Inspiring Jiu Jitsu Quotes to Fuel Your Journey

"Jiu Jitsu is about waiting for the right time to do the right move."

- Ryron Gracie

"Jiu-Jitsu is personal efficiency to protect the weaker, which anyone can do. It is the force of leverage against brute force."

- Helio Gracie

"A real jiu-jitsu fighter does not go around beating people down. Our defence is made to neutralise aggression."

- Helio Gracie

"Self-defense is not a set of techniques, it’s a state of mind and it begins with the belief that you are worth depending."

- Rorion Gracie

"The primary purpose of jiu-jitsu is self-defense, teaching them a complete self-defense system, but also wellness. And when we talk about wellness we refer to physical wellness, mental wellness, and spiritual wellness."

- Pedro Valente Jr

"The art of Jiu-Jitsu is worth more in every way than all of our athletics combined."

- President Theodore Roosevelt

"The more I train the luckier I get"

- Renzo Gracie

"Discipline and consistency. I owe these two factors all I have attained in my life. Things have never happened overnight. Results have appeared as a consequence of decades-long toil. It is necessary to persist."

- Master Carlos Gracie Jr.

"Always Assume that your opponent is going to be bigger, stronger, and faster than you. So, you have to learn to rely on technique, timing, and leverage rather than brute strength"

- Helio Gracie

"A champion should ask himself: ‘if I were to compete against myself, what would I practice to beat me?’"

- Leo Vieira

"If you ask me what belt I am today I’ll tell you that I’m a white belt that never gave up."

- Jean Jacques Machado

"To be a champion all you have to do is train. But first, one must be a good person. Be a friend at the academy, and learn to help. To be good at Jiu-Jitsu it’s all about believing and training, there isn’t that much else you can do."

- Rodolfo Vieira

"If you think, you are late. If you are late, you use strength. If you use strength, you tire. And if you tire, you die."

- Saulo Ribeiro

"If you think, you are late. If you are late, you use strength. If you use strength, you tire. If you tire, you die."

- Saulo Ribeiro

"Jiu-Jitsu is like a philosophy. It helps me learn how to face life."

- Helio Gracie

"My opponent is my teacher, my ego is my enemy."

- Renzo Gracie

"Jiu Jitsu is perfect. It’s humans who make errors."

- Rickson Gracie

"Jiu-Jitsu at the end of the day is the art of expressing yourself honestly. Every time you put on that Gi you can’t lie."

- Saulo Ribeiro

"Jiu-jitsu helped me to understand life in a very deep way because it’s a representation of life but on the mat. You can express your emotions, you can express your intelligence, and you can express your personality, your character. You cannot hide anything because once you’re there, you have your Gi, [but] no gold watches, and no security, no guns, and you have to expose yourself in a very raw way."

- Rickson Gracie

"It’s as real as it can get. That has made me a better person. It’s made me a better man. It’s made me understand myself, my weaknesses, my strengths, and the shit I need to work on. Jiu-jitsu has been one of the most valuable tools I’ve ever had in my life."

- Joe Rogan

"The essential characteristic of jiu-jitsu is very simple. It’s the science and art of control that leads to submission."

- John Danaher

"Jiu-Jitsu forges friendships in a way I’ve never known. Being involved in art as intimate as this, where the bodily connection is a must, the common cultural boundaries of personal space are broken. You will never see more hugs, high fives, and physical expressions of love than on the mats. Ultimately, this proves to be one of the most fulfilling aspects of our pursuit of mastery. Along the way, we learn to love others as we love ourselves."

- Chris Matakas

"Discipline and consistency. I owe these two factors all attained in my life. Things have never happened overnight. Results have appeared as a consequence of decades-long toil. It is necessary to persist."

- Master Carlos Gracie Jr.

"Jiu-jitsu is not the art of hitting, it’s the art of not getting hit"

- Royce Gracie

"There is no losing in jiu jitsu. You either win or you learn."

- Carlson Gracie Sr.

"A black belt only covers two inches of your as* – you have to cover the rest."

- Royce Gracie

"Jiu Jitsu at the end of the day, is the art of expressing yourself honestly. Every time you put on a Gi, you can’t lie."

- Saulo Ribeiro

"If you want to be a lion you must train with lions"

- Carlos Gracie, Sr.

"Always assume that your opponent is going to be bigger, stronger and faster than you; so that you learn to rely on technique, timing and leverage rather than brute strength."

- Helio Gracie

"True strength is not always shown through victory. Stand up, try again and display the strength of heart."

- Rickson Gracie

"At first repetition is what counts. I teach my students to repeat the moves to exhaustion, until it enters their subconscious and they, therefore, can apply them automatically, without thinking. Later on, once the combat situations have become complex I try and stimulate them to be creative."

- Master Carlos Gracie Jr.

"The most interesting aspect of jiu-jitsu is… of course the techniques are great…but the sensibility of the opponent, sense of touch, the weight, the momentum, the transition from one movement to another. That’s the amazing thing about it. You must allow yourself to go as on autopilot. You don’t know exactly where you’re going until the movement happened because you can not anticipate what is going to happen. You must allow yourself to be in a zero point; a neutral point. Be relaxed and connected with the variations. Flow with the go."

- Rickson Gracie

"I drill techniques – my main techniques, my “A” move, my “A Game” sweep, the guard pass and sub I hit the most, over and over again. I’ve drilled them so many times, my body just reacts now."

- Keenan Cornelius

"Don’t fight your opponent, fight his moves."

- Carlos Gracie Jr.

"The deepest benefits of Jiu-Jitsu come off the mat. It encourages a worldview based upon the idea of rational problem-solving. Jiu-Jitsu is all about solving problems that are rapidly changing under stress, and that gives you an ability to identify the crux of the problem in front of you, even in a stressful situation, and adapt your body and tactics to overcome that problem and continue overcoming it as the problem itself changes. It encourages you to use a very rational trial-and-error method, basically, the same method that science uses to overcome these problems. So it gives you this sort of problem-solving mindset, which I think applies throughout life itself."

- John Danaher

"Jiu jitsu and martial arts do not build character, they reveal it. We are all born with unmeasurable courage and determination, but it is as we go through the trials of rigorous training that we rediscover those gifts."

- Ricardo Almeida

"My life is dedicated to Jiu-Jitsu. My goal was simply to build a brotherhood to lead the expansion of Jiu-Jitsu while respecting the essence of our art. My students are an extension of my family. I want each one of them to achieve their personal best while helping spread Jiu-Jitsu. We must do that by honoring the traditions and efforts of those who came before us."

- Carlos Gracie Jr.

"Jiu jitsu is the science and art of control that leads to submission."

- John Danaher

"Never give up on your dreams"

- Ricardo Vieira

"It’s as real as it can get. That has made me a better person. It’s made me a better man. It’s made me understand myself, my weaknesses, my strengths, the shit I need to work on. Jiu-jitsu has been one of the most valuable tools I’ve ever had in my life."

- Joe Rogan

"For all the doubters all I want to say is, you should try and get to know me better. If you did you would know I never give up"

- Victor “Shaolin” Ribeiro

"To be champion all you have to do is train. But first, one must be a good person. Be a friend at the academy, learn to help. To be good at Jiu-Jitsu it’s all about believing and training, there isn’t that much else you can do."

- Rodolfo Vieira

"Discipline and consistency. I owe these two factors all have attained in my life. Things have never happened overnight. Results have appeared as a consequence of decades long toil. It is necessary to persist."

- Carlos Gracie Jr.

"I am a shark, the ground is my ocean, and most people don’t know how to swim."

- Jean Jacques Machado

"Never quit, you have to resist to the utmost. ‘Til you drop, like a Samurai"

- Carlson Gracie Sr.

"If you really want to do something, you‘ll find a way. If you don’t, you‘ll find an excuse."

- Jim Rohn

"The best thing about jiu jitsu is the honor it provides"

- Fábio Gurgel

"Anger brought me to jiu jitsu, but love made me stay"

- Abmar Barbosa

"The biggest lesson I learnt from jiu jitsu was how to truly know myself"

- Carlos Gracie

"In the fight, only one person can be comfortable. Your job is to transfer the comfortable from your opponent to you."

- Rickson Gracie

"Jiu-Jitsu is for the protection of the individual, the older man, the weak, the child, the lady, and the young woman from being dominated and hurt by some bum because they don’t have the physical attributes to defend themselves. Like I never had."

- Helio Gracie

"Fighting is not a physical thing, it is a spiritual thing"

- Rickson Gracie

"The biggest lesson I learned from jiu-jitsu was how to truly know myself."

- Carlos Gracie

"When I step on the mat I know there is no other place I’d rather be."

- Marcelo Garcia

"For me the white belt is the most precious asset we have. This is the people we have to take care, we have to look over them, we have to make sure they learn right."

- Renzo Gracie

"I drill techniques – my main techniques, my “A” move, my “A Game” sweep, the guard pass and sub I hit the most, over and over again. I’ve drilled them so many times, my body just reacts now. I can go out and let instinct take over. Most of our training is drilling, based on our individual games and what we do best. Before a big tournament, I stick to the stuff I’ve been doing, and just drill it to death….If you’re thinking about what to do next, your competitor is already moving to his next move. It’s best to just react and let your body take over."

- Keenan Cornelius

"Learning how to learn is absolutely one of the keys to success in life in general and sport Jiu Jitsu in particular"

- John Danaher

"No matter how stressful the situation you find yourself to be in, realize that success will come in the form of technical solutions to problems, not appeals to our emotional side"

- John Danaher

"Fights are not won on drama. Fights are won on small, mundane details"

- John Danaher

"The deepest benefits of Jiu Jitsu come off the mat. It encourages a worldview based upon the idea of rational problem-solving. Jiu Jitsu is all about solving problems that are rapidly changing under stress"

- John Danaher

"The road from white belt to black is long and arduous; most never reach the end. There are simply too many obstacles in daily life, and too much effort and attention are required, for this to be something that the majority of practitioners achieve. This is why a black belt in Jiu Jitsu, especially from a reputable source, is the pinnacle of martial arts rank. It is valuable because of what must be traded for its achievement."

- Chris Matakas

"Jiu-Jitsu is my therapy, my passion, my life."

- Matt Serra

"A black belt only covers two inches of your ass – you have to cover the rest."

- Royce Gracie

"Training is about skill development, not about winning or losing. You don't need to win every battle, you only need to win the battles that count."

- John Danaher

"Jiu-jitsu is a live demonstration of what you’re about."

- Rickson Gracie

"If you’re an eternal whitebelt you only get better. The moment you believe you’re a master, your downfall is near. It’s like you’re closing yourself from new knowledge. In my head, I’m a constant, for-life white belt."

- Renzo Gracie

"The most important part of jiu-jitsu is the middle of the way. It’s the path between one position and another – the transition – that makes the difference between a mediocre fighter and an unbelievable fighter."

- Renzo Gracie

"I realise now that my jiu-jitsu is much simpler than when I was a purple belt. When I was a purple belt I tried the most amazing moves – I ran a marathon to get five miles away. Now everything is much clearer. You don’t waste time or strength, you just go straight to the point."

- Renzo Gracie

"The guiding principle behind ju is the idea of a weaker (gentler) force overcoming a stronger force through the application of technique, or jitsu, rather than strength and aggression."

- Renzo Gracie & John Danaher

"In jiu-jitsu you’re constantly reminded about how magical your body really is. Every day you’re reminded of that. You suck at a move, and then you practice it over and over and then you get really good at it and then it becomes unconscious, it becomes magical. You can just do that every day. You’re reminded that your body can master anything if you just put it through enough reps."

- Eddie Bravo

"Jiu jitsu, like nature, is all about the conservation of energy. In jiu jitsu ‘efficiency’ means using only as little strength and power as is required to accomplish your objectives. It means economy of motion – eliminating wasted movements and effort."

- Nic Gregoriades

"You start to see how the art advances your potential as a human being."

- Roy Dean

"When you’re on the mat rolling around with somebody and drilling with somebody, training with somebody, getting to know somebody, and just in physical contact with these people every single day there’s only one thing to do and that’s to bond. You know you make this friendship, you make this brotherhood, and you’re making each other better every day. You’re helping each other, you’re picking each other up."

- Jared Weiner

"For me, the white belt is the most precious asset we have. These are the people we have to take care of, we have to look after them, and we have to make sure they learn right. They get better."

- Renzo Gracie

"The evolutionary process in jiu jitsu makes you feel every time more capable to see the underlines, to anticipate the move, to become better connected with the elements no matter if it’s physical, spiritual or mental."

- Rickson Gracie

"I’ve been preaching the invisible jiu-jitsu for a while, and now it becomes very appropriate to start to develop this kind of jiu-jitsu which doesn’t translate in the fight itself but translates in more self-recognition. It’s part of jiu-jitsu where you start to understand how a little shift of your angle can change the whole performance of your opponent. How a little timing or deflection, or connection, can really be positive in your engagement."

- Rickson Gracie

"A balanced game will allow you to attack from both sides, making your skills more complete, more effective, and essentially doubling your techniques. Always drill both sides. Balance is good."

- Mark Johnson

"You can’t lose in Jiu-Jitsu. You either win or you learn"

- Carlos Gracie, Sr.

"The biggest lesson I learned from jiu-jitsu was how to truly know myself"

- Carlos Gracie

"My ego is my enemy and my opponent is my teacher"

- Renzo Gracie

"From white belt through black belt, one of the things I always try to explain to people is that there’s going to be a lot of ups and downs, and it’s how you react to those downs that get you through the days."

- Chris Harding

"I don’t care about winning competitions or stripes on my belt anymore. I’m not even concerned about submitting my opponents in training. I care about moving with grace and about making my jiu jitsu as fluid and elegant as possible."

- Nic Gregoriades

"The value jiu-jitsu has for me is priceless, nothing can pay for it because it gives us a sense of tranquility and peace."

- Helio Gracie

"Nothing will beat you more than life will, and I think that jiu jitsu is the better way of translating how to go through those struggles loving what you’re doing."

- Roberto Cyborg Abreu

"That’s the gratifying part of jiu jitsu, is to watch the people and see how they change for better. Very few people change for worse."

- Fabio Santos

"Why do I beat a lot of people? Because I love it so much, that’s why. Everything about Jiu-Jitsu, I love it – the school, the mat, the ring. I always believe that. Maybe I am not better than my opponent, but I know for sure I love my training more."

- Marcelo Garcia

"If you’re an eternal whitebelt you only get better. The moment you believe you’re a master, your downfall is near."

- Renzo Gracie

"We’re not in the business of selling martial arts, we’re in the business of selling confidence."

- Renzo Gracie

"Jiu jitsu and martial arts in general, it’s not a temporary thing, it’s not a seasonal thing, it’s not a one self defence class thing."

- Garry Tonon

"It puts things in perspective for sure. Because you’re constantly making yourself struggle and when you put yourself through tough times it always makes your outside life seem just that little bit easier."

- Garry Tonon

"In order to control your opponent, you must control yourself, and to do that, you must breathe and relax."

- Mark Johnson

"Be patient, have fun, learn the basics. Enjoy the journey."

- Jared Weiner

"A great goal of jiu-jitsu is to be technical—not to be fast, or strong, or tough, or tricky; it is to be the master of movement."

- Mark Johnson

"A balanced game will allow you to attack from both sides, making your skills more complete, more effective, and essentially doubling your techniques."

- Mark Johnson

"Keep in mind that reading books and watching videos about jiu jitsu is not doing jiu jitsu."

- Nic Gregoriades

"In jiu jitsu you’re constantly reminded about how magical your body really is."

- Eddie Bravo

"It’s more than sport for me, because I never get in a fight intending to tap."

- Rickson Gracie

"It’s such an honest and open form of competition, your whole body, spirit and mind, against another person’s, where there is a clear and definitive winner."

- John Danaher

"Why do I beat a lot of people? Because I love it so much, that’s why."

- Marcelo Garcia

"Jiu jitsu changes who you are. It gets you comfortable with change and appreciative of variation."

- Roy Dean

"The primary purpose of jiu jitsu is self-defence, teaching them complete self defence system, but also wellness."

- Pedro Valente Jr

"The best approach for teaching jiu jitsu is to make the student learn from within."

- Rickson Gracie

"Watching your students win is one of the most rewarding moments you can have as a jiu jitsu instructor."

- Roy Dean

"No aspect of jiu jitsu is invented, only discovered. Every possible submission, sweep or throw already exists... progression is a matter of revelation, we have to learn to see what is there."

- Francisco Mansor

"Since my initial involvement with jiu-jitsu, because of my lack of strength, my objective has been to have maximum effectiveness in the simplest and most effortless way possible. I did not spend my life trying to improve a system that would make me look good at a sport competition, full of fancy spins and colorful turns. Instead, I have developed a self-defense method that is complete, easy, and effective."

- Helio Gracie

"The Art of Jiu-Jitsu is worth more in every way than all of our athletics combined"

- Theodore Roosevelt

"The rule is to train, train and train some more. Train until the lamb becomes the lion"

- Paulo Miyao

"I always try to attack. While I’m on the offensive, my opponent can think of nothing but defending."

- Marcelo Garcia

"It would be like asking a judo player to describe how he identifies the split second, where the opponent is in the exact right position to be thrown through the air. There are too many details for the conscious brain to observe and register so pure intuition takes over."

- Christian Graugart

"I’ve never been quite as humbled as I have in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu."

- Lex Friedman

"I created Jiu-Jitsu, what is now referred to as Jiu-Jitsu, which is exactly the best fighting system that exists."

- Helio Gracie

"Jiu jitsu is not a hard thing to fall in love with right. I mean as soon as you see it and know you can apply this stuff, and you know the power of it."

- Ricardo Migliarese

"Jiu Jitsu is for everyone, anyone can learn: men or women. It enhances anyone’s physical potential."

- Helio Gracie

"Jiu jitsu I believe is the most efficient way of fighting in any situation, in a streetfight, in a ring, inside an elevator, anywhere."

- Renzo Gracie

"How is jiu jitsu a lifestyle? People don’t understand that until they actually walk into the doors, put their gi in, jump on the mat and get bit from the bug."

- Roberto Cyborg Abreu

"Jiu jitsu, like nature, is all about the conservation of energy."

- Nic Gregoriades

"The essential characteristic of jiu jitsu is very simple. It’s the science and art of control that leads to submission."

- John Danaher

"Jiu jitsu is more like a religion, it’s more like a lifestyle, than actually a competition aspect."

- Rickson Gracie

"What differentiates Brazilian jiu jitsu from most martial arts is the employment of positional strategy."

- Nic Gregoriades

"When we say jiu jitsu is a gentle art, we mean that. Jiu jitsu gives you the choice to choose to hurt someone or not."

- Jean Jacques Machado

"I never bother getting angry. I don’t need it. I don’t confuse angry with intense."

- Marcelo Garcia

"Anger just makes people inefficient. Their breathing gets shallow, they’re too muscularly tense; they gas faster."

- John Danaher

"I think the most valuable thing today I have, is to display and inform people [about] how important the invisible aspect of jiu jitsu is."

- Rickson Gracie

"For jiu jitsu, the smarter you are, the better you understand the leverage and positions and the middle."

- Renzo Gracie

"The most important part of jiu jitsu is the middle of the way. It’s the path between one position and another – the transition – that makes the difference between a mediocre fighter and an unbelievable fighter."

- Renzo Gracie

"I realise now that my jiu-jitsu is much simpler than when I was a purple belt."

- Renzo Gracie

"Strength is used in jujitsu. It can definitely help to be strong, but strength is used in an intelligent, rational manner as part of a strategy guided by efficient technique."

- Renzo Gracie & John Danaher

"In this sport, there is no room for hiding. You have to prove yourself and confront your ego on the mat, every single day."

- Christian Graugart

"It’s my belief that [the] highest level of jiu jitsu is encountered off the mat. Life is just one big jiu jitsu match."

- Nic Gregoriades

"Don’t feel like you deserve things. Nobody deserves anything, you have to earn everything."

- Jared Weiner

"The discipline of jujutsu should serve your life. If it stops serving you, then make an adjustment in your relationship to it."

- Roy Dean

"I believe in diving deep into a small pool of information. For instance when you learn a new move in jiu-jitsu."

- Josh Waitzkin

"I’ve been preaching the invisible jiu jitsu for a while, and now it becomes very appropriate to start to develop this kind of jiu jitsu which doesn’t translate in fight itself but translates in more self recognition."

- Rickson Gracie

"When I see you grapple, I am not impressed if you win or lose. What I want to see is your use of the fundamentals of jiu-jitsu."

- Saulo Ribeiro

"Ego is the biggest hindrance in reaching a high level in jiu-jitsu."

- Saulo Ribeiro

"If you want to be a really good grappler, you have to learn with the gi."

- Renzo Gracie

"There’s no shortcuts, it’s going to be a long journey if this is what you’re interested in."

- Garry Tonon

"Ego is the big reason that guys stop advancing in the sport. Because in Jiu jitsu it feels so bad when you tap."

- Eddie Bravo

"Everybody has ego. I have it too. But you have to be the black belt and the ego has to be the blue belt – you have to be controlling it."

- Eddie Bravo

"Purple belt is the belt where you find yourself. You cut your teeth in this sport."

- Chris Hauter

"I’ve been going against the stereotype of jiu jitsu since I started."

- Marcelo Garcia

"You can train a martial art, or a martial sport, such as jiu-jitsu, which is both, for sportive uses."

- Rigan Machado

"As I have said many times, I did not invent jiu jitsu, I just made it better."

- Helio Gracie

"My jiu jitsu hasn’t changed. Ever since I started 75 years ago, it hasn’t changed at all. There are so many people practicing today that there is going to be a chance for people to invent their own way and try to make it better. But that doesn’t alter the product."

- Helio Gracie

"Anger brought me to jiu-jitsu, but love made me stay"

- Abmar Barbosa

"I wasn’t a good student, and even now I never say that I am better than anybody, but I know I love Jiu-Jitsu more than anybody. I love the energy and that it gets deeper the more you study."

- Marcelo Garcia

"Sometimes I just want to be with my family and watch a movie and eat some popcorn. But when I step on the mat I know there is no other place I’d rather be."

- Marcelo Garcia

"The more you attack, the more your opponent will make mistakes."

- Marcelo Garcia

"Everyone is the same for the first two minutes, everyone has a chance to win, but after that, you start to separate physically and mentally."

- Marcelo Garcia

"Dad reasoned that whether we were better than someone else should not be the focus because our position in relation to others was out of our control. We could not control another’s performance nor could we control how we would be ranked. All we could do was our best…Instead he wanted us to try very hard to give the best possible effort to become the best we could be and let the results take care of themselves."

- Coach John Wooden

"I’ve always felt that the greatest times of joy in my life always came from helping other people get to their goals, rather than any goals that I might have achieved in my own life"

- John Danaher

"Only when there is a danger of submissions will it be easier to work your way to better positions"

- John Danaher

"How is jiu-jitsu a lifestyle? People don’t understand that until they actually walk into the doors, put their gi in, jump on the mat and get bit by the bug."

- Roberto Cyborg Abreu

"The mountain-sea spirit that it is bad to repeat the same thing several times when fighting the enemy. There may be no help but to do something twice, but do not try it a third time. If you once make an attack and fail, there is little chance of success if you use the same approach again. If you attempt a technique that you have previously tried unsuccessfully and fail yet again, then you must change your attacking method."

- Miyamoto Musashi

"Make no mistake, you earn a white belt. The belt is a physical representation of a commitment to the beginner's mind. It is a vulnerability and a willingness to learn that shines through."

- Chris Matakas

"If you ask me what belt I am today I’ll answer you that I’m still a white belt who never gave up"

- Jean Jaques Machado

"From white belt through black belt, one of the things I always try to explain to people is that there’s going to be a lot of ups and downs, and it’s how you react to those downs that get you through the days, so a lot of challenges put in front of you, it’s how you react to those challenges and whether you let them mold you or you mold them."

- Chris Harding

"The best thing about jiu-jitsu is the honor it provides"

- Fábio Gurgel

"Jiu-jitsu is challenging. It’s been estimated that for every 1000 people that try it only 5 or so continue and make it to the black belt."

- Nic Gregoriades

"This is like a perfect Darwinian game. You have a large gene pool of people who come in on their first day of training and ten years later that pool is shrunk to the most competitive, most wiley, most adaptive, and evolved of the people in that room. Some would say the most insane, who knows?"

- John Danaher

"I think the most valuable thing today I have, is to display and inform people [about] how important the invisible aspect of jiu-jitsu is. It’s the fight you fight with your brain, with your spirit, but not with your physicality."

- Rickson Gracie

"Don’t feel like you deserve things. Nobody deserves anything, you have to earn everything. You’ve got to work hard for things. I can’t stand when people come in and think they deserve things."

- Jared Weiner

"…look he carries all of my weight. That’s another theory of jiu-jitsu. When I rest I should put him to work so I don’t get tired and he gets tired. He spends energy."

- Demian Maia

"If you guys attach to each other very hard, and hold each other very tight what happens is you don’t move, your opponent doesn’t move. Nothing happens in the training. That’s not Gracie Jiu-jitsu. The real Gracie Jiu-jitsu – you don’t hold tight, you kind of hold the opponent with open hands. You let him move and after that you counter him. It is 100% counterattacks. Helio Gracie was light – 140 lbs. – and was able to perform moves against much larger opponents because he brought those tricks to make the opponent commit himself to a move first so you always catch an opponent off guard. It is a very intelligent way to let somebody move first, in an empty move, you let him go first. You no longer there to receive the move; now you are doing your own move in an empty body, an unprepared body. Thy at is the idea."

- Pedro Sauer

"For jiu-jitsu, the smarter you are, the better you understand the leverage and positions and the middle."

- Renzo Gracie

"Little guys are the best to learn technique from because they can’t rely on strength. There are a lot of big powerful 250 lb jiu-jitsu guys who are never going to develop the subtlety of technique like the Miyao brothers."

- Joe Rogan

"I believe in diving deep into a small pool of information. For instance when you learn a new move in jiu-jitsu. Learn something on one side of the body, learn it very deeply, then learn it on the other side when you’ve developed that deep feel."

- Josh Waitzkin

"BJJ is an art that teaches us to be tolerant with intolerance."

- Carlos Gracie

"If you watch jiu jitsu done well it looks like water moving around a solid structure."

- Ryan Hall

"The demands of jiu-jitsu temper your spirit in a deeply beneficial way, but it can also drain you."

- Roy Dean

"Turning the other cheek is a kind of moral jiu-jitsu."

- Gerald Stanley Lee

"The alligator (Jacaré) is very strong and can crush a few daisies (Margarida), but he can’t stop the Spring from coming"

- Fernando “Margarida”

"I wanted to prove that an ant can beat a cockroach"

- Fernando Tererê

"Be just with the good and tameless against the perverse"

- Leonardo Vieira

"Many styles of martial arts carried on that tradition and required that practitioners bow as a sign of respect."

- Helio Gracie

"Traditionally, a kimono or “gi” is worn to simulate the clothing one would be wearing on the street, such as a jacket, coat, or shirt."

- Helio Gracie

"Little guys are the best to learn technique from, because they can’t rely on strength."

- Joe Rogan

"The thing about jiu-jitsu gis is that some of them are really expensive. Don’t get caught up in how much your gi costs; it doesn’t matter how much you pay for a gi, it won’t make your jiu-jitsu any better, the only thing that will make you look good on the mat is your technique."

- Mark Johnson

"Training jiu-jitsu with a gi is like riding a crotch rocket through a residential neighborhood."

- Eddie Bravo

"Whatever you do in your life you’re going to be comparing with jiu jitsu."

- Roberto Cyborg Abreu

"The legendary Rickson Gracie said that it wasn’t enough to beat your opponent, but that you had to make it look good too."

- Nic Gregoriades

"When you train in the gi, your hips are better, sweeps are better, your escape from the mount is ten times better."

- Renzo Gracie

"Jiu jitsu is challenging. It’s been estimated that for every 1000 people that try it only 5 or so continue and make it to the black belt."

- Nic Gregoriades

"The demands of jiu jitsu temper your spirit in a deeply beneficial way, but it can also drain you."

- Roy Dean

"Martial arts are difficult. Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is particularly hard. People will drop out. They will quit."

- Roy Dean

"The winner can brag, the loser can keep quiet"

- Roberto Atalla

"Here you will have a bad time all the time"

- Walid Ismail

"Travis Lutter is like the Michael Jordan of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu."

- Mike Goldberg

"There is an era before, and another one after Rolls Gracie"

- Royce Gracie

"Take some Jiu Jitsu and I’ll tell you right now. You really decrease the possibility of anyone attempting sodomy on you."

- Echo Charles Podcast

"One day someone is going to try and take something from you, and you are going to have to choke that motherfucker out. It’s that simple."

- Ralph Gracie

"A good friend doesn’t break up a fight. A good friend comes in with a flying kick."

- Renzo Gracie

"I used to look at men’s thighs and ask myself, how can I put my balls there? The next day I started leg locks."

- Craig Jones

"Your opponent is strong, are you crazy? Strong is the smell of your bullsh**"

- José Mario Sperry

"If it wasn’t for me, today the Gracie family would be selling banana’s on the pavement"

- Carlson Gracie

"Catch him in between the movements."

- Xande Ribeiro

"If you want to be a lion, you must train with lions."

"A black belt is just a white belt who never gave up."

"My Opponent is my Teacher, my Ego is my Enemy"

- Unknown

"Time on the mat will eventually surpass talent and ability."

"The perfect technique is one without much effort or conscious thought applied at the right time in the right direction, with the right amount of force – a spontaneous reaction to the opportunity presented by the opponent’s movement."

"Nothing is impossible. Life is hard for the lazy."

"Brazilian Jiu Jitsu has brought me to a point in my life where most of my best friends have choked me."