thanx bro....
actually i live in brasil....belem do para....
i am gonna fight in the junglefights promotion.
my bjj professor is artur "tubarao" bjj blackbelt 2nd degree, under royler gracie.
the gym is called bioforma... but we are part of tubarao top team.
I remember Royler very well. When Rorion opened his original Gracie Jiu-Jitsu academy in Torrance, CA. in 1991 Royler taught there briefly. They were just starting out so group classes and private lessons were pretty cheap. I went to one group class and had a private lesson with Royce one day and a private with Royler on another day. I loved Royler. You came out of there loving Jiu-Jitsu and training with him was pure joy. I didn't care much for Royce at the time. He seemed insecure and wasn't at the same level as Royler, Rickson and Renzo. Rorion brought Royce to America when Royce was only 17 because he needed help establishing his school. Royce went from a Purple belt to a Black belt. In those days nobody would be able to tell the difference because a Purple belt in Jiu-Jitsu at that time could pretty much submit most of the Americans pretty easily because nobody had a clue about Jiu-Jitsu. But Royce matured a lot over the years and was, is, a pretty tough dude. He had to be.
When Royler told me he was going back to Brasil I was pretty devastated because we developed a pretty close relationship. Right about that time Rickson also left the academy to start his own school. Although it was three times the distance going to Rickson's school I didn't really want to train with Royce anymore. Also, getting to roll one on one with Rickson for over two years was an experience I'd never forget. As far as pure Jiu-Jitsu, he's everything everybody says he is. Just on a another level. If Rickson only fought Sakuraba when it mattered he would have been a real legend. Never understood why he never stepped up to defend the family honor like his father, Helio, would have done -- and did do.