Is BJJ suffering from commercialism? | Wing's Daily News

Helio Gracie, old schoolin it. This was self defense!

There are two points of view. From the?viewpoint?of those groups and individuals concerned with progress, BJJ has made great inroads by spreading worldwide and offering the average person an athletic activity, a means of self?protection?and a unique method of physical conditioning. On the other hand purists feel that commercialism has diluted the original mental and?spiritual?values inherent to BJJ.

Karate went through the same process in the late 1980?s when it exploded in popularity as BJJ is today. New karate schools opened daily in nearly every strip mall and shopping center in America. Karate transitioned from being a hardcore self defense system to a?form?of recreation. When any martial art becomes a form of recreation is it still a self defense system? In many karate dojos sparring became ?optional? and contact became very limited. A greater emphasis was placed on Kata?s and competition was de-emphasised.

I see some disturbing trends in BJJ. When I started training in karate the Internet was not even in existence. If you wanted to learn a new technique you had to learn it from your instructor. Any bjj student of any rank can now go online and learn technique from YouTube. Many of the techniques seen online are extremely technical ?sport??techniques. Students are?beginning?to mistake these sport?techniques?as?actual?self defense techniques. A student can go online watch a video and ?learn the?Berimbolo sweep then go back to their dojo and pull it off on someone of lesser ability.

Many students never compete. If you can?t deal with the stress of a competition how can you deal with the extreme duress of a street fight? I?m not saying that a BJJ student needs to compete all of the time but you should compete?occasionally.? Try pulling off that Berimbolo sweep that you nailed on a?white?belt in the safety and comfort of your dojo on someone of your skill level in a?tournament. Students should also train outside of their own dojo?s. Training with the same people all of the time stagnates and retards your game. You should experience?different?sparring partners?regularly. More importantly you should be training with people that are better than you that can push you. Being the best guy in your dojo makes you the biggest fish in a small pond nothing more. I?ve been refereeing at NAGA tournaments. Let me hip you to something. There is some sick talent coming up. I refereed a gi match between two blue belts that in my opinion could smoke most purples and browns in many schools. If you stay in the singular comfort of your dojo and beat up the same people week after week?you are doing yourself a?disservice?because?you?believe?that you are something that quite frankly you are not.

Ask yourself, are you a martial artist or recreational martial artist? There is a definite and distinct difference between the two.

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Tags: BJJ, Karate

Source: http://www.wingsdailynews.com/2013/05/is-bjj-suffering-from-commercialism/

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