The Gracie Way

Kid Peligro and I talk on a regular basis, and for the last couple of months most of our conversations would inevitably turn to our respective projects.

Kid Peligro and I talk on a regular basis, and for the last couple of months most of our conversations would inevitably turn to our respective projects. "Gumby," he would always say, "wait until you see the new book I`m working on. It will blow you away."

Last month I received my copy of the "Gracie Way", Kid`s latest book. When he handed me a copy at the Pan Americans it was if Kid was showing me a newborn, the genuine pride on his face was enormous. He`s got a lot to be proud of as well, it`s an impressive piece of work chock full of anecdotes and pictures spanning 75 years of the Gracie Family.

The Gracie Way tells the story of the Gracie Family through the generations of it`s family members starting from the beginning with chapters devoted to Carlos Gracie and Helio Gracie, working through the next generation of Carlson, Rolls, and Carlos Gracie Jr. to the contributions of Rorion, Royce, Royler and Rickson and Renzo. Each of these men are profiled in a way which reveals both their personalities and their place in the history of the sport.

Well all the chapters were excellent, I personally found the first chapter on Carlos Gracie to be the most startling as to most readers he is the one there seems to be the least amount of material on.

In addition to being a scrapbook for the family, the Gracie Way serves as history of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, a martial art that has progressed and grown over 75 years into a world-wide phenomena.

And again, the pictures! Aside from shots from world class photographers, the Gracie family opened up its archives to reveals some never seen before, and very candid shots.

I consider myself fairly knowledgeable about the history of the Gracie family and I found myself constantly surprised by this book. It`s remarkable on many levels as it traces the history of a sport, of a family and a number of individuals.

Congrats on a job well done Kid!