Rickson Gracie: Choke - January, 2006

You must watch Choke. That is all.

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Important Work in the Development of MMA


This movie has become a classic in the mixed martial arts. It covers Rickson Gracie's training for for the Vale Tudo Japan tournament of 1995. This tournament paved the way for tounaments such as Pride in Japan, just as the UFC improved the sport's popularity in the US.

Rickson's presence at the tournament was important as the Brazilians had developed single combat to a fine art. The Gracies were (and are) the epitome of development of the style and Rickson was the family champion.

The outcome of the tournament is not hard to predict. What is useful to see, here, is the training for the tournament. The training his hard but precise and the story shows that Gracie is a family man and all-round good guy outside the ring.

Rickson is analytical and understands that what he does isn't violence as his intent is to win in competition, not necessarily to injure his opponent. That is the take home lesson of competitive martial arts.

This is a must see.