Self-Defense and the Politics of Jiu-jitsu

Keep Politics out of Jiu-jitsu is a phrase that is commonly used in the community often to stifle any discussion on political discourse in the gym. It is almost always in the guise of keeping the mat area pure and separate from everything else. The problem is that to do Jiu-jitsu you need people and people cannot be separated from their political lives. We need to learn how to have complicated and important discussions around politics and Jiu-jitsu. This is the first step into making the mats an open and accepting place for everyone.

I, like many people, got into martial arts for self-defense. When I was younger, I was bullied in school and chose to take up martial arts as a way to build confidence and be able to protect myself. BJJ has been a fantastic tool for me for self-defense and building confidence, so much so that I have only had to use it once to protect myself physically. But many schools advertise themselves as “Self-Defense” BJJ schools or promote their self-defense aspects of their Jiu-jitsu. Often, they utilize the story of Helio Gracie being small and physically frail to reinforce this fact. They also conveniently ignore in this story that most fight organizations have weight classes for a reason. While I do not disagree that BJJ can be a fantastic tool for physical self-defense, what do you do when the call is coming from inside the house? Imagine that instead of a random attacker assaulting you, it is a purple belt in class that is publicly calling for violence against you based on some immutable quality on social media? What if it is an ultra-heavy black belt? How do you square going to class every week and grappling in a situation with these people that are actively wishing you harm. How do you justify putting your physical safety in their hands? Ignoring the politics of the people in your gym in favor of keeping the mats pure causes people to do this unknowingly every day. Self-defense comes in many forms, and some of those forms can be knowing about your environment and the people that are in it.

I recently made a social media post which I viewed as rather mild. Stating my feelings about the paradox of tolerance and its extension to people who were racists, homophobes, transphobes, Nazis, Christian Nationalists, and white supremacists. I included a screen shot below in case you are interested. This post was then sent to the owner of the school I teach at by a former student in what I am assuming is tantamount to tattling on me to them to try and get me in trouble. The owner of the school did not really care, also they have known me for over 12 years so it is not like they do not know where I stand politically. However, they did share who sent them the post. So, I have now filed that information into my brain to remember that this person is now an unsafe person to grapple with as they clearly object to my political stance in a way that was intended to do me harm. If I happen to encounter this person again, I know not to grapple with them as they intend me harm.

Social media post reference

Now I have a position of privilege to do so because I am 1) a third-degree black belt, 2) quite large, 3) mostly male presenting. However, there are plenty of people in Jiu-jitsu that do not have that privilege to be as open about their position due to various factors. These people have a place in Jiu-jitsu as well, but it must be a considerably more fraught place for them. Especially with the escalation of rhetoric surrounding various groups of people. By not discussing politics or pretending it does not exist within the gym we make it a more dangerous environment for marginalized people. For me as a person who got into Jiu-jitsu for self-defense, I feel I would be remiss in my duties to not stand up for people now that I have the ability to do so. I am now a third-degree black belt in a position that conveys authority simply from the fabric belt that holds my Gi closed. If I do not use this position to protect people who do not have the privilege that I have, what is the point of me having this belt? How am I working to make the world better if I do not stand up for others? This includes making Jiu-jitsu political and discussing things that people would rather not discuss in training. Because there are plenty of people in Jiu-jitsu that would do harm to people with their vote, how is that different than harming them in the training room? So, I firmly believe that politics has its place in Jiu-jitsu and that something should be discussed as part of training.