Renzo Gracie Legacy

Tale of the Tape
Author: Gethin Aldous
Quality Rating:
Length: 177 minutes
Genre: Documentary
Price: Amazon is not currently selling the DVD, will update when it is available again.
Check out the trailer at theofficial website.

I saw the previews for this documentary online, and at first I wasn’t really interested. I’ve always respected Renzo Gracie, but he’s not surrounded by a sort of mysticism like Rickson Gracie, and he hasn’t competed in the UFC. I almost passed on buying the DVD, but a quote in the trailer hooked me:

“And it’s like I told you before, I will die shitting in my pants like everyone else but knowing who I was… knowing for sure, truly, who I was.”

That’s all I needed. I bought the DVD from Amazon that day.

The film follows Renzo for a period of 10 years, opening with his fight against Oleg Taktarov. The film follows Renzo through his fights in Japan and work with the IFL, including his bout with Pat Miletich. In between fights, Renzo shares his philosophy on life and relates a wealth of personal experiences that occurred outside of the ring. For a sport often vilified for its violence, seeing Renzo outside of the ring with his father, mother, wife, and students shows the real depth of fighters. Renzo’s depth is an open heart and an unwavering smile. Even in defeat, he’s making jokes and kissing his wife.

Seeing Renzo with his family is really the best part of the DVD. Hearing of his admiration for his father, Robson Gracie, and joking about his mother’s right cross makes Renzo an incredibly likable person. That is the side of fighters not shown on highlight reels or on pay per-views. As fighters, we see these sides of our training partners and coaches on a daily basis. We know that fighters, on the whole, are not sadistically violent people who take pleasure in hurting people. We know that the fighter who in the ring batters his opponent into bloody submission gives his 6 year old daughter piggy back rides and helps her build a doll house outside of the ring. Unfortunately, the general public never sees that side of fighters.

Renzo is a gentleman, and this documentary shows just what kind of good people fighters can be.

While I consider this DVD a must have for any fan of Jiu Jitsu or MMA, I do have some complaints. Since this film was an independent documentary, it seems that the author, Gethin Aldous, had trouble getting the rights to all of the fight footage, so sometimes a fight is reduced to a few pictures. Sometimes, when Aldous is interviewing people, you can’t hear what he is saying, so you miss half of the conversation and have to fill in the blanks on your own. Also, Renzo’s last two fights are reduced to subtitles, making the movie seem a bit incomplete.

Regardless of these complaints, buy this DVD and support this independent film effort. Fans and critics of the sport alike should know Renzo’s story.