Carlos Gracie Sr
Today is the birthday of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu patriarch, Grandmaster Carlos Gracie Sr.
He would be 113 years old if alive.
Congratulations and thank you for all the great knowledge you’ve passed on to us BJJ practitioners and martial artists.
We’re keeping the legacy alive.
As a way to remember this great men, here are some teachings he left us all, as GRACIEMAG published on its cover story for issue #154.
Here are the words of wisdom from the Grandmaster himself:
1. “With Jiu-Jitsu I learned, above all, the great lesson, which was to get to know myself profoundly”
2. “Brute physical force is worth nothing against the science of the samurais”
3. “The Jiu-Jitsu adept should, above all else, bring prestige to, love and defend the great sport we practice”
4. “It is when fighters tire that fights really start to stall”
5. “To eat wrong is the worst kind of poison”
6. “Valdemar Santana wanted to make headlines and went to find them challenging the very man who taught him to fight. A common trend was repeated, the revolt of the creature against his creator”
7. “Have a bunch of kids. At least one of them will bring you joy”
8. “Never fight against the person, but against his movements”
9. “The habit of lighting a cigarette is a social stupidity. Imagine it being socially elegant to have two cylinders that exhale smoke through nostrils. would you imitate that too?”
10. “Spend the greatest amount of time perfecting yourself, and no time criticizing others”
11. “Promise yourself you will be too great to feel disquiet, too noble to feel cholera, too strong to feel fear and too happy to feel contradictions”
