Royce Gracie Seminar(please don't move thread)

[thetruth]

I went to a Royce Gracie seminar tonight. If you ever get the chance it's well worth the money. Very cool guy, really relaxed atmosphere and learnt some great stuff.

I just thought I'd put the thread here as even if you don't have a grappling background it's worth a look and more people read this part of the forum than the bjj section.

Just thought I'd share.

Cheers
Sam:asian:

 

[Brian R. VanCise]

Royce is absolutely great at what he does. I have enjoyed every time I have had the opportunity of training with him.

Even if you do not grapple regularly it would be good to go and check out one of his seminars. Lots of good technique and movement is shown.

 

[MJS]

Quite a few years ago, he came to my area. We were having quite the snow storm, but I went anyway, and I was glad that I did. Place was packed, but he made his way around the room and fine tuned everyones technique.

What was covered at the seminar?

 

[Twin Fist]

if he was so great, why did he have to take steroids? and still lost?

sorry, but his behavior has soured me on him, a LOT

 

[Brian R. VanCise]

Absolutely and that is a huge disappointment with Royce. No arguing there.

I think in that vein you have to look at all competitive athletes. They are all looking for that edge so to speak and well many fall into the trap of using illegal steroids.

As for Royce the person and the martial practitioner? Well I have always found him approachable, nice and an excellent technician and someone who is willing to teach his background well.

Still the steroid thing was a major disappointment! (major)

 

[SensibleManiac]

Let's not forget what he did for MMA.

I agree the steroid thing was bad, however lots of UFC competitors are juiced, maybe he figured he needed that edge against them, still a mistake to go that route though.

Obviously MMA has come a long way since then but we can't forget that if it wasn't for the Gracies and Royce putting himself up there, there would most likely be no UFC or MMA in the States.

We're all entitled to give our opinion about what he did.

It's easy to sit back and criticize him though, how many people have done what he did for MMA?

 

[elder999]

It's easy to sit back and criticize him though, how many people have done what he did for MMA?

There are lots of reasons for taking steroids-lets not forget that he got caught in 2007, when he really coulda/woulda/shoulda been retired from MMA, for all he did for it........

On the other hand, I concur with everyone else-the man runs a damn good seminar, even if it is a little too crowded, and he's a gracious, thorough and generous instructor.

 

[HM2PAC]

I'd love to go to one of his seminars.

Steroids are irrelevant to me. I can learn from anyone.

 

[Twin Fist]

if it wasn't for the Gracies and Royce putting himself up there, there would most likely be no UFC or MMA in the States.

and some people, many people even would say that that would be a good thing.

I have no opinion about that.

I have no doubt he gives a good seminar tho, there is a reason they picked him to do the UFC out of all of them.

But he behavior prevents me from respecting him as a person, and for me, that comes first, before athlete in order of importance.

 

[David Weatherly]

The steroid issue was a huge letdown but hopefully it's now in the past.

Royce is still an outstanding martial artist and his skill is very impressive. If you have the opportunity to attend a seminar with him it is well worth the time.

 

[Twin Fist]

I have no doubt about that

 

[SensibleManiac]

and some people, many people even would say that that would be a good thing.

Probably but most of them are only in denial.
The other few are misinformed and the very very few would be against any aggressive sport.

 

[thetruth]

Quite a few years ago, he came to my area. We were having quite the snow storm, but I went anyway, and I was glad that I did. Place was packed, but he made his way around the room and fine tuned everyones technique.

What was covered at the seminar?

Did a couple of basic self defense techniques against headlock, gun and knife. But a majority was applying the guillotine from the clinch then helping the person in the guillotine avoid it, followed by the person on bottom applying a neck crank and kimura once their guillotine was foiled. I was the only one from my school there so I will have a few things to try monday night.

We also did a really cool drill where you start from a predetermined position with your partner and have a turn each to move a body part and try to eventually get a submission. The trick is however that there must be no strength used at all so you can't force anything. This means that if your partner has the hands clasped tight your move cannot be forcing them apart. So if you wanted to apply a choke using their gi, 1 turn would be putting one hand in place, the next turn would be putting the next hand in place and not until the third turn could u apply the choke giving your partner 3 turns to foil your attempt. It basically takes away all of your physical attributes and makes you think about technique.

Just a great nights training

Cheers
Sam:asian:

 

[thetruth]

and some people, many people even would say that that would be a good thing.

I have no opinion about that.

I have no doubt he gives a good seminar tho, there is a reason they picked him to do the UFC out of all of them.

But he behavior prevents me from respecting him as a person, and for me, that comes first, before athlete in order of importance.

Everyone makes bad choices in their life. No one is perfect. Now Royce's was a one off and I don't think someone should be crucified for that. I also know the guy who bought Royce out to Australia and he is one of the nicest guys I've met in the arts. He has married Royce's cousin and I'm sure if there was ongoing bad behaviour then he would reconsider his position. Royce was just a very cool guy who seems at ease with with himself and life. I don't think he lets too much bother him.

Cheers
Sam:asian:

 

[jks9199]

Hey, folks... Steroids and competitive athletes is a great topic. And having used them definitely casts a bit of a pall on his competitive career... but it's not got a lot to do with whether or not he teaches a good seminar.

Sounds like it was a good seminar. I just hate going to big name seminars on any topic, martial arts or professional, because they tend to just get swamped... I like it a lot better when the seminar is only 20 or 30 (or even fewer) people, and you can really get some attention and time from the guy teaching it.

 

[Brian R. VanCise]

Hey, folks... Steroids and competitive athletes is a great topic. And having used them definitely casts a bit of a pall on his competitive career... but it's not got a lot to do with whether or not he teaches a good seminar.

Sounds like it was a good seminar. I just hate going to big name seminars on any topic, martial arts or professional, because they tend to just get swamped... I like it a lot better when the seminar is only 20 or 30 (or even fewer) people, and you can really get some attention and time from the guy teaching it.

I agree with you totally on that jks9199. Personally I like even a smaller seminar of around 10 people or less with everyone going out to dinner afterwards. That is how we try to manage it up here in the great north.

 

[jks9199]

I agree with you totally on that jks9199. Personally I like even a smaller seminar of around 10 people or less with everyone going out to dinner afterwards. That is how we try to manage it up here in the great north.

That's the best type of training... Getting together with friends, swapping sweat and leather... then chowing down together later.

Great way to spend a weekend.

 

[Kembudo-Kai Kempoka]

As a fellow ectomorph attempting to have a life after significant orthopedic injury -- with a living that depends on my ability to use my body effectively, I absolutely get why Royce used. Some of the history of the War on Drugs and the rhetoric used to gain control of things that aren't nearly as big a deal as others should really be considered when passing judgement about steroid use.

I was a student at the Academy back in the day, before the UFC's. Royce was 170 pounds soaking wet; perhaps the least competitively athletic of the Gracie brothers, but still a helluva natural athlete. Buddy of mine weight-trained him for the UFC's, getting him up to a whopping 176. At which weight he went against guys like Kimo and Shamrock...who were roided out beasts of considerable size and strength differences. One guy in the school actually tried to get Royce on the gear, and he declined. For years. Choosing to rely on his jiujutsu, rather than size and strength. On preparation by rolling with his brothers, rather than developing strength gains in size.

While on steroids, your body heals faster from new injuries (i.e., training injuries that come from ramping up for competition), and hurts a lot less from old ones, allowing you to work on rehabbing them while developing for your upcoming trials. Steroids can also help someone recover from wasting disorders, gaining much needed muscle mass to aid with recovery of immune function. (immune systems work better with more red meat on your bones).

Steroids have a place in healthcare, but because of the ridiculous public furor over them, stemming from a bored war on drugs, many physicians are hesitant to prescribe them to patients who would clearly benefit from them.

Anyone remember Nancy Reagan and the War on drugs? Remember what an abysmal failure of a time they were having actually restricting the flow of money and drugs back and forth with South America? Declaring war on steroids provided them an easy target; there wasn;t a lot of trafficking going on, and aside from body-builders and athletes, there wasn;t a big demand base for them...easy target for a PR coup in the war. Lyle Alzedo blaming his brain tumor on steroids provided them an east poster boy to craft a sham victory with, since they weren't winning where it counted. Some of us remember that Alzedo was also using many other illicit substances in gross amounts, many known to have waay more adverse effects than roids.

I got mono and EBV as a teen, which left behind a strain of cryptic tonsillitis. Which led to me being ill for a week, healthy for a week, for several years (can't take the tonsils out while actively infected, which was pretty much all the time for 7 years...by the time they'd book a room, the infection was active again). During which time I damn near died a couple times from pneumonia, septic infections (from throat to ears, ears to blood, blood to heart & brain), and asundry other little unpleasantries. Immune function is tied to muscle mass. After many years on anti-biotics and getting ravaged by the wee little bugger bacterium anyways, mine was trashed. And I looked like a starving concentration camp survivor.

A year after excision of the tonsils, I still couldn't gain weight. So they put me on anabolic steroids. I gained mass, gained health, and got to have a life again. They were used often in cases like mine, as well as cancer survivors, and general post-op to aid in tissue regeneration from surgery. Old lady gets a hip replacement? Stick her on deca-durabolin for 6 weeks while she's in Physical Therapy...it'll help keep the inflammation and pain down, promote fast cell replacement and wound healing, and help her develop the muscles that wasted while she was down for the count prior to and immediately after surgery. Now docs are scared to make cancer/surgery Rx's, out of fear they'll be burned at witch stakes by angry peasant mobs, worked up over baseball hero's and public opinion fervor...formed by PR campaigns.

MMA fighter on roids kills his family and himself, and it's all over the news. Public goes insane chomping at the bait saying, 'See? Steroids are bad, and only bad people use them so anyone proividing them or consuming them must be bad people". But I can crack the newspaper on just about any given day to find drunks running red lights and ruining lives, shooting at cops til the cops shoot back, knifing someone in a bar, beating their wives and kids, etc. Daily. Anyone racing to make booze a class 3 controlled substance and felony to buy, use, or posess? Anyone on these sites getting all worked up over an MMA celeb going out for a coupla beers with his buds?

If I listen to my brother-in-laws rhetoric, all Muslims are innately bad people, and should be exported post-haste; executed if they resist. It's an ill-informed, ignorant view that fails to take into account all the facts prior to making assumtions. But it doesn't keep him from reacting negatively to anything having to do with Islam in the U.S. This anti-steroid mania is just the same thing, tilted at a different windmill.

Royce is a genuinely good person who made a choice to prolong his income by training through his injuries, instead of letting them stop him. So now we should round him up with those darned muslims, and ship them all out of the states? This kind of blanket negative altercasting is a silly thing, and it's getting done by otherwise perfectly intelligent and reasonable people. Stop it. Please. It's silly.

D.