it was while at The Man Show, that I went to Brazil and tapped out Royler.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5qxarYzR5EEddie Bravo Vs. Royler Gracie at ADCC 2003 Grappling Championships
OTM: I don't wanna stop you. But I have to ask, what did you do to prepare mentally for the match against Royler Gracie?
EB: Mentally? Whew! I'd never been a professional athlete. I never competed. It was all for fun and just to test myself. It was more like "Lets go to the Abu Dhabi Trials and see what happens? Oh, I won? I'm going to Brazil? Maybe I should start weight lifting and doing the things that athletes do."
Mentally, I did not prepare in any special way, the way Randy Couture does. I was nervous, but I felt confident that I could handle myself. There was a chance that I could do well. There was a chance that I could get smoked. It would not have surprised me to beat Royler. It wouldn't have suprised me to get smashed.
But once that happened I was able to open up a jiu jitsu school in LA. Right away I was able to open a school and make a living. Im right here in LA right next to Rickson and Jean Jacqu. I'm not ballin' outta control or anything. But I am making some money and I am able to work. The main thing was not going back to the blue collar life. I'm opening affiliates all over the world. I'm teaching seminars all over the world.
So now, all the money I made in jiu jitsu is funding my studio in Van Nuys, CA. I'm producing five different acts. I'm just using the jiu jitsu to blow my music up. Jiu jitsu was always an accident. I was just lucky enough to beat Royler Gracie. Thank God I don't have to fight! I can teach jiu jitsu, make money and concentrate on our music.
OTM: Do you remember what Royler said to you after the match?
EB: He didn't say anything to me. He gave me a respectful hug. I was told after he did an interview on the sideline and said "I'm not a machine. I made a mistake. What are you gonna do"?
OTM: Looking at the youtube videos you have on training, has revealed a lot to me. Mostly, about my own laziness. You've got students like Denny and an armada of fighters you are grooming. If you had some core advice for anyone about what they could do to improve- what would it be?
EB: I'm not an awesome strength and conditioning coach. All I'm good at, is teaching folks how to submit people without the gi. Thats what I'm good at. But my drills and classes and strategies- they work. But when it comes to training fighters to be champions? That comes from within. Like Denny, the guy you mentioned- he has a champions mind. He studies the fight game like a rookie quarter back studies a playbook. He's always training and always thinking. You either got that or you dont. People know what Denny got. Still they try to be champions. But Denny just pushes further than others. I'm just guiding. Denny is doing the real work. I'm just steering.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9kLndR_FCn0&feature=related10th Planet Brown Belt Denny Prokopos (music by Dilated Peoples)
OTM: As amazing and innovative as your system is, there are critics. They say that you ignore the basics of the art. They say you rely too heavily on flexibility. Do you agree?
EB: Anyone who says I don't teach the basics- they don't come to my school. They have never seen me teach. I mix it all up. Also, consider that its hard to look at something new, and still consider it basic. If its valid, you look at it and you think of it as high tech. The rubber guard actually isn't that hard. It just takes work. Like the open guard or any other aspect of jiu jitsu. You teach someone open guard its gonna take a while before they get really good at it. I already got guys that have been training for six months that are using mad rubber guard. See, thats basic at my school. Its just not basic to anybody else.
To say that my style relies on flexibility is like to say that Cro-Cop's style relies on flexibility- because he kicks to the head. People think you need all of this crazy flexibility [to do the rubber guard] . Not many people have it. But nobody really used it 'cause no one really needed it. Its like the rubber guard is discovering that you can kick to the head and knock people out. But no ones been doing it. So no one can kick to the head. You gotta get flexible its part of your game. Its not like there are bones in your groin that keep you from being rubber guard flexible. You just gotta get off you a** and stretch.
I got plenty of guys that cant do rubber guard. They work on their stretching. They do yoga or whatever- stretch in their free time. To day that my style is all about flexibility is true. But at the same time anybody can have that flexibility.
OTM: So for you, developing flexibility is just as important as cardio, strength or another aspect of fighting?
EB: Yes, explosiveness, cardio, all that. Its all the same. If you want dangerous head kicks you gotta stretch. You wanna do the rubber guard, you gotta stretch. Its just so new, that people don't know how to take it.
You got instructers all over the planet. They're not gonna teach it. Because they are not going to promote a system and style they cannot teach. They're not flexible. So they are not gonna teach it. For an instructor who is not flexible and cant teach rubber guard- its GOOD for him to tell people it does not work. "Its a waste of time"...Thats good business for them.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bP4H7brpd3cHardcore instruction by Eddie Bravo
OTM: So thats how it all happened, huh?
EB: I am really, a music producer, whos ventures are being funded entirely from martial arts. Thats the real story. I moved to Hollywood in 91. I started training jiu jitsu in 1994. My friends who I grew up with...They are just finding out what this jiu jitsu thing is and cant believe it. They look at me as a wannabe rock star.
I got back from Abu Dhabi and my mom is like "How'd you do baby?" I'm like, "I lost the tournament but I beat Royler. Shes like, "Awwww, maybe next time". She didn't know what that meant! [laughs] . My uncles are like "I know a guy at work who does jiu jitsu and he does not believe that I know you. What's going on? What did you do"?
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