A world renown instructor with over 30 years of competition experience, Master Fabio Santos talks about the good and bad sides of Jiu-Jitsu’s growth, his time spent with Rolls and Rickson Gracie and the old “Dojo Storming” days. Click “Read More” for show notes! 

SHOW NOTES:

• His beginnings / Beach bum life

• The growth of Jiu-Jitsu

• How Jiu-Jitsu has drifted from its original roots

• The importance of tradition

• The pros and cons of learning Jiu-Jitsu online

• The benefit of maintaining a smaller affiliation

• His memories of Master Rolls Gracie

• Training under Master Rickson Gracie

• Humility and trust

• The importance of resiliency

• Jiu-Jitsu’s self filtration system / Having to kick a student off of the team

• Code of conduct in the academy

• Rickson as a disciplinarian

• The new rituals of Jiu-Jitsu

• Rickson’s challenge matches

• His decision to move to the US

• “Dojo storming” in the 90’s

• The explosion of Jiu-Jitsu’s popularity after UFC 1

• Jiu-Jitsu in the US compared to Jiu-Jitsu in Brazil

• Combat Jiu-Jitsu rules

• The value of training in the gi

• Why he feels in-house tournaments aren’t as valuable  as open tournaments

• How helpful is competition to improve your Jiu-Jitsu?

• How he has stayed competition-ready in his later years

• The biggest obstacles in life Jiu-Jitsu has helped him overcome

• Life in Brazil

• What keeps him motivated to keep training