Yesterday, Kurt Osiander — one of the most famous BJJ personalities on the Internet — told the Grappling Central podcast that he was fired from Ralph Gracie’s gym.
Only an hour ago, Ralph Gracie took to Instagram to dispute Osiander’s allegations, saying that his former student was neither fired nor pushed out.
According to Gracie, Kurt chose to leave. Gracie did not speculate as to why his former student chose to abandon the gym he had been part of since 1998, but he did say that he offered to help Kurt financially with his new gym.
Unfortunately, as is so often the case with this type of break-up, it is one man’s word against another’s, and the BJJ community may never know the truth of what happened.
You can read Ralph Gracie’s entire post below:
Over the past couple of days, I have heard a number of rumors about my gym in San Francisco and its former instructor, Kurt Osiander, and I feel the need to address this misinformation.
First, I did not sell my gym to Gracie Barra. Ralph Gracie San Francisco is my gym and will forever be my gym.
Second, I am saddened to say that, after nearly 25 years together, Kurt Osiander has chosen to leave Ralph Gracie Jiu-Jitsu. Kurt was not fired nor pushed out. He made the decision to leave our team and start a new gym in the same neighborhood. I was made aware of his decision while I was out of the country for a seminar. After announcing his intention to me, I even offered to support him and invest in a new location just for him, but he refused.
But I cannot live my life holding any grudges. Everything happens for a reason. Kurt has been instrumental in building up the Ralph Gracie San Francisco gym. I am very grateful for his contribution to our team.
Ralph Gracie San Francisco will always be my family. Our team will continue to get bigger and stronger as I believe in the power of jiu-jitsu to transform lives and build better communities. My family and I have given our lives to building up the sport, and our work must continue.
Ralph Gracie
