Sport? Art?

There is a reason why I often refer to Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu as an art rather than a sport – I believe the sport aspect is one particular facet of BJJ, but it’s not the only reason people train.  Many people train BJJ just for the fun of it, or for discipline, and never intend to compete in a tournament setting.  Even John Danaher is known for never having competed in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, yet he is known as one of the best teachers in the world.  When I call Jiu-Jitsu an art, it allows me to talk about it a little bit differently than I would with football, baseball or wrestling.  The whole sport vs. art thing has now recently come under fire with specific events, such as Andre Galvao vs. Ryron Gracie at Metamoris, and the general trend toward using new guards in sport jiu-jitsu that many “old-school” jiu-jitsu practitioners are very against.  One of the main arguments is that true Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu doesn’t use new inverted guards, 50/50 guard or much of the De La Riva guard because they do not transfer well to self-defense situations.  I personally reject this idea.  There is also a segment of people that claim that these new positions and concepts are the future of jiu-jitsu and are to be practiced in order to win competitions.  For the most part, I reject this idea as well, though I will preface my position by saying that I don’t believe it is my business to tell people how they should practice jiu-jitsu – that’s up to everyone else to decide.

            The art of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu was, of course, based off of self-defense tactics.  The basic closed guard is essentially one of the most important concepts to learn, and it seems as if most people understand this.  In terms of strategy, this is where things go…awry.  Pulling guard in a street fight would certainly be dangerous and risky in most situations, but of course I’m sure someone, somewhere has done it and been okay.  Pulling guard in MMA is often risky as well, though less often so because of mats and not having to worry about your opponent’s homeboys coming in and stomping on your face – we see some very high-level jiu-jitsu practitioners pulling guard in MMA with great results, and I believe that is their prerogative if they want to do this.  We have seen these new “trendy” guards such as deep-half guard actually used very well in MMA to sweep under certain conditions.  Is it right to say that it’s not pure jiu-jitsu?  Is it right to somehow qualify it and say that it’s not okay to use it?  It’s possible that one day we’ll see someone get berimbolo’d in a high-level MMA fight by a De La Riva-crazy, buttflopping jiu-jitsu practitioner turned MMA fighter that just has some higher understanding of the position.  We have seen twisters and gogoplatas in MMA, so to say that those techniques don’t work in a fight is just entirely false.  The techniques clearly work and still utilize leverage and superior positioning, which is essentially the mission of jiu-jitsu.  To say that they are to not be practiced because we feel that they are not good for self defense is short-sighted – sticking to these old ideas without taking the painful years it may require to use these techniques in competition and apply them to other situations is antithetical to the original mission of BJJ.  If we had stuck to caveman-esque ideas in the first place, we’d all just be lifting weights and throwing haymakers still.

            Who is to say what can be considered art and what can be considered sportive?  We all have different interpretations and different senses of what works for us and what doesn’t work in terms of grappling.  Perhaps this is a reflection of my incredibly lax nature on how I treat people in general, but I think it’s most fair to give people the opportunity to develop a game that works for them rather than limit their skillset to moves that are “pure jiu-jitsu”.  The idea that Ryron’s breed of jiu-jitsu is somehow superior to Andre Galvao’s jiu-jitsu essentially break down when we see Ryron fail to submit him under a submission-only ruleset that would, hypothetically, favor Ryron.  The point being made here is that even “point fighters” that compete largely in point competitions are placing themselves into better positions in which they can achieve a submission – that doesn’t invalidate their grappling ability. 

Andre Galvao and Ryron Gracie are both high-level practitioners with their own styles of jiu-jitsu that should be respected, and neither one is pure or not-pure.  The largest reason I reject the stance of very sport-oriented individuals is mostly personal preference.  I don’t believe BJJ is only to be practiced for winning tournaments – a medal is just something that hangs around my neck if I win, and not the ultimate end goal.  There are always places to improve – if I do win a match in a tournament by points, I’d like to win it by submission next time.  If I win by submission, I’d like to win faster the next time.  This is my mindset, and I’m sure many people share it, though many do not.  Many see a win as a win – it’s all up to personal choice.  I feel as if the best way for our great jiu-jitsu community to come together is to drop the classifications and stereotypes and egos and to simply accept one another’s personal goals for what they are.  There is no reason to badmouth someone who works from 50/50 – if you don’t like it, then figure out a way to improve yourself and defeat it, not bring someone else down.

  If you have a differing opinion, leave your comments at the bottom!