Is Brazilian jiujitsu changing?
hi guys ran across a pretty solid piece from Bishopbjj i figured i’d share with the sport bjj fans. Pretty interesting point of view and hits on a few solid points.
What if I told you the answer to that question might be “no”. Most people would say that the answer can’t be “no”- not now at least, not after the evolution that has occurred over the last decade. You can point to the exponential growth of competition and it’s competitors, the availability of high-level instruction, the prevalence of video instruction, and a growing group of professional brazilian jiu jitsu athletes as proof that the sport has advanced far beyond where it was just 10 years ago. But, all of those things are elements of the sport, not the jiu jitsu. So again I’ll ask the question, has the jiu jitsu actually changed?
There is no doubt brazilian jiu jitsu techniques are hard to hide in this day and age, and that new positions and techniques are available like never before. Now with live streaming of every major event, and YouTube, there are no more secrets, so it forces everyone to evolve and grow. But are the fundamentals that win championships any different than they were 10-15 years ago? Earlier this year when we were out in San Diego visiting Master Royler Gracie, he shared something with us that was sort of eye-opening. He told us that the approach he would take to competition now would be no different than the approach he took in 1999 (discussing technique and strategy). Now you are more than welcome to form your own opinions about this topic, but I can tell you that Royler was very sincere in this sentiment.
Let me submit an argument that perhaps you don’t always have to learn the “latest” techniques (although there is nothing wrong with this) to compete at the very highest level in this day and age. The case would be that jiu jitsu in it’s pure unadulterated form can be learnt and applied the same way today in competition as it was in 1999, and that in fact, jiu jitsu’s effectiveness is not changing, merely it’s competitors.
Exhibit A: Royler winning the Mundials in the late 90?s
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Exhibit B: Kron winning the Pans in 2008 with relatively similar, and equally fundamental BJJ
Exhibit C: Roger Gracie, one of the most dominant competitors in the last few years
I understand completely that it is pretty absurd to suggest that jiu jitsu isn’t changing, especially given what you see the Mendes Bros., Miyao Bros., and other high level competitors doing on the mats, but I would simply like to suggest the idea that jiu jitsu is not evolving beyond it’s own effectiveness. The premise of this article is that fundamental brazilain jiu jitsu is never changing, even though the execution might look different.
How can this benefit you? Don’t always concern yourself with learning everything that’s out there
Learn proven technique from qualified instructors, and focus on application. All brazilain jiu jitsu works, old and new. So study all the above videos, there si something we can all learn from each of them.
thanks to bishop for a great article..
p.s
an for you old school fans stay tuned im dropping some epic footage.. from tourneys otherwise unreleased anywhere that i know of world wide.. 10 years has passed i’m cracking open the vault.:)
releasing some of the sickest old school bjj and mma fights ever.. the ones that got played until the vhs tape melted.. the ones that keep you up at night… the ones that make you a martial arts fanatic!!!!!
claude patick
