Recently a guy in Texas shared a video of himself opening a package he got in the mail. Inside that package was a Gracie blue belt. He earned this belt through the internet, without having to actually step foot inside a BJJ academy at all. Some people in the BJJ community are really upset about this, others don’t mind because it introduces BJJ to more people and they don’t feel that somebody earning a technical belt through the mail does anything to undermine the rankings of those who learn in person.
Gracie University is run by Ryron and Rener Gracie, sons of Rorion, and they have over 110,000 students enrolled from nearly 200 countries. Some of their Gracie counterparts are not happy about this, and many high-level BJJ players have come out against the Gracie University, going as far as to say that it’s killing BJJ.
Kron Gracie, son of Rickson, is not a fan of what the other Gracies are doing with this “McDojo”.
“It’s a shame the way the Jiu-Jitsu is being sold. I am ashamed to say that Ryron and Rener teach classes online, and that you can get a belt from a Gracie over the internet. I am sad to know that it’s happening now. Unfortunately, I can not do anything. I do not own the world, I can only control what I do. Jiu-Jitsu is a martial art. You need to put your blood in the gym, hang out with your teacher and earn the belt. It’s something you do not get with time, experience for money and friendship.” said Kron, in an interview with Tamate.
Kron took first place at the 2013 ADCC Submission Wrestling Championships. He’s currently 1-0 in MMA, and represents the future for the Gracie clan. While many Gracies are kind of stubborn when it comes to expanding their skillsets, Kron seems more open-minded in his training and more willing to embrace other styles of fighting. Here’s his training lineage…
Mitsuyo “Count Koma” Maeda → Carlos Gracie → Helio Gracie → Rickson Gracie → Kron Gracie
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