Mauricio Motta Gomes is a bjj veteran and a father of jiu-jitsu in the United Kingdom. Gomes had been doing bjj since he was about 5, as his own father was a fan of the martial art. But perhaps one of the things he’s most famous for to the contemporary generations is the fact that he is the father of Greatest Grappler Of All Time – Roger Gracie.
Gomes recently had a huge interview on the The Charles Eoghan Experience podcast and shared quite a few interesting tidbits.
Gomes was a student of the legendary Rolls Gracie.
He revealed that when he arrived at Roll’s academy, he was a 22 year old white who had been training since he was 5 years old. That means that he had been a white belt for an incredible 17 years.
And as for just how Gomes got his blue belt – he was instructed by Rolls to go buy a blue belt for competition:
“Every time he went I had to beat him up because Rolls said he didn’t want him back… He said there’s a state championship on Saturday.I said I haven’t been in competition since I was a kid. Go to the shop, buy yourself a blue belt. You start wearing it tomorrow… So I came back the next day with a shiny new blue belt. “
As for the black belt, that Gomes got it was given to him by Rolls with no fanfare. He was just told to go tie it on and that was it!
As for the Gauntlet Gomes says he does not remember anyone getting whipped or hazed at Rolls’ academy.
You can hear all this and a whole lot more in a tremendous episode of the podcast attached below.
