill-lion more commonly known as the rear-naked choke. Roger is the best in the gi and the best no-gi. He sub'd every person he faced at the Abu Dhabi Combat Club World Grappling Championship in 2005 and is a twelve-time world champion. He has won the absolute (open weight) world championship six times, the only man to ever achieve this feat.
How does a man become so much better than everybody else? How does Roger Gracie happen?
Being the grandson of Carlos Gracie Sr, the founder of BJJ, on his maternal side, he was immersed in jiu-jitsu at a very young age in Brazil. Surrounded by top instructors and training partners he honed his fundamentals and defense to an unpenatrable level. As a member of the Gracie family and culture, there was an expectation of excellence. While others have had good fortune being born around great mentors, Roger had something more, maybe a few things more, going for him.
His dad, Maurcio Motta Gomes, is one of the "Famous Five", a prestigious group of black belts under the late Rolls Gracie. So on a typical day, Roger would go to the Gracie Barra Academy and be surrounded by the likes of his uncle Carlinos, perhaps Jean-Jacques Machado, Renzo Gracie, Eduardo de Lima, Maurcio "Pe de Pano" Cruz, and then come home to his Rolls Gracie black belt dad who could answer any questions and cement any knowledge that he needed to fine tune. This situation persisted for years until Maurcio and Roger were offered an opportunity to start a chain of schools in the UK. They took the opportunity and Roger was able to keep himself surrounded by the best black belts there, as well. A main partner was the great jiu-jitsu innovator Braulio Estima. He continued to grow, and though all these top black belts he was going through knew his bread-and-butter techniques that they needed to avoid, they couldn't. Having studied his jiu-jitsu ad nauseum, I discovered a theme to his system of attacks: Roger forces opponents to defend one technique, opening up another. His secret is a web of techniques that complement each other. The result is he's always attacking and opponents are futilly defending. His system is so honed and so sharp that if he isn't defending, he's advancing his position or submitting the opponent.
Additionally, Roger is tall, athletic, calm, detail-oriented and committed. It is a rare occasion that capacity meets opportunity in this way and produces an all-timer like Roger Gracie. He is the result of being the best guy in the best places at the best times. I try to mimic his style and demeanor in the way that a kid would wear a Michael Jordan jersey and stick his tongue out while taking a basketball to the rim. I'm a fan of humble greatness. There has been none greater than Roger Gracie Gomes.
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