Roger Gracie visits Texas – Seminar highlights from RGA in Houston

HOUSTON, TX, July 29, 2012 – Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu world champion (10x) and recent Strikeforce middleweight winner Roger Gracie was in Texas last week together with uncle Rilion Gracie to conduct seminars at the Gracie Gym in Plano and the Rilion Gracie Academy in Houston.

Universally recognized as one of, if not the greatest Jiu Jitsu competitor of all-time, Roger is grandson to BJJ founder Carlos Gracie and son of Mauricio Gomes, one of only six men to have been awarded a black belt by “the legend” Rolls Gracie.

As far as style goes, he has been famous for showcasing a super fundamental style of jiu-jitsu, bypassing the evolved positions one sees so often in competition nowadays (variations of open guard, 50/50, etc.) in favor of his bread-and-butter – working from closed guard, mount, or working towards the back to submit.

This clear understanding of the basics has allowed him to do some impressive things in competition, such as winning the 2009 worlds by submitting everybody with the same move – a basic cross-collar choke.

“Jiujitsu is simple, you just gotta do it right,” Roger has been quoted as saying.

That’s exactly what he emphasized in his seminars – a few basic moves but with some terrific details to drill and internalize.

Here are some photos from Roger’s trip to RGA in Houston last week.

Want to see more shots from this event? Visit Mike Calimbas Photography on Facebook.