The term Creonte is a specific one to the BJJ community. A Creonte refers to a person who is disloyal and a traitor. However, this perception is often very much one-sided and open to interpretation. Loyalty in Jiu-Jitsu is something we can hear about all the time. It’s talked about in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu probably more than in any other sport. Let’s see what a Creonte is and if there’s any substance to all the controversy behind it. Is it really something worth talking about? What’s the real meaning of the word Creonte?
Getting a black belt in BJJ takes the better part of a decade for most people. Actually, it often takes more than a decade. During this time, you’ll meet lots of people on the mats and make lots of friends.
At your academy, those that you’ve known from day one, are no longer just training partners – they’re friends, and good ones at that. In some circles, this is even perceived as a family. No matter how you name them, the bonds that form between teammates after years of training together are strong.
But, are they strong enough to make you stay at your academy even if it is not the best option for you, due to various reasons? The term Creonte is the source of much controversy in the Jiu-Jitsu world where respect is a huge part of the culture. However, respect is not always bound by loyalty, and being a Creonte means being disloyal but not necessarily disrespectful.
From training at multiple academies at once to switching to another team, you can become a Creonte in a matter of hours. Are you too afraid of being labeled a Creonte, or do you have no problem with such a tag?
What Does Creonte Mean?
Let’s start with a very popular nickname for “disloyal” people in Brazil. The common term, that quickly caught on in BJJ gyms is “Creonte”. Some claim that the nickname is something that Master Carlson Gracie made up.
You’d expect a character like Carlson to have a made-up name for people who would leave his gym and go to another. The story has Carlson adopting a name from a popular Brazilian soap opera called Mandala. It featured a character who was constantly switching allegiances and being repetitively disloyal.
In the sense of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, labeling someone a Creonte means calling them traitors. While betrayal is a strong word for something as benign as visiting another BJJ academy, the phrase, along with strong feelings for the barer, exists as a part of BJJ to this day.
Creonte Culture in BJJ Gyms
Gym policies such as the one Carlson Gracie had unfortunately still exist today, banning students from cross-training and labeling them Creonetes. When you’re a student training at a BJJ academy, you might run into this “no training at a different place” policy. This is actually quite common in the world of BJJ.
Some gyms take that matter as far as prohibiting attending seminars that take place in your town, just because a different academy is an organizer. Imagine having Rafel Lovato Jr. teach a seminar and you can’t go or you’ll be labeled a Creonte.
Some folks even give themselves the right to frown upon positive social media engagements regarding other academies. If you congratulate someone for their success in competition, for example, you might once again end up a Creonte.
If you’re part of such an academy, you might want to consider your future, even at the expense of becoming a Creonte. McDojo gyms are quite famous for employing the threat of Creonteism as a means of keeping their students from leaving.
Bailing on an academy in need for selfish reasons is not a respectful thing to do in any circumstances. However, looking for the best option out there for you, while being straightforward about it is a different thing. This is just one example of why the lines surrounding the term Creonte are blurred at best.
Creonteism In Jiu-Jitsu Competition
Creonteism In Jiu-Jitsu Competition When it comes to tournaments, the Creonte situation gets a bit messier. Competition means you can end up standing opposite anyone, teammates included. In most cases of students from the same academy, the outcome is a gentlemen’s agreement.
In most instances, people go for a roll more than a fight, staying safe and playful. However, if you’re training at three different academies, you’ll need to at least be crystal clear about which one you’re going to represent. Now, if all three academies are comfortable with your choice there’s no issue here. however, examples like this are quite rare in the BJJ community.
In essence, I feel there’s no need to brand someone a Creonte if they train at multiple locations but only compete under one banner. After all, BJJ is about exchanging experiences, not about working in secret.
If you think a student training at multiple locations is going to uncover heavily guarded secrets, you’re completely mistaken. In a local competition scene, competitors face each other so often that it doesn’t matter if they train together or apart. They’ll still know what their opponent likes to do.
Loyalty In Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
So, what does loyalty actually mean in terms of grappling? Does it mean blindly following whatever an instructor says? Or, does it mean respect and logic above any emotion?
In truth, loyalty doesn’t just happen because you train at an academy and pay for the pleasure. That’s anything but loyalty. That’s just business and if you’re conditioned by such constraints, you’re in a McDojo. Run far and run fast.
This brings us to another burning subject. Are you really a Creonte if you bail on a McDojo? The instructor is certainly going to portray you as one, no doubt about it. However, do you really owe such a place any loyalty? McDojo gyms are actually not legitimate among the real members of the BJJ community, so what does that make you?
Moving away from the McDojo example, let’s look at a more legitimate one. You’ve been at an academy for a while. You have friends, learned a lot, and competed on multiple occasions. However, for one reason or another, you need to switch academies.
Regardless of the reason, are you really a traitor? Have you let your team down because you of moving because it really makes sense for you? If BJJ is truly about respect nobody should stand in your way. Furthermore, people need to support your decision and look forward to seeing you on the open mat or at a competition. That’s the adult thing to do. Not frown and call each other names.
In terms of training at a few neighboring academies on a regular basis, I can see the contradiction. These are all different competition teams, often in direct rivalry due to the vicinity.
Training regularly in two or three such academies is going to make it tough for you to choose a team as well. But the inability to visit a seminar, or an open mat, without becoming a Creonte is just plain dumb.
Honestly, a successful academy with a coach that knows what they’re doing should not have Creonte philosophy. If an instructor knows how to motivate students, keep them happy, and treat them fairly they’ll return on their own. There’s no need to use scare tactics in public branding.
You’re NOT a Creonte for Switching Teams
NO! No one has the right, no matter how “hurt” they feel, to call you a betrayer for changing the spot where you train BJJ. If you change gyms, that means you were not happy with something in your last gym. Maybe, you were happy, but you think you will be happier in a new one.
There are numerous reasons for changing a gym and there is no one you have to give an explanation to why you did something. Perhaps some of your closest friends are in other gyms, or a gym is closer to your home. You just did it because you think it’s better for you and that should be enough for everyone to understand your move.
BJJ Gym Owners Don’t Like to Lose Students
When someone decides to open up a BJJ school, they decide to put all of themself in that venture. most likely, they’re not doing it for the money, since there’s not a lot in coaching. However, income does drive desire, and making some money from a BJJ academy inevitably leads to wanting more
Seeing as BJJ is not an Olympic sport, BJJ gym owners can’t get a lot of money from the town, or country so, monthly membership fees are something that gym owners are “living” from. That’s the main reason why they feel bad when someone leaves their gym.
However, business should not come at the expense of the student’s education in Gentle Art. Going for cash only creates a culture where the level of BJJ suffers, and such gyms tend to lose long-time students who need another challenge, which hurts the most.
That, however, does that give them the right to call someone a traitor and betrayer, or anything derogatory. There’s just no point and it won’t solve a thing!
Who’s Guilty of Your Wish to Change Gym?
The interesting thing here is how instructors and gym owners never question their selves, whether it is their fault you left. They just name someone Creonte and leave it at that.
Why is it never Instructors fault? There is no rule saying you should stick with your first instructor for the rest of your life. If you truly want to learn BJJ, you want to pick the brains of as many coaches, instructors, and top competitors as possible, which by definition means cross-training at many gyms.
What if you think you can’t progress in your gym as much as you would progress in another one? What if you are still training there because you want to be loyal? Or worse, you don’t want people to talk about you as Creonte?
These are not valid reasons to stick to a gym and it is not your fault for wanting something better elsewhere. Being loyal doesn’t mean you have to work against yourself.
Rickson Gracie’s opinion on “Creonte”
There is a popular Rickson Gracie interview where he said, “Why should I waste my knowledge on a student who seems disloyal?” If you think about this sentence a bit deeper all you can notice is hypocrisy in it.
Every student’s money is worth the same. And if the instructor is taking someone’s money he is obligated to treat him as same as anyone else in the class. He may like him or dislike him but he is taking his money and he should have that in memory all the time.
The only fair thing the instructor can do is to say to the person to leave and never come back. If the instructor is taking someone’s money and he doesn’t want to share his knowledge with him then that is a fraud, and, once again, you’re probably in a McDojo. Even if the instructor’s last name is Gracie.
Final Thoughts about Creontes in BJJ
The point is that you should be loyal to those who are loyal to you. You should be fair to those who are fair to you. And you should respect those who respect you. You should not respect instructors who like you for the first two weeks and after that, they forget that you exist.
Being loyal is not a one-way street, it’s mutual in every aspect of your life so is in BJJ. At the end of the day, you should be your own top priority. That’s why you are there and for your money, you can choose what you think is the best for you.
You’re not obliged to give your money to anyone. If you’re unhappy, the only thing that will happen will be for you to stop training. You will feel stupid in a few years when you find out you wasted so much time in the wrong places and the wrong people, even if they called you a BJJ Creonte. So what?
What I want to say is that being loyal and being stupid should never go together!
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