Reflections on my sensei – real respect vs superficial respect: my sensei, Renzo Gracie is widely acknowledged as one of the best jiu jitsu coaches of the modern era. For his students, most of our lessons were technical in nature – but some of the most memorable had nothing to do with technique, but instead with other aspects of the sport. One day I was away with the squad, traveling for a match. Mr Gracie stepped in to teach the afternoon class that I usually teach, so I was not there to witness the lesson, but heard it second hand from those who were there, but it's importance was apparent as soon as I heard it. A visiting athlete who has considerable exposure on the grappling circuit and who often visited to train was present for the class. As Mr Gracie began teaching, the visitor sat on the sidelines and played around with his phone. The rest of the class went to work as Mr Gracie went through technique and drills. Eventually it came time for live sparring (randori). The visitor suddenly put down his phone and decided it was now time to enter the class. He approached Mr Gracie and bowed solemnly and asked to join in the sparring. Mr Gracie did not even look at him, he said, next class begins at 6pm.” The visitor was surprised. “I can't train now?” Mr Gracie replied
