The book Carlos Gracie – The Creator of a Dynasty,which was published in Brazil only in Portuguese, was written by the daughter of the late master, Reila Gracie (Roger Gracie’s mother). The book was finally released in English at the World Jiu-Jitsu Expo, on the 18th and 19th of October 2014 in Long Beach, California, USA and is also being sold through Budovideos.
The goal of the book was to show the other side of the story about the Gracie family. Up to now, Rorion’s side had told the World that Grandmaster Helio was the one who changed and improved Jiu-Jitsu by introducing leverage. The book created quite a controversy in Brazil in the BJJ community.
One part of the book is very interesting.nThe co-founder of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Carlos Gracie, was quoted as having said:
For me, Jiu Jitsu without GI can be everything, but not Jiu Jitsu ( BJJ ) ”
For the majority of BJJ practitioners, Jiu-Jitsu is primarily a Gi art but once they take off the Gi it is still Jiu-Jitsu, but they call it No Gi Jiu-Jitsu. You will have a hard time seeing a BJJ player saying that they train Luta Livre when they take off the Gi.
Catch Wrestler Josh Barnett, who is also a second degree BJJ balck belt, shares the same point of view as Carlos Gracie, as recently stated in an in-depth interview with MMA Fighting’s Luke Thomas:
To me, jiu-jitsu is with the gi. Without a gi, it’s whatever else. When it comes to being out there in a no gi environment, catch is the way to go.
