World-renown jiu-jitsu master Rorion Gracie has written a book about the Gracie Diet, which is the diet used sucessfully by several generations of members of the Gracie Family.
According to the usual story, Carlos Gracie (co-founder with Helio Gracie of the martial art known as Gracie Jiu-Jitsu or Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu) studied nutrition and health for several decades, and based on his studies he developed the Gracie Diet, as described in Rorion's book.
However, according to (9th degree red belt and one of Helio's best students) Armando Wridt (in an interview published in the issue Nº 48 of the martial arts magazine Budo International, which you can read here), the usual story is false. Wridt says that Oscar Santa Maria "convinced Carlos that he needed to have a special diet to spend the whole day on the mat, and gave him the book of Dulin, who was the true creator of what they would call the Gracie Diet" (p.51)
When asked explicitly by interviewer if the Gracie Diet wasn't invented by Carlos Gracie, Wridt reply is straightforward: "No, it wasn't. In fact, that diet was developed by the Argentine author of the book Dr.Juan Esteve Dulin. He said the body is nourished by what it assimilates, not by what you eat, that is the reason why the Gracie spent fortunes in the diet. As Carlos liked to read a lot, he took the diet based on the combination of foods"
It has to be said that the Gracie Diet (regardless of whether it created by Carlos Gracie or not) seems to be a very useful diet. Carlos Gracie died of 92 years old (and attributed his longevity to the diet). Also, Grandmaster Helio Gracie died of 95 years old, being still very lucid and active (and he attributed also his old age to the diet). It is not only the long age that these people reach, but also the high quality of life that they enjoy.
So, I highly recommend the reading of the Gracie Diet book by Rorion Gracie.
According to the usual story, Carlos Gracie (co-founder with Helio Gracie of the martial art known as Gracie Jiu-Jitsu or Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu) studied nutrition and health for several decades, and based on his studies he developed the Gracie Diet, as described in Rorion's book.
However, according to (9th degree red belt and one of Helio's best students) Armando Wridt (in an interview published in the issue Nº 48 of the martial arts magazine Budo International, which you can read here), the usual story is false. Wridt says that Oscar Santa Maria "convinced Carlos that he needed to have a special diet to spend the whole day on the mat, and gave him the book of Dulin, who was the true creator of what they would call the Gracie Diet" (p.51)
When asked explicitly by interviewer if the Gracie Diet wasn't invented by Carlos Gracie, Wridt reply is straightforward: "No, it wasn't. In fact, that diet was developed by the Argentine author of the book Dr.Juan Esteve Dulin. He said the body is nourished by what it assimilates, not by what you eat, that is the reason why the Gracie spent fortunes in the diet. As Carlos liked to read a lot, he took the diet based on the combination of foods"
It has to be said that the Gracie Diet (regardless of whether it created by Carlos Gracie or not) seems to be a very useful diet. Carlos Gracie died of 92 years old (and attributed his longevity to the diet). Also, Grandmaster Helio Gracie died of 95 years old, being still very lucid and active (and he attributed also his old age to the diet). It is not only the long age that these people reach, but also the high quality of life that they enjoy.
So, I highly recommend the reading of the Gracie Diet book by Rorion Gracie.
A further comment on the history of Gracie Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
As a long time practitioner of martial arts, and hard-nosed fan and student of the history of martial arts in general, I've long admired the Gracie Family, specially Rorion Gracie (who changed the world of martial arts forever with the creation of the UFC), Royce Gracie (who beat all of his opponents in no-rules matches against practitioners of virtually each martial art) and, of course, Grandmaster Helio Gracie, who refined the Japanese version of Judo and Jiu-Jitsu that was taught to his family. The contemporary world of martial arts have to give a lot of credit to the influence of the Gracie Family. They deserve the highest degree of admiration and respect by each practitioner of martial art in the world.
Having said that, and in a more scholarly level, I have to say that the history of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu has been constantly misrepresented in martial arts books, articles and magazines.
Let's summarize some of the problems:
1-Mitsuyo Maeda, the Japanese master who taught Carlos Gracie, was a high level practioner of Kodokan Judo, not of traditional forms of Japanese Jiu-Jitsu. As consequence, the art he taught to the Gracies was mostly a modified version of Judo ("modified", because Maeda also fought in Catch Wrestling matches and probably incorporated some of the holds into his personal fighting Judo method). So, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu should be properly called "Brazilian Judo".
Some perhaps will think that it is a pure semantic question. But it doesn't, it is also a technical one. If you compare Judo with traditional forms of Japanese Jiu-Jitsu, you'll find that Judo lacks the lethal techniques typical of traditional Jiu-Jitsu.
Techniques like pressure points, finger locks and other small-joint manipulations, neck breakers, scissors holds, strikes to vital points, throws in which the opponent cannot break the fall, etc. were all left out of Judo (for sporting purposes).
Interestingly, all of these holds and techniques are not emphasized (or just in a very watered down version, or in the "self-defense" category) in BJJ. The standard reply by BJJ students is that these techniques "don't work" and hence they are not trained or used in BJJ.
But this objection is false and unconvincing because some of these techniques (like finger locks or wrist locks to escape chokes) are taught in the self-defense portion of the BJJ curriculum (and "self-defense" is supposed to be the original and main purpose of BJJ, at least in the Helio's branch of it). If these techniques "don't work", then why the hell are they taught in the self-defense standing up techniques of BJJ stressed by Grandmaster Helio Gracie and his sons?
Even some pressure points are taught in the Gracie self-defense program, as seen in the technique Nº 91 of the book by Royce and Charles Gracie entitled "Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Self-Defense Techniques" (p.200), in which a pressure point in the hand is used to release from a handshake grab.
Again, if these techniques don't work, then the Gracies teaching these techniques as effective self-defense against street attacks becomes inexplicable and self-defeating.
2-Point 1 (about BJJ more similarity to Judo than Jiu-Jitsu) is also made evident when you compare self-defense techniques of Japanese Jiu-Jitsu with the Self-Defense repertory of BJJ. In the latter, there is a preference for medium and large joint manipulations (shoulder, elbow, knee) instead of small joint manipulations (finger locks, toe locks, etc.). This is the case also of Judo.
For example, take a look at Gracie self-defense techniques (in which most holds are applied to medium and large joints):
Having said that, and in a more scholarly level, I have to say that the history of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu has been constantly misrepresented in martial arts books, articles and magazines.
Let's summarize some of the problems:
1-Mitsuyo Maeda, the Japanese master who taught Carlos Gracie, was a high level practioner of Kodokan Judo, not of traditional forms of Japanese Jiu-Jitsu. As consequence, the art he taught to the Gracies was mostly a modified version of Judo ("modified", because Maeda also fought in Catch Wrestling matches and probably incorporated some of the holds into his personal fighting Judo method). So, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu should be properly called "Brazilian Judo".
Some perhaps will think that it is a pure semantic question. But it doesn't, it is also a technical one. If you compare Judo with traditional forms of Japanese Jiu-Jitsu, you'll find that Judo lacks the lethal techniques typical of traditional Jiu-Jitsu.
Techniques like pressure points, finger locks and other small-joint manipulations, neck breakers, scissors holds, strikes to vital points, throws in which the opponent cannot break the fall, etc. were all left out of Judo (for sporting purposes).
Interestingly, all of these holds and techniques are not emphasized (or just in a very watered down version, or in the "self-defense" category) in BJJ. The standard reply by BJJ students is that these techniques "don't work" and hence they are not trained or used in BJJ.
But this objection is false and unconvincing because some of these techniques (like finger locks or wrist locks to escape chokes) are taught in the self-defense portion of the BJJ curriculum (and "self-defense" is supposed to be the original and main purpose of BJJ, at least in the Helio's branch of it). If these techniques "don't work", then why the hell are they taught in the self-defense standing up techniques of BJJ stressed by Grandmaster Helio Gracie and his sons?
Even some pressure points are taught in the Gracie self-defense program, as seen in the technique Nº 91 of the book by Royce and Charles Gracie entitled "Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Self-Defense Techniques" (p.200), in which a pressure point in the hand is used to release from a handshake grab.
Again, if these techniques don't work, then the Gracies teaching these techniques as effective self-defense against street attacks becomes inexplicable and self-defeating.
2-Point 1 (about BJJ more similarity to Judo than Jiu-Jitsu) is also made evident when you compare self-defense techniques of Japanese Jiu-Jitsu with the Self-Defense repertory of BJJ. In the latter, there is a preference for medium and large joint manipulations (shoulder, elbow, knee) instead of small joint manipulations (finger locks, toe locks, etc.). This is the case also of Judo.
For example, take a look at Gracie self-defense techniques (in which most holds are applied to medium and large joints):
Compare the above video with the following one by experts in Japanese Jiu-Jitsu (like Michael Depasquale Jr., master of the Yoshitsune Ju-Jitsu system, and the late Grandmaster Wally Jay, founder of Small Circle Jujitsu system) in which the manipulations of small joints, like fingers and wrists, are emphasized:
3-The above points are purely descriptive and factual and have nothing to do with effectiveness. I'm not claiming that BJJ is superior or inferior to Japanese Jiu-Jitsu, I'm simply pointing out facts relative to these arts.
4-BJJ is divided into 1)Self-defense; 2)Vale Tudo and 3)Sport grappling.
It is not clear from the current literature available about BJJ exactly what aspect of Maeda's modified Judo was taught by him to the Gracies. Did he teach the self-defense portion of it? Or, since Maeda was a fighter, did he teach the techniques which he used in Vale Tudo? Or both?
Any scholarly history of BJJ should include details about these technical aspects, which are very interesting to practioners and fans of BJJ. It is astonishing that no martial arts scholar has been interested in these technical question and details about the history of BJJ.
5-Exactly what techniques were modified by Carlos and Helio Gracie? As far I've studied the matter and trained the techniques, the main contribution of Brazilians have been in the transitions of a position to another one, but I don't know of ANY technique in the BJJ curriculum which doesn't exist either in Kosen Judo or in traditional forms of Jiu-Jitsu.
Even leg locks and knee on the stomach were used by the ancient masters and experts of Kosen Judo in the Kodokan, as you can watch in some videos:
4-BJJ is divided into 1)Self-defense; 2)Vale Tudo and 3)Sport grappling.
It is not clear from the current literature available about BJJ exactly what aspect of Maeda's modified Judo was taught by him to the Gracies. Did he teach the self-defense portion of it? Or, since Maeda was a fighter, did he teach the techniques which he used in Vale Tudo? Or both?
Any scholarly history of BJJ should include details about these technical aspects, which are very interesting to practioners and fans of BJJ. It is astonishing that no martial arts scholar has been interested in these technical question and details about the history of BJJ.
5-Exactly what techniques were modified by Carlos and Helio Gracie? As far I've studied the matter and trained the techniques, the main contribution of Brazilians have been in the transitions of a position to another one, but I don't know of ANY technique in the BJJ curriculum which doesn't exist either in Kosen Judo or in traditional forms of Jiu-Jitsu.
Even leg locks and knee on the stomach were used by the ancient masters and experts of Kosen Judo in the Kodokan, as you can watch in some videos:
I'm fortunate to have all the training tapes and videos of Kosen Judo which have been published, and some of them are already available online or in stores. I suggest to martial arts fans and practitioners to take a look at these tapes and compare the techniques with BJJ. You'll be surprised of what you will find.
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