Rener Gracie has always been a fantastic storyteller, full of anecdotes and lessons from everyday life… But did you know the story of his grandfather, Helio Gracie, as a Santa for Christmas?
It’s a beautifully heartwarming and, in true Gracie fashion, exciting story.
Rener shared it in an interview with Bloody Elbow a few years back:
Grandmaster Helio, my grandfather, every Christmas in Brazil, would dress up in full Santa Clause regalia. And he would get on a black stallion, a black horse, in the middle of the night on Christmas Eve, would come galloping onto the property with a bag full of presents.
He would get off the horse, and climb off the ladder, and go in to give out presents to all the kids in the Gracie compound, as we called it.
My dad grew up with that whole thing so he tried to preserve that here.
So, there was little difference in how Rener’s dad, too, carried on the tradition:
My dad has gone to every extent necessary to preserve that situation for the little ones.
He doesn’t come up in a black stallion in the middle of the street in Torrance, CA, but he’ll get all dressed up and go across the street in the middle of the night, where he gets on top of the neighbor’s house, so that when the kids look out the window, they’ll see Santa on top of the house.
He comes down with all the presents and crosses the street like a little old man. Then he hands out the presents to all the kids. He goes all the way, 100%.
Make sure to read the entire interview on the following link.
