Gracie challenge
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The Gracie challenge refers to a challenge issued by some members of the Gracie family to have anyone come and fight them in a Vale Tudo style match. It was first issued by Carlos Gracie in the 1920's to promote and develop the Gracie's style of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, and as an attempt to show that it was superior to other styles of martial arts. The matches typically featured a smaller Gracie versus a larger and/or more athletic looking opponent, and became increasingly popular. Carlos and later his brother Hélio Gracie and both of these men's sons defeated martial artists of many different styles such as boxing, judo, karate, and wrestling, while experiencing few losses.[1][2]
The Gracie challenge entered American martial arts mythos when Rorion Gracie came to the United States to teach Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Gracie upheld the family's tradition and regularly took challenge matches at his facility. A common myth was that Gracie backed-up his challenges with a $100,000 guarantee, that he would pay the winner $100,000 should he lose. The misconception stemmed from a proposed challenge match with Benny "The Jet" Urquidez, where both Gracie and Urquidez would bet $100,000 on the outcome of the match. That matched never occurred however.[3]
[edit] Footnotes
- ^ Martial Arts Masters; Paman, Jose. The Rio Story. www.gracie.com. URL last accessed February 25, 2006.
- ^ Walter, Donald. Mixed Martial Arts: Ultimate Sport, or Ultimately Illegal?. www.grapplearts.com. URL last accessed February 25, 2006.
- ^ Gentry, Clyde. No Holds Barred: Ultimate Fighting and the Martial Arts Revolution. Milo Books, 2003. ISBN 1-903854-30-X.
