Following his son Kron Gracie’s fight confirmation, Rickson Gracie flew to Tokyo to talk about his son and RIZIN FF. He speaks about how he expects the revival of Bushido spirit, and his parenting philosophy towards Kron, as a father and as a teacher.

—Tell us the reason why you are in Japan

My son Kron Gracie’s fight in RIZIN has been confirmed, so I am here to help promote the fight. I really think that the concept of RIZIN is great. They are promoting the event well, and a TV deal is set. The thing that makes me happy the most, is that they are bringing back the rules which will bring back the Bushido Spirit from the fighters, which we don’t see very much these days.

—What exactly is Bushido Spirit you are talking about

Vale Tudo’s original concept was 2 warriors enter the ring, and 1 comes out. During the evolution of MMA, new rules were brought in and now it has seemed to settle with 3 to 5, five minutes rounds with a must point system. But by bringing in the point system, that introduced the idea that a fighter could win just by earning points and not committing to finishing a fight. Fighters would hide behind that idea and strategize more than going for the finish, and eventually the fight not to “win”, but they fight “not to lose”.
I think all the fighters fighting unified rules are tremendous athletes, but I just feel like they are strategizing in how not to lose. They don’t go create their chances for the win, but wait for the chance to come to them, in other words fighters are playing it safe. Which means that the rules have deluded the Bushido Spirit.

—You believe that RIZIN rules will bring back Bushido Spirit

RIZIN rules state that there will be ten minutes in the 1st round and no points per round. Which forces the fighters to be aggressive during the entire fight. In a longer round, a fighter cannot just rely on just his explosiveness and physical strength, he truly needs to be the better fighter, with better strategy and technique. In a five minute round, you can fight without thinking and the bell will ring when you are about tired, but in a longer round, you need to plan more, and rely on your technique and be smarter to avoid fatigue or you will not win. This is not a “match”, it is a “duel” so the fighters need to plan better and fight with higher spirit.

—Do you think Japanese MMA had the Bushido Spirit all along

When PRIDE first held their events, the rules and the fighters’ mentality towards the fight was more focused on the “duel” aspect. The fans could relate to their mentality and that is why it got that big. But the modern MMA rules are not meant for “duel”, it’s become a “game”. It’s very confusing when the fight goes to distance, since it is not a clear victory, we really can’t tall who won and why. The Japanese fans who carry and respect the Bushido Spirit cannot relate to a game, and I think that is why the unified rules didn’t become popular in Japan. RIZIN will bring back the rules where a clear winner will be determined. And if the fans can relate to these rules, it has the potential of becoming bigger than unified rules.

—What kind of parenting and training have you been doing on Kron

I have been teaching Kron Jiu Jitsu even before he started to think, by naturally positioning the body in and putting him in certain situations. He really started training Jiu Jitsu when he was 7. Before his matches, I would always tell him “I will give you 1 toy if you win. If you lose, I will give you 2”. The meaning behind that is to make him understand that I will not be mad if he loses. I have never put him under pressure to win. I believe that I have taught him that we can always learn more from a loss and work on it. When he was 12 or 13, he told me that he no longer wanted to practice Jiu Jitsu and started skateboarding but after a couple broken bones, he came back to the Dojo. And as he put himself in the environment, he began to love Jiu Jitsu.

—Do you still teach Kron

About 3 years ago, Kron said to me, “Dad, I am really grateful and appreciate all of the knowledge, technique, strategy you have taught me. But I want to go further. From this point on, you are not responsible and everything I do is my decision, my responsibility.” I was really proud of him. And from that day on, he started training harder, watched what he eats, and he is showing his dedication. He has a strong will to become the face of the Gracie family, to become the Champion.

—From a third person’s point of view, how is Kron as a fighter

I think he is very talented. He is working very hard to polish his talents. He is not stubborn, he tries out new things to get better, and is training MMA a lot. I think his strongest weapon is his mind. He has a very strong mentality and always challenging himself, and overcoming it. I truly respect his “All or nothing” style.

—What are your thoughts on Asen Yamamoto and his family

I do not know much about Asen, but I do know that he comes from a family who creates champions, and was raised in a great environment. I respect what he and his family has accomplished. This fight will be the beginning of the future of MMA. Asen is young and lacks in professional competition experience, so I don’t expect much from him but Kron is still in the process of becoming an MMA fighter. I think this fight is a great fight for him at this stage of his career. Regardless of the results, I hope that both fighters can learn a lot and grow from this fight.

—You have reunited with Nobuhiko Takada who you fought in PRIDE

PRIDE gave me the exposure at a totally different dimension. With that being said, the fight with Takada san was really important for me, and a good experience. He is currently in a position where he is leading the fighting world, and has a great social reputation who everybody looks up to. So I am honored to be able to face such a man, once again. It’s not about the results, because we had that fight, we are both in the positions where we are at right now, and we get to work together. Now that I think about it, that fight had a big meaning for both of us.