fight 'em Eddie!
Win or lose, ya gotta love Royce.
Basics 4 Life!!
Seems like this hit close to home. Only someone insecure would be bothered by his comments. Is there truth in his statements?
Nothing amazing at all. That's Royce.
It's good to see a man be passionate about his father's martial art. . . to be proud of his father and family's heritage and cultural legacy. It would be a shame if he did not demonstrate pride.
I'm not saying that everyone has to agree with the Gracie school of jiu-jitsu and practice their martial art. But, there's nothing wrong with a man following his father's footsteps, taking of his black belt when his father dies, and putting on a midnight blue belt with his father's name on it. . . and demonstrating some pride in his family.
It's only amazing that any one would criticize that kind of pride. In fact, the criticism reflects poorly on the critic.
royce is the man.
Royce did amazing things to popularize BJJ. However, in my opinion, he happened to "be in the right place at the right time".
It really was Rorion that was the mastermind behind choosing Royce and utilizing his BJJ skills in the UFC.
Rorion could have easily chosen hundreds of black belts in Brazil during that time that would have has similar success in the early days of the UFC.
If there is one legit criticism I have heard when it deals with Royce is that while he is busy teaching seminars and spreading the art of bjj, I've heard he actually doesnt train super hard himself to improve his own skills.
That's not really a knock on him, as running a business, having a family, etc, alters your priorities in training.
However, it does mean that he should also have some humility, as I'm sure there are many many people that can best him on the bjj mats.
(If Eddie was the same weight as him, I would say Eddie would tap him out too- no gi of course)
maybe you should show him who's boss by tapping him or one of his brothers...oh wait
kying I don't necessarily think that just anyone could have done what Royce did. He grew up training jiu jitsu for fighting 1st, and tournaments 2nd or 3rd.
Most guys in Brazil have pretty much all trained for tournaments 1st and foremost, w/ self defense a distant afterthought. And the tournament mindset that is bred into them from a young age makes them go instinctively for certain grips and techniques that result in failure when strikes are involved. Royce was never trained that way.
Remember even The General had to go train w/ Carlson for his Vale Tudo fights against Luta Livre. And he was and still is a tournament BEAST!
UNIFIEDTEAM1 - kying I don't necessarily think that just anyone could have done what Royce did. He grew up training jiu jitsu for fighting 1st, and tournaments 2nd or 3rd.
Most guys in Brazil have pretty much all trained for tournaments 1st and foremost, w/ self defense a distant afterthought. And the tournament mindset that is bred into them from a young age makes them go instinctively for certain grips and techniques that result in failure when strikes are involved. Royce was never trained that way.
Remember even The General had to go train w/ Carlson for his Vale Tudo fights against Luta Livre. And he was and still is a tournament BEAST!
That's a good point- I didnt mean to imply that anyone could have done what Royce did.
However, I still believe that there are many black belts that could have easily learned enough "self defense" type bjj to defeat the same opponents Royce had.
I think a greater testament of his skill is to look at his fight against Hideo Tokoro- almost 11 years after his debut in the UFC.
Granted Royce was 39 years old at the time, but if memory serves me right, he was out grappled by a fighter that is usually a 145 lbers with almost a .500 record.
I do have a question regarding the video and guys that train w Royce. Does Royce call a "scissor sweep" a scissor sweep? Is the "upa" bridge escape still an upa? Obviously he feels the need to criticize Bravo, but does he really not use any naming conventions for his or his father's techniques?
Personally, I think the naming of techniques only helps in their absorption. It helps a coach transfer the knowledge efficiently without having to overly describe what you are seeing. Just think of describing "the outside hook open kinda spider guard thing" versus "De La Riva". Once you understand its meaning, using the term De la Riva allows you to spend more time teaching the nuisances!
Can you imagine if we did not call algebra, geometry, trig, or calculus by their terms? High school teachers are more efficient because of nomenclature and I think BJJ teachers are too!
^I think what Royce is referring to is the naming/renaming of every variation. Even in judo techniques have names, but we don't waste time naming every variation. We just say that x player does a variation of x technique. Not, x player invented the 'cadillac hood' move off of the 'christmas wrapping paper' series of techniques.
Royce was 100% correct
Compete in a tournament instead of focusing on a match that took almost ten years ago Eddie. 
I HAVE MUCH RESPECT FOR ROYCE AND EDDIE FOR THIER RESPECTIVE CONTRIBUTIONS TO BJJ. I CAN SEE ROYCE'S POINT, I IMAGINE IT IS A LITTLE UNNERVING TO SEE THE ART YOUR FATHER DEVELOPED GET SOOOO MANY TWISTS AND TURNS ADDED TO IT AND THEN ALSO THE MCDOJO CRAZE THAT IS GOING ON. AT THE SAME TIME...INNOVATION MAKES THE ART BETTER.
I SAY EITHER HE TRAINS HARD AND GRAPPLES EDDIE OR THEY GIVE EDDIE A REMATCH WITH ROYLER.
Great interview. Thanks for posting.
ttt