Relson Gracie has been an outspoken critic of the direction competitive Brazilian jiu-jitsu has taken, arguing that the art has drifted far from the self-defense system his father built. As of September 10, 2025, he stated plainly that "a black belt without self-defense skills is a disgrace to the art," contending that many contemporary practitioners and instructors lack the foundational self-defense knowledge that should define the discipline. He further argued that governing federations have "removed Hélio Gracie's rules" in favor of sport-oriented rule sets — a shift he links directly to the influence of sponsors, kimono manufacturers, and championship circuits that reward medals and entertainment over practical effectiveness.
In a YouTube interview cited on November 8, 2025, Relson extended his critique to the competitive behaviors those rule sets have produced. He colorfully referred to competitors who preferred sitting down and scooting rather than engaging in standup and takedowns as "the hemorrhoid crew," arguing that such tactics represent a fundamental departure from traditional jiu-jitsu values. He also criticized the rise of techniques such as the berimbolo, characterizing the overall competitive environment as "a punch-fest" and "luck," and lamenting the analytical hollowness of modern matches: "You're going to watch the match, you don't have the slightest sense of certainty about who's going to win."
Relson's critique extends to the state of instruction at many schools. "You go to a gym today looking for self-defense and there's nothing," he observed, arguing that commercialization has incentivized gyms to prioritize competition preparation over the comprehensive self-defense education that defined the original Gracie system. His criticism also reaches modern MMA; as of late 2025, he contended that "The UFC doesn't show anything technical," arguing that the sport has come to prioritize entertainment and physical athleticism at the expense of the technical sophistication the Gracie system was designed to produce.