How Exactly Did Cagy & Slippery Royce Gracie Explode Mixed Martial Arts?

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It was the damnest thing I ever saw. I first saw this guy, Royce (pronounced like Hoyce - hey, dont ask me, the guy is Brazilian!) Gracie at the first ever Ultimate Fighting Championship. I was kind of underwhelmed, I must say.

First off, let's go back in time a bit. The Gracies go way back in the world of Jujitsu. When young Royce was just old enough to walk, his grandfather Helio taught him everything he needed to know to win tournaments. At age eight, little Royce started competing in tournaments. And he started winning consistenly.

So, here I am at the first ever UFC tournament watching this guy I never heard of take down men so much bigger than he was, they looked like they could eat him for breakfast. I remember thinking, is this guy for real? He is 180 pounds, but a rangy 180, you know? He was skinny and did not look overly strong. He certainly was not muscular or anything.

You see, I always heard you get two grapplers, both of them skilled and the bigger dude wins, 9 times out of 10. That is how it is supposed to work, right? Not with Royce. I saw him get beat down one time against this behemoth Dan Severen. He must have outweighed Gracie close to fifty kilos! Severn picked Gracie up and slammed him back down to the mat a dozen times. He was on top of him the whole match. But right when Royce looked dead for sure, The Beast taps out! I and the rest of us onlookers couldnt believe what happened. Gracie got him in an arm bar and the fat lady was singing. Victory for Gracie and Brazilian Jujitsu. A Hero was born.

Up until then, no one really understood the importance of leverage and body positioning in martial arts. No one had done the types of submissions Gracie did. No one trained them. But after Gracie captured three UFC titles, people were paying attention then, believe you me! It changed mixed martial arts completely. Technique was critical from that point on. Everybody was pressuring their coaches to figure the next best submission move to get their opponents to tap out like Royce was doing to everyone. The smaller man now had an advantage if he had a complete jujitsu game.

So serious martial arts took notice of a fighting style that had been perfected by the Gracie family for seventy years. Watching him fight with guts and skill made me a big fan of the sport. The sport received publicity and legitimacy the day he hit the scene. When he won the tournament and starting setting records, it was like everyone else came on board and the sport blew up in popularity from there. The world of mixed martial arts would not be what it is today without Royce and his family doing what they did for the sport.


About the Author:
Yoshi Kundagawa is an author covering the mixed martial arts world. You can visit his MMA blog at http://www.martialarts3000.com/free-articles.html



Article Originally Published On: http://www.articlesnatch.com


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