Rolles is the son of the legendary Rolls Gracie which many considered to best of the Gracie Family. Rolles is a 3rd Degree Black Belt under Rilion Gracie and Head instructor of his uncle Renzo’s academy in Holmdel, New Jersey.
OTM: Rolles how was your Christmas? Did you get everything you wanted?
ROLLES: Christmas was great. Apparently I behaved well, because Santa didn’t forget me.
OTM: How is the weather in Jersey? I actually grew up 5 minutes north from your academy in Old Bridge.
ROLLES: We had 2 feet of snow, and I was completely snowed until not too long ago.
OTM: So tell us about the Gracie Adventure Camp, when did it start and why?
ROLLES: My brother Igor and I have been taking groups from Renzo’s school to Brazil for a while, and one day
we decided to open it to everyone, to give the opportunity to show people the roots of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.
OTM: How does it work? How does someone sign up to attend one of your camps?
ROLLES: To sign up is easy. We have the upcoming camps info in our website (www.gracieadventure.com),
pick one and send an email to info@gracieadventure.com and we’ll get you going from there.
OTM: What does each camp offer to the attendee?
ROLLES: Another thing that we decided was to not only limit the trips to Brazil. We want to you around the world training a lot of BJJ and enjoying the hottest spots in the planet.
OTM: While at the camp is sightseeing offered to the students?
ROLLES: We offer more then sightseeing. We’re going to adventure what its host country has to offer when it come to adrenaline and excitement. On our next camp in Costa Rica aside from training the attendees will do: zip Lining over the canopy, river rafting, crocodile safari, surfing, hiking, horse back riding…
OTM: I saw on the website www.gracieadventure.com that you have a big team that works with you as well! How does that work do each of you teach a camp or all of you teach at the same camp?
ROLLES: For the next camp (Costa Rica) we’ll have all of us together, my uncle Rilion, cousins Kyra and Roger and my brothers Igor and Gregor and myself. It’s going to be unbelievable. I don’t know when I’ll be able to put this team together because of personal schedules but the idea is to provide the highest quality of training with the most members of our team.
OTM: What is the upcoming year looking like for the camp? Locations etc.
ROLLES: Besides Costa Rica in March and Rio towards the end the year, I got offers to do one in Mexico, South Africa and Asia (Bali or somewhere around there). I should know soon.
OTM: I also saw that Storm Kimonos is helping the camp in a great way, by giving each student a kimono. How do you feel this helps your camps?
ROLLES: The guys from Storm are great. This is one more thing that we have to offer. Storm has a great product and this is great way to people from schools all over the world to know their brand.
OTM: Well Rolles, I want to thank you for your time and give you my best wishes towards the camps and the growth of Gracie Jiu Jitsu around the world. Maybe one day I will join you camp somewhere around the world.
ROLLES: Thank you. It would be awesome to have you with us.
Interviewed by: Bo Francy aka bjjbo