As Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu becomes more popular more and more people are looking to train all over the world and because of the increase in demand many believe that it could be a matter of time before BJJ undergoes the same transformation that martial arts like Karate did in the ’80s and ’90s.
For the most part, Jiu-Jitsu has remained true to itself because of one essential element of training that obligates practitioners to constantly prove themselves, and that is sparring or rolling. However, more and more schools are starting to use belt promotions as a way to get more students through the door.
In an interview with Joe Rogan, MMA legendary coach, and BJJ black belt Firas
Zahabi talked about how BJJ has been watered down and some schools in his
area of Montreal, Canada have started to give out stripes and belts based on
attendance and not merit.
This works because if people can get the prestige and personal satisfaction of
earning an advanced belt in Jiu-Jitsu with less work and in less time most people
would take that option. The same thing happened to Karate as it used to be one
of the toughest martial arts in the world, but today most schools will hand out
belts to people for performing katas and breaking boards rather than showing
real fighting capabilities.
Is Jiu Jitsu running the risk of falling into the same trap?
On one hand, I have personally seen instructors hand out stripes and blue belts like candy in order to get more students and ultimately make more money but at the same time even though BJJ is starting to become mainstream, it is still a very close-knit community. If you get a blue belt in six months and you go to compete in a tournament, chances are you will get destroyed in the first match. Therefore it would be pretty obvious to everyone that you were given that belt prematurely.
However what would happen if most BJJ gyms were like that? What would happen if most gyms handed out stripes and belts based on attendance or by administering tests every year or every six months? I’ve also seen several schools start using tests to promote people, and I’m not saying that there is anything wrong with tests but since I can remember belts in Jiu-Jitsu are given to you by your instructor when you showed that you were ready for that belt on the mats. Because you can have a good day or study really hard for a test, but the rest of the time does not perform at that level.
The One Thing Preventing This…
The one thing that prevents this from happening is in the very nature of Jiu Jitsu
and that is to roll and spar constantly. I believe it was Rickson Gracie who first
pointed out that one of the advantages of training Jiu Jitsu vs any other martial art is
that you can spar at 100% in a safe way and not get injured.
Because of that, anyone can immediately see if the belt you’re wearing is too big
for you and you will even feel the weight of that belt on you, feeling like you’re
starting from a disadvantage.
Another important element is what I mentioned earlier. BJJ is still a very close-knit community and because of it, you tend to run into a bunch of friends at
tournaments, open mats, seminars, and more. And within that community, the
best way to exchange and grow together is by training and rolling.
This is something that will help Jiu Jitsu stay true to itself and not get watered
down as other popular martial arts have in the past. I personally remain hopeful
that this will be enough to keep it from going in that direction but I could be
wrong.
What do you think?
