The Gracies are back in action. I think this it most action we have seen out of this many Gracies in a long time. The Gracies are back in action. I think this it most action we have seen out of this many Gracies in a long time. We couldn’t be more excited about it. I was so excited that when I found the whole gang was going to be training at Renzo’s I shot back in to NY. I was in NJ covering the Grapplers Quest. To catch up with the boys and see how the training was going.
You might not know that both Gumby & I are Ralph Gracie students and have been for close to seven years. So we are extra excited to see our Master getting back in the ring. It has been a long hiatus for Ralph he had not fought since his 2nd match with Steve Nelson (No relation to me, thank you! My relatives are not dumb enough to fight Ralph.). Many people doubted his skills after that match because it went almost 20 minutes. However if you knew the rules and saw the match you know Ralph had it won three times and the referee was trying to drag the fight out. Well Ralph`s skills could not be doubted but his gas was. I was a little worried about his gas for this upcoming fight until I saw him. He was already in shape and training harder than I had seen ever seen him. Even harder than when he swore he was going to kill Eugino Taudeu back in the Extreme Fighting days.
I spent a whole day there at Renzo Gracie`s new school watching them go through the paces. Ralph and Renzo worked conditioning early in the AM and then went through Thai Boxing with Jamie Crower, then Boxing with Edgar Chutan and then wrestling with coach Marrio Mercado and Jamal Paterson. I felt bad for Shawn Willams and the other Renzo guys who lined up to train with them. Even as Ralph and Renzo got tired the training was still tough for them. Shawn is also training for his NHB premire and he is looking good. No doubt he is going to bring it to who ever they put him in the ring with. Shoot look out!
At the end of the day Ralph stopped training to rest. He then spent about an hour helping everyone in the whole beginners class work the new techniques that Shawn has just taught. For a second I was thinking who is this nice guy? The Ralph I knew used to kick me in the head and call me a “Mothda Fucker” when I messed up a move. It was nice to see him taking time to help some new guys and you could see people were appreciating it.
Soon the advanced class rolled in and Ralph & Renzo picked out a few guys and did some good rolling on the mat with the guys. Then him and Shawn worked some new 1/2 guard game techniques.
It was a long tough day. I wanted to interview all the Gracies but Ryan & Daniel were taking the day off and didn’t show up till late in the day and I never got to see Rodrigo.
When I asked Ryan for an interview he declined. I asked him if he was training hard and ready. He replied with an crazy look and “What you think? I`m going to kill the mother fucker!”
World Champion Gabriel Vella was also there fresh off his win at the 3rd Black Belt Challenge in Saô Paulo. Looks like we might see him in the ring in Pride soon also.
We want to wish all the Gracies luck and hope to see Ralph kicking some ass!!
Official Line Up:
Ralph Gracie x Dokonjonosuke MishimaRyan Gracie x Kazuhiro HamanakaRodrigo Gracie x Daiju TakaseDaniel Gracie x Kazuhiro NakamuraRenzo Gracie x Carlos Newton