Today RGOA starts publishing the interview with Rayron Gracie, Renzo's nephew, Jiu-Jitsu world champion and teacher at the gym on 30th Street in New York.
 
 
Did Renzo give you any advice at the beginning of your career that you keep in your heart to this day?
 
RAYRON: There's one thing he told me that impressed me a lot: it was when I lost a championship, one of the first I competed... He told me that even when I'm losing, that has to be the hardest fight of my opponent's life. Hearing that defined me as a fighter. Every time I get on the mat I remember this phrase from Renzo: whatever happens, that will be the hardest fight of my opponent's life.
 
 
Do you believe that the fundamental principles of Jiu-Jitsu can be applied to other areas of people's lives, such as the professional area and personal and affective relationships?
 
RAYRON: You may not even realize it, but when you get on the mat you are solving thousands of problems... For example: how is your base, how is your weight distribution? What possibilities are opened up by your every move, both for you and your opponent? So every movement, every inch, even your breathing, the way you breathe, the thoughts that sometimes come into your head during the fight, are all problems you are dealing with moment by moment! There on the mat you're solving problems all the time, lots of problems, and I think when you leave the gym that "problem solving" state of mind is still active in your body. The more you train, the more you go to the gym, the more you are on the mat, fighting and solving the problems that arise at every moment during a fight, the more it settles in your mind, the more it settles in your spirit. You become a "problem solver"! Renzo is nothing more than that, there is no problem that he sees and says: "Oh, this is going to be difficult, this is very complicated, maybe I won't be able to solve this..." No! I never heard that from him! I always see him finding a solution to every question that arises, both in his life and in the lives of other people who ask him for help. Thanks to my years of experience as a fighter, I look at life through the eyes of Jiu-Jitsu, which taught me to be a "problem solver".

(to be continued)