Roger Gracie is the only Male black belt who who finished all his opponents in a BJJ World Championship and he’s holding 10 black belt world titles. He, also, qualified for the black belt open class final for eight years in a row, from 2003 to 2010. That’s the reason why he’s considered a GOAT in Jiu Jitsu by many BJJ practitioners. And after his win over Marcus Almeida Buchecha there is no doubt any more if he’s BJJ Goat.
Lately, Roger was “caught” many times talking about people learning techniques from YouTube and we can see that he thinks it’s wrong. He say that he doesn’t watch much YouTube and that he learns techniques from his training partners.
He shared his thoughts on this subject with Gracie Mag. (translated from portuguese)
GM: What is the greatest “sin” of a young fighters who train Jiu jitsu to be a champions one day?
Roger Gracie: “They are copying YouTube positions and they do not train the basics. Maybe it’s the biggest mistake of kids today who do stuff like berimbolo and forgets the rest”.
He was also asked the same question by BJJ Hacks in this video interview:
BJJ Hacks: “Can Youtube be a bad thing for a BJJ practitioner’s development?”
Roger Gracie: “I agree, especially in the beginning. It’s very important that you don’t create bad habits. You need to have a very strong structure and then you can learn anything you want. Then you won’t make silly mistakes. At one point, watching too much technique on Youtube is bad because when you try them, you open yourself up completely and you don’t defend the way you should and you end up getting tapped out on the mat. So it’s alway good to be open to learning new things but don’t forget your foundations, that’s why I think that my Jiu-Jitsu is so strong, because I have a very strong foindation. My basic is very strong, so it’s hard for me to make silly mistakes, so it’s easy for me to learn new things, and I can know how far I can go. That’s the tricky part: knowing how far you can go before retreating. So if you don’t have the basics, you end up going too far in the middle of a war zone.”
What’s your opinion on this subject? Should we watch techniques from YouTube or not? And what’s the ideal time to start upgrading your skills with YouTube?
You can also check out the full interview with Roger Gracie in a video below where Roger talks about berimbolo, 50-50, x-guard and YouTube.
Roger Gracie talks berimbolos, 50-50 & learning BJJ from YouTube
Check Out the Rickson Gracie Opinion on BJJ training and how you should really train.
