Grand Master summarizes his 91 years of age, reveals with exclusivity his philosophical writings and claims to have no fear of death.
“The brave man is a quiet and sure being, for nothings disturbs him, one who is able to solve any task, any problem? says the highest rated Jiu-Jitsu fighter alive. Seven members of GRACIE Magazine (a photographer, two editors, two reporters, one trainee and one curious guy from the administrative sector) listen to the lesson with plenty of attention, unlike the fly – one of those very small ones – that clumsily flies above Helio’s head. At times it lands on the face of the red-belt (already at the tenth degree), who tries to push it away with the hands. The insect is able to dodge and goes back to annoy him. A brave one for sure.
Helio has got a card index with a black cover on his lap. That’s where he keeps his philosophical writings, a treasure never before revealed to a report team. Running across the index, the current patriarch of the Gracie family finds a page concerning one of the texts he likes the most. It’s called “The Man and the Dog? from which the following aphorism is worth mentioning: “If the man walked on all fours, he would be an animal that deserved to be castrated and put away?
And this is just one of Helio Gracie’s theories. His favorite pastime nowadays is thinking, reflecting on life. Consequently he writes. “I’m 92 years old [he adds the nine months of gestation to his age]. It is hard to find a head that works as fast as mine. I’ve never had this much good sense in my whole life? he reveals. If the wrinkles show that Helio is suffering from this inexorable opponent called time, the irreverence and brilliancy of his words make it clear that the Jiu-Jitsu monarch walks hand in hand with the years.
Perhaps simplicity is a strong ally of Helio’s in reaching this late well-being, as he approaches a century of living. The out-of-line Casio wristwatch tells time on the guru’s left wrist. The pair of sneakers he wears is worn out, with no famous brand left to be seen. The white t-shirt, bearing the family name chest-high, is tucked into the loose gray pants that go way above the waist.
But it is not only for being alien to the latest Sao Paulo Fashion Week that Helio Gracie can be defined as a simple man. That becomes much clearer when one listens to the humility of his self-criticism (“I’ve always been a skinny guy, a nobody?) or the objectivity of his decisions (“With me there’s no halfway, it’s either yes or no?), besides the elementary lever techniques he used in order to perfect Jiu-Jitsu: “Any crippled is able to learn from the moves I created.?
For years interview-unfriendly, the legendary Jiu-Jitsu professor speaks spontaneously to the GRACIE Mag team. “I like the magazine,? he explains. Helio could earn a lot of money giving motivational seminars at great enterprises – you’ll notice this interview resembles a class. The reporters, professionals paid to ask questions, spend most of the time quiet, listening.
But when they do ask…
“Are you afraid of death? “Do you regret having or not having done something in such a long life? “Don’t you feel lonely in this far away ranch? In the following interview, you’ll learn how Helio Gracie faced every one of these questions, treating them as if they were the weakest of white-belts. He still found the strength to lead our team to the house back of the ranch, where there’s a dark-green mat, and showed us some of the positions of the martial art he reinvented: Jiu-Jitsu.
You are nearly a century old. Do you regret having or not having done something in such a long time?
Funny, I don’t remember anything I disapprove. I was always a normal kid, except for one flaw: I liked to fight. At least until I got two important life lessons. I remember the first as if it were today. I used to walk up and down, still very young, before I got acquainted with Jiu-Jitsu. I weighed about 70lb, but I’d tell anyone: “What the hell are you looking at? Well, one day a friend called Gugu told me: “Hey, there’s a certain Benigno around who wants to beat me up? In order to defend Gugu, I decided to fight the guy without even knowing who he was. I asked him: “Do you want to hit Gugu? and punched his face right away. Then he punched me about 20 times. My face was all swollen. People would enquire what had happened to my face. I told them I had fought Benigno and they replied: “Benigno, alright; that guy is malign, look at the beating he gave you? [laughter]. In the end I realized it was a deserved beating. Lesson one: don’t be unfair, don’t fight for no reason.
What about the second lesson?
Well, years later I was on a bus, going to Copacabana beach, and there was a stern, strong young man, looking in my direction. I approached him and said: “Why are you staring at me? Do you think I’m a queer? But he didn’t give a damn, didn’t even pay attention. He lowered his sight and spoke: “Go away, kid. It was such great contempt that I never again disturbed anyone else. Soon afterwards I met Jiu-Jitsu and never fought in the street again. The fellow fights in the street because he doesn’t believe in himself, he wants to challenge people to prove something. But after he learns Jiu-Jitsu, he strengthens himself in such a way that he starts to treat street fighting with the same contempt that guy on the bus had for me.
So you hold no grudge whatsoever?
Let’s say all of you [he points at the seven members of the GRACIE team] kicked my ass right now, broke the hell out of me, so that I’d have to spend the next six years in bed recovering. Suddenly a cop calls me saying he arrested the gang that beat me up. “I can kill or cripple every single one of them, no one will ever know about it, it depends solely on you,he would tell me. I’d simply reply: “Do nothing, leave them all alone. I believe nature charges a fair price that perhaps I would not be able to reckon. I don’t avenge myself on anyone. Nature will get them for me, and that makes me sleep peacefully, with no fear of anything. I usually say that nobody gets what they don’t deserve, be it punishment or reward. A brick fell onto your head? Thank God for it, because you owed something that was paid by this. It ain’t easy to think like this, it’s hard, but one day you’ll get there and understand it.
Helio Gracie welcomes GRACIE Magazine - Part 2
