Jiu-jitsu Should Be Fun!

This is a controversial statement; it shouldn’t be but somehow it is. Let me be clear, I am a deeply unserious person. What I mean by that is that I do not really take a lot of things seriously in life. I try and be very easy going and limit my stress as much as I can. This is in stark contrast to a large number of people in Jiu-jitsu.

There are people who take this sport WAY too seriously. I am not referring to competitors who make their money grappling, but instead hobbyists who are way too caught up in aspects of Jiu-jitsu that are largely not helpful to their grappling. One of my biggest annoyances in Jiu-jitsu are the “Warrior Culture” bros. People who say shit like “Better to be a warrior in a garden, then a gardener in a war.” Let’s make it very clear, we are pajama wrestling or if you are primarily no-gi, you are about half a breath away from putting your underwear on the outside and calling yourself Kal-el. You are not a warrior. You are someone that enjoys a sport that has aspects of combat in it. Jay O’Shea made a great point about this on a recent episode of the “Fighting Matters” podcast. Pointing out that while sport fighting, like Jiu-jitsu while it has hallmarks of violence, actually is very far removed from real world violence because there are many parameters and etiquette that make up the social contract surrounding Jiu-jitsu. Don’t mistake my words, Jiu-jitsu imparts great skills for self-defense, and many people get involved in it for self-defense related reasons, but it is still very far removed from real world violence. I know that the “Warrior Culture” type also dovetails with fascist ideology that is making a strong concerted effort to push its way into this sport. Which is another reason we shouldn’t tolerate this kind of behavior.

I have often found that those who style themselves as warriors are often the least-safe training partners that I encounter in Jiu-jitsu. They want to practice doing harm to people, so they are less likely to worry about their partner’s wellbeing during grappling. They are also most likely to complain about people not taking Jiu-jitsu seriously. Here are my top three complaints I have personally received about my teaching or grappling from people who fancy themselves “warriors.”

1.      He makes too many jokes when teaching class and doesn’t take it seriously enough. (From a white belt in a class where I was showing my favorite triangle setups)

2.      He doesn’t try when grappling with me, he just goofs around a does silly moves. (Those silly moves all worked on you)

3.      He was texting while grappling with me. (From a purple belt, In my defense I probably shouldn’t have been doing that but my partner was pregnant at the time, and I wanted to make sure everything was OK)

As you can see, I run a very serious class and only focus on Jiu-jitsu, Not! I love to joke around and have fun during class; this is my hobby too don’t be such a bummer. I think keeping the classes light and relaxed is a good way to promote creativity and encourage questions.

Lions and Sheep is another thing the “Warrior Culture” types like to throw around. Which I always find hilarious because those two things are not analogous to any form of human interaction. Unless you want to be like Scar in the lion king and subjugate the “sheep” it is a really poor way to describe human interaction. Years ago, when I was teaching a morning class that was from 10:30 am to Noon, at the end of class one of the students was shaking and very unstable on their feet. After we sat him down and took care of him, I talked with him and asked if he had eaten since it was now lunch time. His exact words were “The lion has to catch its meal before it eats.” I can still remember this because I immediately started laughing at him. My response was “Motherfucker YOU WORK IN IT, you aren’t a fucking lion, eat some god damn breakfast so I don’t have to call 9-1-1 for you.” Warrior culture strikes again with the evils of toast or some eggs in the morning.

The other thing I see frequently with people who take Jiu-jitsu way to seriously is PEDs. Specifically, testosterone, I know of at least three people at my gym that are on a massive dose of testosterone. I am not a doctor, and there are legitimate reasons for people to take hormone replacements, but from listening to these people they are not taking it because they need it, but just because they want to be stronger or better than others. Which to me is really weird because we are all out here doing a hobby in our spare time, also you could just train a bit more and work on your technique, but hey what do I know.

Really Jiu-jitsu should be fun, it’s a hobby, a really niche one. Guess what I do when I have a hobby that isn’t fun anymore, I stop doing that hobby. If you are coming to class to “be and alpha” or a “Warrior”, I am probably going to laugh at you a little bit and tell you to lighten up. We don’t need more meatheads in Jiu-jitsu we need more laughter, more jokes, more camaraderie. The mats should be a place of shared joy not a place of anger towards others. As instructors we should model this behavior and promote it for our students, so we have smiles and fewer lone wolves. So, I will leave you with my favorite quote, “Better to be a gardener in a war, than a gardener in a lion that doesn’t even know how to swim or whatever.” That sounds about right.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPJWm3avmlQ