The Gracie Way

The Gracie Way The Gracie Way (Book Review)

Title: The Gracie Way
Author: Kid Peligro
Publisher: Invisible Cities Press; (May 1, 2003)
Number of Pages: 230
Cover: Soft
Language: English
ISBN 1931229287
Rating: 4.5 Stars

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The "Gracie Way" is Kid Peligro's best book so far. This is a successful telling of the history of Gracie Jiu-jitsu through lives of the Gracie family members. The book moves chronologically through each biography starting with Carols and ending with Renzo. The Gracie Way covers the lives of 10 members of the Gracie family. The lives of Carlos, Helio, Carlson, Rolls, Rorion, Carlos Jr., Rickson, Royler, Royce and Renzo are covered in detail. There is a lot to be learned here, some of it is fascinating and some of it is very mundane. You won't find any techniques taught here, but as with the biographies written by Plutarch, there are many great lessons that can be learned by reading about other people's lives.

The Gracie story is one of the most amazing stories in sports history. The Gracie family has single-handily revolutionized martial arts in the United States. Not since Bruce Lee has a person or family had such a lasting impact on way we think of fighting. There have been many martial arts fads that have come and gone, but few have had any lasting impact. The fad phase of Gracie Jiu-jitsu has passed, but the art continues to grow because it really works. The reason we know it works is that the Gracies also created the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) to prove it. The UFC has allowed us to judge the claims and techniques of the various martial arts. What I have learned from the UFC has fundamentally changed my outlook on the martial arts. All "martial arts of the month" with have to step into the ring to prove themselves before I will run off and invest time and money in them.

In each biography, you get an up close and personal look at each Gracie family member. You follow them from childhood to the whereever they are currently (2003). Each biography is packed with new photos that I have never seen any other place. Kid does a great job giving you a feel for each person. Kid take a lot of time to show each family member at just that a member of the family. Each person is given their proper credit for what they added to Gracie Jiu-jitsu to make it what it is today.

The biggest criticism about the book is that it is a bit too sanitized and tells the story from just the Gracie point of view. This is not a "Behind the Music" type expose that shows all the Gracie's dirty laundry. I did not expect it to be. Kid tells the Gracie story as the Gracie's see it. That does not mean that is it way everyone see things, but this is their story and the way the Gracies want to tell it. Others have written books that tell different parts of the Gracie story from several different perspectives. Here you get the Gracie party line.

Bottom Line:
The Gracie Way is well worth the $30. You get a professionally done 230 pages of rare full color photos and a ton of information that you will not find anywhere else. This book is an invaluable resource. Congrats to Kid on a fine book.

Note to Kid: I would like to see another book that covers the other long time greats of Brazilian Jiu-jitsu like De La Riva, the Machados, Carlson Gracie Jr., Bitteti, Sperry, Bustamante, etc. All of these people have contributed to making Gracie Jiu-jitsu's reputation what it is today.