Renowned coaches Carlson Gracie and Rudimar Fedrigo will receive
high honors in Brazil as two legends that generated generations of
champions.
Individual talent and the high level of training are fundamental
factors in the formation of a champion, but in a complex and
increasingly competitive sport like MMA, mental preparation can be
the turning point. Concerning that, two masters must be recognized.
Not only because of their above-average ability to scout and form
talent, but mainly because of the way in which they mentally
shielded their athletes. Carlson Gracie and Rudimar Fedrigo were a
cut above the rest, and their coaching led to create some of the
greatest competitor the sport has ever seen. While the two worked
in very different ways, the result was usually the same. The
numbers prove it; no other coach in the history of MMA has produced
as many champions and trainers of new champs as these two.
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On Monday, Gracie and Fedrigo will receive the “Best of Fight”
award, as honorees in a ceremony promoted by the Rio de Janeiro
City Hall to recognize the work of the great names in martial arts
and combat sports. Fedrigo will be in attendance, traveling from
Curitiba to receive his award. Gracie passed away in 2006, and his
son, Carlson
Gracie Jr., will represent him during the proceedings.
The eldest son of Carlos Gracie, Carlson was the Gracie who
defended the family name for almost two decades in the ring.
Between 1953 and 1970, Gracie fought the biggest names of his
generation and retired with just one defeat, a controversial
decision, after 19 vale tudo fights. Some of those took place in
cement courts, others in rings and more on soccer fields. When
retiring from active competition and leaving uncle Helio’s academy,
Gracie turned the corner with his own gym.
Fighters representing this specific Gracie were considered the
“mafia” in the jiu-jitsu world. They were the only team in the 80s
and 90s where fighters kissed each other, and the master, on the
cheek. However, any time Gracie noticed an excess of friendship
between students, he often created rumors or “internal gossip”
about training partners to spice up training, which in his opinion
enhanced the competitive spirit. His team ruled the roost in the
sports of jiu-jitsu and MMA, and over the years he brought forth a
litany of names that include Vitor
Belfort, Murilo
Bustamante, Paulo Filho
and Wallid
Ismail along with famed coaches Marcus
Silveira and Andre
Pederneiras, to name but a small few.
Unlike Gracie, who was raised in family’s jiu-jitsu background,
Fedrigo grew up with taekwondo and learned muay thai from Nelio
Naja, the man who brought the style from Thailand to Brazil in the
80s. The leader of the Chute Boxe team from Parana always acted in
a similar way to the Gracie clan, but his focus was to make those
he commanded have visceral pride in representing the team,
instilling a “kill or be killed” mentality.
Fedrigo always finished his classes with long speeches about the
proud of defending Chute Boxe team. Years back, Jose
Landi-Jons famously declared after his victory over Jorge
Patino, “Today the Chute Boxe era begins. We are an army and we
are willing to die for our flag. Take note, we will dominate the
world of vale tudo. We have one for each division.” This pride and
intensity led to the development of the most feared names of the
sport, including Wanderlei
Silva, Anderson
Silva, Mauricio Rua
and Cristiane
Justino, not to mention trainer Rafael
Cordeiro.
With the constant evolution of the sport, creating champions has
become an increasingly complex task. A large number of coaches
today had the opportunity to train with either of these greats,
making the current era of fighter just a generation away from some
of the greatest trainers in MMA. The influence from Gracie and
Fedrigo can still be felt to this day.