Article thanks to IGN for men. 

The Last Man Standing   Unveiling the pit bull choking techniques and street fighting philosophy of Ralph Gracie

Ralph "The Pit Bull" Gracie is a man of average stature. He's 5' 7'', 170 pounds. But no matter who steps in the ring, he's ALWAYS the last man standing. As I pull up to the building at 1495 W. El Camino Real in Mountain View, CA, I see that sweat beads have made the windows opaque. On the other side bodies move like ghosts behind the glass. "Hello my friend," I hear as I open the door. He's much shorter than I am and he's sporting close cropped brown hair. I have at least forty pounds on this guy. But his Brazilian accent is unmistakable. He's Ralph "The Pit Bull" Gracie. One of the most dangerous men on the planet. His demeanor is so personable, you would never know he could kill you so quick- unless he did it.

Ralph has just returned from a seminar in Florida, where he was teaching his family's brand of jiu jitsu (which has remained undefeated in no-holds barred (NHB) fights for over 65 years). His fighting ability is so well respected that the US government employed him to teach the counter terrorist Navy Seal units and the Marines.

"It's a great present God gave me to be born in this family" Ralph says with humility.  He's got over fifty fights with zero losses, both in the ring and on the street, under his belt. Still it seems as if Ralph's biggest blessing has become his biggest curse in many ways. No one will fight him. After people saw the way he demolished his opponents in the Extreme Fighting Championships I, II and III (now banned from TCI Cable) the competition thinned out dramatically. Case in point: during the fourth EFC, a Brazilian fighter by the name of Eugenio Tadeau failed to show because of "problems attaining a visa." The truth of the matter, according to Ralph is that he was scared. Eugenio has tried for years to defeat various members of the Gracie family. But he had taken it too far when he attempted to shoot one of Ralph's brothers. "There's no problem trying to fight our family" says the soft spoken 27 year old master. "A fight is always welcome. But if you shoot, we have to shoot back. My brother Ryan was at a party. He [Eugenio] saw my brother fighting, then he tried to shoot my brother. My brother got away, took a security guards gun and tried to shoot back . It was probably fun."

Fun?! Yeah, loads. But what did you expect from a guy who got his nickname from choking out a pit bull with his bare hands? Mind you, you can't PAY most men to strike a pit bull. But ironically, Ralph relives this episode with a nonchalant attitude thats astonishing. "I gave a dog to my cousin. The first six months of it's life, the dog lived with me. After about two years I had not seen the dog since giving it to my cousin. I went to take the dog for a walk, but it doesn't want to walk with me. Then my cousin starts playing with the dog, attacking him, but the dog tried to jump on me. He jumped on my arm, I took my arm out, then I just grab him. I grab his collar and mash him around- choke him out. I didn't kill him, I just knocked him unconscious. Then I choke him and smash him down a few times [again]. Then the dog starts LOVING me afterwards, man. My cousin tried to get him to attack me again. He did nothing. I said 'come here'. He came right to me. Then we walked around....Like people, they respect power".

You Can't stop the Bum Rush The reason Ralph Gracie wins is because he knows what his family has repeatedly proved for over 65 years. And that is, 95% of all street fights will go to the ground. The person who can control the game on the ground, will be the victor. So the Gracie system provides effective ways to take your opponent down and use myriad choke holds, leg locks and arm bars based off of leverage (not strength), to render bigger men helpless.

Most people became aquainted with NHB through the Ultimate Fighting Championship, Reality Super fight shows and the Extreme Fighting Championship. The only rules are no biting, no kicks to the gonads and no poking the eyes. Although America is new to fights like these, NHB events have regularly packed venues from Rio to Tokyo over the years. Recently a crowd of 50,000 filled the Tokyo Dome for the Pride Festival. In fact, fighters from all over the world converge to do battle in Japan. Sure, these competitions may sound brutal, but because a fighter can "tap out" to signify he can't breathe or his leg is about to break, there has only been one death (in Europe about 6 months ago) in the eight decade history of these matches. Compare that to professional boxing, where there are several deaths a year. The NHB arena has spawned into a global subculture with millions of followers. Web sites like www.tapout.com and the on-line magazine www.fightingtalk.com are barraged with hits every day. These sites report the latest happenings in NHB subculture to the finest detail.

Ralph's family invented the Gracie Challenge. Simply put, the Gracie Challenge is "anybody, anytime, any style, any weight, anywhere". And it is this challenge that has sent boxers, kick boxers, wrestlers, karate experts and street brawlers packing their bags. Many years back, one of his family members offered the 'GC' to "The Brown Bomber" himself, Joe Louis. He politely declined. But in recent years, even people like "Iron" Mike Tyson have been ducking Ralph and his family. And seriously, it's not like he couldn't use the money these days.
"If he can fight WWF, all of that kind of shit- why not? He can try [to get in the ring with me]. For sure I will beat his ass."
"What about Roy Jones Jr.?" I ask.
"He's a good boxer. But if he fights with me, I take him out. It won't take that long".
"So why do you think the boxers avoid you?"
"I don't know" he says. "I think they might be afraid. Maybe not as much money [in this business]. But Roy Jones has no excuse. He was offered a million dollars, plus a million dollars for each minute he stayed in the ring with me. I went to his press conference. We tried to talk him into it. I respect him as a boxer, but I don't respect him as an all out fighter."

David Can Still Beat Goliath
As much as Ralph loves to crush people under his boot, his true passion is teaching the sport of jiu jitsu. Ralph feels that because of the popularity of NHB competition and the success of jiu jitsu, his art has been stereotyped.

"The sport of jiu jitsu is a beautiful thing" Ralph says entranced. He's visualizing throws, and submissions as he speaks with his hands." It's totally different than fighting. It's not with punches and kicking. The reason we do Vale Tudo, "anything goes fights," is just to show how you can take the sport jiu jitsu and transform it to a fighting situation. We don't want people to think 'OK to do jiu jitsu you have to punch and you have to kick'. That's not it. But if you need jiu jitsu, you are going to be able to protect yourself. With karate, that might not happen." "This is a good sport for anybody," Ralph continues. "A woman can do it, boys can do it... This is not just for the big guys, it's for the small guys to. It gives them a chance to protect themselves. People can come here for six months or a year. And if they train hard, they can beat anybody. It won't matter what martial arts they've done or how many years they did it. It's very hard to turn the business man into a fighter. But you see the business man doing jiu jitsu." And indeed you do.

It was written by Douglas MacArthur that "There is no substitution for victory." It is this vein that Ralph Gracie trains his students. He has the ability to turn poodles into fellow pit bulls like himself. His techniques fortify them with a self esteem and inner serenity rarely found from students of other styles. Disciples of the Gracie system are both male and female and range in age from 6 to about 60. One thing you learn when you go to the Gracie Academy is that you will never know who does jiu jitsu, until your arm is getting broken. They're every day kind of people. Ralph has no average kind of student. His pupils are cement layers, chemists, cashiers, stock brokers, and police officers. "What is the outcome of a 6 month Ralph Gracie student against a person who does another martial art?" I ask San Jose police officer Kevin Sabella. "There's no comparison" he says without hesitation. "It's like a man fighting an infant. It's so superior to what any other officer in northern California gets." And he should know. After reaching the level of 4th qyu in Aikido, and a year and a half of Kenpo Karate, Kevin felt very complete. That is, until he saw Ralph Gracie mauling people in the Extreme Fighting Championship. A fellow officer told him that Ralph opened up a school in Mountain View, CA. and once he got there he's never stopped training.

Other pupils include internationally known tattoo artist Troy Denning. A professed street brawler, Troy was pretty skeptical of Brazilian jiu jitsu's effectiveness on the street. Like Kevin, Troy saw Ralph in the EFC but "I thought it was bull$%&*," he plainly states. " I thought it was hype, 'cause I've been in a lot of fights and I never saw karate or anything work." He saw an advertisement for seminar Ralph was giving and was sure to attend. "I've been his disciple ever since" he says with a smile. Troy feels that learning under Ralph has been "the best for me, because of his body type. He's not particularly big or strong. But he's one hell of an athlete. He's 100% technique. It's not just specific to people who are big."
"What would happen if the old you fought the new you after 2 years and earning a blue belt under Ralph," I ask.
"No contest" he responds shaking his head.

Jump Up to Get Beat Down Not long ago, a fighter from a Bay Area crew called "The Lions Den" named Mikey Burnett made the mistake of challenging Ralph. The pit bull is excited about the next opportunity to maul his next opponent. He hasn't lost a fight yet, and he has no plans to change course now. As always Ralph's determined to be the last man standing. Nonchalant in his response Ralph says "I'm ready to go now. As soon as the money is right, I'm ready to fight." In the end there's only one conclusion. If you want to "get healthy", "have fun", and "learn some cool moves" take karate, or cardio kick boxing. You want to learn all that AND how to REALLY fight- you come to Ralph Gracie. His video taped fights verify what his students have said over and over again.......Run up on a soldier of the Gracie system- and you will lose EVERY TIME!!

For more information on Ralph Gracie,  go to Ralphgracie.com on the internet.

(color photos courtesy of Keba Konte)