Ryan
Gracie: So Bad, Yet So Good
Big-Joe-Radio
A few weeks ago I decided that it was time for me to
start writing about heroes. For me it is a 3 part process; I consider it the
ultimate Jiu Jitsu history lesson for me. It is a way for me to express my true
feelings once again on a writing, which in turn gives me practice. Finally, it
is a way for me to honor the art that has so enriched the lives of so many
people that I know. Today, I write about a man whose life was so far lived on
the edge, that even today he is now considered Omni-present in the Jiu Jitsu
world. His name is Ryan Gracie. Some men are such Lion’s that it is impossible
to kill their spirit. When their body does give away, they continue to live
forever.
Ryan Gracie was of course a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Black
Belt and member of the Gracie family. His grandfather was none other than
Carlos Gracie himself, a founding member of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. His brothers
were Renzo and Ralph Gracie. Ryan Gracie died in a Brazilian jail cell after
being arrested for stealing a car, and then attempting to hijack a motorcycle
in an attempt to get away from the police. While in jail, Ryan was over
prescribed medicine by a psychologist, which killed him.
Ryan Gracie’s professional mixed-martial arts record
looks like this;
1.
Win over Yoji Anjo by armbar submission
2.
Win over Ikuhisa Minowa by split decision
3.
Win over Kazuhira by soccer kicks to the
head
4.
Win over Shungo Oyama by armbar
5.
Loss to Tokimitsu Ishizawa because of
injury
6.
Loss to Kazushi Sakuraba by decision
7.
Win over Tokimitsu Ishizawa by KO due to
punches
These
were all fights against local heroes at the time in the old Pride Fighting
organization. Out of his two losses, one of them was due to an uncontrollable
injury that happened during the middle of the fight. His other loss was against
the man deemed, “The Gracie Hunter”, Kazushi
Sakuraba. Sakuraba also fought Ryan’s brother Renzo and other Gracies to
include Ralek, Royce and Royler. Ryan sought to gain honor for his family’s art
by fighting Sakuraba. He may have lost the fight, yet the Gracie’s won the war.
Now the purpose of this writing is not to
go over all the facts that can be easily looked up on the internet. I’m here to
write about what this man means to me after only reading the basic knowledge of
such a “beast”. Ryan Gracie is spoken of as a man who once told people he was
going to die by the age of 33. There are just some men who are too wild and can
never be tamed by this world. They eventually will go out in a blaze of glory.
The rules can’t keep him down, the men can’t hold him back, the money doesn’t
impress him, and this life can’t hold him forever. That to me is the definition
of a beast in life. There is only one person you have to please in this life,
and that is yourself. You have to say, “fuck those who stand in my way”. Life
moves out of the way for people like this. I have no doubt why people loved him
so much even to this very day.
Like I said before, I am nowhere near the
expert in Jiu Jitsu, which is why I am doing this research in the first place.
Yet I understand my need to be around wolves like this man. It only makes more sense
to me now as I discover more about myself in learning about the Gracies.
I came from a family of criminals. My
mother served federal prison time for escaping out of a New Mexican jail.
Before and after that, to this day she is in my heart considered the wildest
woman I have ever been around. She refused to allow her kids to be pussies. It
was a harsh way to grow up, yet now looking back, I could not have made it in
my life as far as I have through the tough struggles, without her. My uncle was
in a biker gang. I remember as a little kid when he was released from prison.
He’d come take me to hang out with his hell’s angels buddies so he could tattoo
them. I was not even a teenager and he was telling me how to get woman. How
woman don’t like pussies, so you have to be tough. I got my first pimping
lessons from a convicted bank robber. To this day I have never been afraid to
approach and get woman that I want.
I also grew up with two cousins my age who
were wild men. One ended in death and one ended in a harsh life inside the prison
system. One was named Ace, the other was named Sean. As teenagers, we were
always together. We literally rotated on whose house we would spend the weekend
at. Sean was a funny kid. He was really smart too. Ace was not so smart but he
would do anything. We would ride our bikes together and Ace would go down the
steepest mountains. He was always up for the biggest rush. I remember Ace
biffed it hard going down the mountain. He went over the handle-bars and passed
out. When he came back to consciousness, he went back up that mountain. He had
no fear. Sean didn’t either. I was the youngest of the cousins. I was never as
brave as them, but I always wanted to impress them so I would do the stupid
things they dared me to do. I jumped off of mountain cliffs into steep
snowbanks. I hitched-hiked from one mountain town to another so I could find
them hanging out with their friends. I just wanted to be with them. It was
always the biggest rush growing up with them. I thought everyone in the world
was a pussy compared to them.
In fact, that is also what we did; we
fought all the local boys our age who thought they were tough. We stole their
bikes and destroyed them. We made out with their girlfriends. Ace and Sean used
to scare the shit out of me, yet I felt more alive being with them. I probably
had a follower’s mindset, but that’s ok because I would have hated hanging out
with the nerdy kids who did all their homework, raked the leaves when they were
supposed to and were friends with all the popular kids in school.
Well as in with Ryan Gracie, that wild
heart can only take it so far. When I was 17 years old, I learned of a horrible
death that Sean met his end to. He had a girlfriend who began cheating on him
with another guy. Sean went to the girl’s house to confront her on the issue.
Sean had a gun; shots were fired into her house. The police were called. A high
speed chase ensued. There is an amusement park near Denver called Lakeside
amusement park. Well Sean crashed his car into the lake itself, while running from
the cops. Sean had a friend with him in the car. The friend swam to the shore
while Sean decided that he was not going to be taken into custody. At the
Amusement park, not far from my house, Sean decided to take his life while
telling the cops to go fuck themselves. Even to this day, I only remember Sean
as a dear cousin who was so close with me, and challenged me not to be afraid
of anything. I never thought to be afraid of losing him like that, and I did.
Now my cousin Ace is a different story.
Sean’s suicide ruined him. He blamed himself because he knew Sean was very
distraught in life to find out his girlfriend was cheating on him. The night
that Sean went on that shooting spree, Ace chose to go hang out with friends.
When it comes to Ace, I have seen a grown, hardened criminal cry like a young
child because he never forgave himself for that. Ace never recovered. He’s done
every drug in the world. He gang-banged with his Hispanic friends. I can think
of 5 county jails that he has been incarcerated in, besides doing major time
down in Canon City prison. He used to
come to my house with stolen cars, drugs and guns in the glove compartment. By
that point I was scared shitless of the path he was taking. He was too wild for
me. I don’t think I could have handled that kind of risk and the consequences
that came from it.
So do I understand men like Ryan Gracie?
You bet your ass I do. That’s why today I have joined the rest of the world in
saying that I love his wild heart. I could have never lived his life. But I
know that some men are just never able to be tamed. They fight not only other
men, but the bullshit system of this world designed to make us all slaves in
the first place. They go out in a blaze of glory.
Thank
you for reading my blog. Jissoseph out!
Sources…
1.
http://www.graciemag.com/2012/12/special-5-years-without-ryan-gracie/
2.
http://www.sherdog.com/fighter/Ryan-Gracie-325
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