Just got back from a Seminar with Rickson Gracie and since my memory is fresh I will do a review right away.
All I can say is it was AMAZING. All the talk, all the stuff about his invisible Jiu Jitsu, it´s all true and real.
Rickson started the seminar with a talk about breathing and how important it is to be able to control your diaphragm. He showed his breath work and explained hoe breath control can help you for not just for fighting but for many things in life.
The he showed different techniques to explain his concept of connection. And like everyone says it is not easy to explain it with words.
If you are familiar with internal martial arts like tai chi its most like establishing a ground path and connecting your body so you are in a very solid position.
He showed this standing up, defending the double leg takedown, on the ground with side mount and mount escapes.
The way he takes someones back was amazing and his Vale Tudo Guard and Mount defense approach too.
He cared about every student and since we did just attend one day of the seminar he made shure that he briefly explain us the stuff from yesterday so we can play with it.
Amazing personality, very down on earth, friendly but passionate about Jiu Jitsu.
He finished with a talk about his philosophy and the way he teaches Jiu Jitsu and it was just awsome.
All I can say is go to a Seminar with him it will change your mind about BJJ.
Take care
Björn
Nice review Bjorn! Where was the seminar and how long was it? How much was it?
Pretty much my experience.
But everyone is going to hate you if you don't go into more detail on the techniques. 
I was able to attend a seminar with him a while back and you are right..it made me re think the basics. I have been working since then to re work the moves I though I knew and apply those ideas to every position. Needless to say it is a work in progress
it would be intresting to see his valetudo guard and mount escape approach!
would be cool to see a video explaining the techniques learned
Hargreaves - it would be intresting to see his valetudo guard and mount escape approach!
would be cool to see a video explaining the techniques learned
Here we go again. lol
Zero 1 puts up awesome vids pretty sure he did the brabo videos ....still use that stuff
thanks for the review Zero1
Good review.
Thanks 
I second the question about the price and length of seminar.
pretty much exactly my experience as well. Rickson is amazing.
voted up
Nice review, thanks for taking the time. And yes lets not cover the same old ground again.
For anyone looking for a little more detail, Ryan Hall talks about the idea of connection very briefly in the context of half guard in his DVD series, and he credits Rickson quite generously
Yeah the seminar was amazing, I was there both days.
Zero1 could you please elaborate as best you can on the technical aspects of the seminar?
It was 120 for one and 200 Euro for both days in Amsterdam / Netherlands....
To be honest in my opinion there are two reasons why people don´t talk more or show the stuff from Ricksons Seminar.
1. It´s very difficult to explain. It´s all about connecting the body and using the stability of the ground. People from Internal Martial Arts know what I mean but if you never worked with this stuff it may sounds a little strange. You have to experience it.
2. After Ricksons speech at the I end I realized how much Jiu Jitsu is for him and it´s really a gift that he is sharing with the people. His idea is to share it with people personally and he really shake everyones hand, looked in everyones eyes and made shure everyone got it. He was running around constantly to teach. He don´t want to give it to the masses and I respect that.
To go out on the net and give his treasure out for free would be like a back stab for me and I wouldn´t do it.
If you want to change your view on Jiu Jitsu go to his Seminars it´s well worth the effort.
We drove 900 kilometers in one day just and it was worth every kilometer. Rickson is really that good.
Take care
Björn
For people who keep asking for technical explanations, there are a couple of seminar reviews/articles by little tony and Andreh Anderson from a while back that were long and will be to your liking i am guessing, do a searh for them.Please understand you Are not going to hear things like put your hand here and your leg over here like this or uere are three ways to set up a triangle etc. People like to joke about rickson but there is a reason why seasoned black belts leave his seminars feeling like white belts. It's concepts they haven't thought about that makes them rethink all of their moves down to be most basic technique.
Zero1 - It was 120 for one and 200 Euro for both days in Amsterdam / Netherlands....
To be honest in my opinion there are two reasons why people don´t talk more or show the stuff from Ricksons Seminar.
1. It´s very difficult to explain. It´s all about connecting the body and using the stability of the ground. People from Internal Martial Arts know what I mean but if you never worked with this stuff it may sounds a little strange. You have to experience it.
2. After Ricksons speech at the I end I realized how much Jiu Jitsu is for him and it´s really a gift that he is sharing with the people. His idea is to share it with people personally and he really shake everyones hand, looked in everyones eyes and made shure everyone got it. He was running around constantly to teach. He don´t want to give it to the masses and I respect that.
To go out on the net and give his treasure out for free would be like a back stab for me and I wouldn´t do it.
If you want to change your view on Jiu Jitsu go to his Seminars it´s well worth the effort.
We drove 900 kilometers in one day just and it was worth every kilometer. Rickson is really that good.
Take care
Björn
This is exactly what I said, and entire hated me for it...
Everyone*
Anyone know the translation of euro's to us dollar right now? Can't search at the moment.