It's probably worth mentioning from a historic point of view that Rickson makes mention of his brother, Rolls, the son of Carlos Gracie, that Rickson's father, Helio, raised. Rolls was rejected by Carlos' wife because he was born from another woman, Claudia, a flight attendant. The Gracie's were serial womanizers. So Helio stepped up and volunteered to raise Rolls as one of his own.
Rolls was considered the family champion and the best the family ever produced, even better than Rickson who he would defeat routinely in training. Rolls died tragically in 1982 while still in his prime during a hand gliding accident.
I mention Rolls because not only because his influence on the family is a lot deeper than many realize, even part of the impetus for Rorion to leave Brasil and make a go in America where he would change the world of martial arts forever; and the unusual, to the casual observer, why both Roll's father, Carlos, and his adopted father, Helio, did not attend his funeral, but being that this is a bbing forum, how physically unimpressive Rolls was. There was nothing about him visually that would lead one to believe that he was in any way an athlete let alone a champion among champions. That big muscles is not an indication of a person's toughness or ability to fight.
For me, in a sense, I feel more confident if I have to get into a scrap with a bodybuilder. I know how much time and effort it takes to build such big muscles so I know they have very little, if any time, to practice any sort of martial art. Also, I know, for the most part, bbers have very little physical stamina. Pumping blood and oxygen to an additional 30-50 pounds of muscle you weren't naturally meant to be carrying is quite a burden to the heart and lungs. And no matter how strong you are, once you lose your wind your toast. Plus, being muscle bound is usually not conducive to subtle and refined coordinated movement. With an ordinary looking guy, especially if he is not fat, you never know what you are getting into.
