Book: The Gracie Way
By Kid Peligro

Review by Wayne Doud

For everyone interested in the history of the Gracie family, this is the next book you need to read. It's an excellent coffee table style book filled with hundreds of color photos and stories. Where else can you find a collection of pictures including Mitsuo Maeda, and Carlos and Helio as young men? At about 225 pages, there's definitely no shortage of material to keep you entertained. The book covers everything from the beginning stages of jiu jitsu before the Brazilian influence, to the evolved style that has become so popular today.

Kid Peligro's writing style is excellent. He uses a ton of quotes from many different Gracies including Ricci Gracie (Helio's youngest daughter). It tells about their childhood and what it was like growing up in the family. The book picks ten of some of the most influential Gracies, and goes into detail about each one and what they've contributed to jiu jitsu. Its entertainment value is second only to its educational value. I read the entire book without setting it down once!

I felt the book was priced very fairly for what you get. I don't have any complaints about the book and I would highly recommend it to anyone, jiu jitsu practitioner or not. I'd even go so far as to say that after reading it, one may be inspired to become a practitioner. It is a historical manual of the family that has been the biggest influence on the Mixed Martial Arts scene, of all time. The following fighters are featured in this order:

1. Carlos,
2. Helio
3. Carlson
4. Rolls
5. Rorion
6. Carlinhos (Carlos Jr.)
7. Rickson
8. Royler
9. Royce
10. Renzo