“Apartheid actually started off as a good idea in South Africa.”

“I am just so tired of the gay people’s rainbow flag colors [LGBTQ Pride Flag] being shoved down people’s throats.” (when talking about the gym’s colored stripes for social development in the kids class which is not anything to do with LGBTQIA+)

“I appreciate other people’s cultures, I don’t mind if that’s what they think. I just don’t see why they need to come here [a Western nation founded through colonialism].”

Folks, we have a bigotry issue in the jiu jitsu community. I know, I know, shocker. Really big shocker. I wish those quotes were random examples I made up on the spot but, unfortunately, these are comments I’ve personally heard thankfully from only one specific black belt who is, also thankfully, not a coach. When talking about jiu jitsu, there really is no other way of putting it than there is a longstanding issue with bigotry of all kinds existing. Be it sexism, racism, religion-based bigotry, homophobia, transphobia, and so on.

This sport, which has seen its spread across the world become more and more multicultural and multinational, simultaneously seems to invite some of the wildest bigots you will meet. Which makes very little sense since, well…let’s look at jiu jitsu in an objective and historically:

1. Originally codified by a Japanese guy in the late 1800s.

2. Was taught to a Scottish immigrant family in Brazil in the early 1900s.

3. The sport was then exported to the United States, featured heavily in the first UFC which also saw multiple cultures, ethnicities, and ways of life displayed.

4. Currently practiced on all six inhabited continents (idk maybe people in Antartica are doing it to pass the time).

Note from Carl: There was actually a guy running BJJ club at McMurdo Station in Antarctica.

So, I hope you can see why I think it is genuinely stupid to consistently see bigotry on display by those who are, ostensibly, meant to be seen as “leaders” within the sport. And no, this is not just limited to social media influencers, high level athletes, or coaches. It applies to anyone who takes on a leadership role within any aspect of the sport, including being a black belt.

Today, we’re gonna talk about it because I’m sick of seeing it. I just wanna wear my cotton pajamas and throw or strangle people and have a good time with whoever shows up without having to hear why “(Insert Marginalized Group) are actually ruining society.”

Bigotry, A Very Stupid Thing

Look, I’m not going to sit here and explain how or why bigotry is bad. We all, as a collective society of apes living on this planet have agreed at a social, political, and cognitive level that bigotry is bad. It’s why we have laws that prohibit bigotry in place. On top of that, it’s an inherently stupid concept.

We know the focus of bigotry is to aim unwarranted hatred and animosity towards whatever group the person sees as “bad” or “unacceptable” based off a narrow and subjective world view. Typically we can see this in the form of race-based bigotry, but it does extend to other non-racially based group membership (eg. religion-based bigotry, gender-identity based bigotry, etc.).

Let’s first start with the concept of “race” as a means to differentiate between groups of people originated in medieval Europe and was then later used to justify further differentiating of outgroups. More notably, it is a product of the 15th century’s Iberian Reconquista where the alleged “impurity of blood” of non-Christians served as a means to justify expelling not only the Muslims but Jews as well, or at the very least convert them.

This in turn influenced how Christopher Columbus and his crew of Spanish bandits perceived and viewed the indigenous peoples of the Americas that they encountered. And again this applied to African people as debate came up on whether you could classify the non-Christians as actual people. If you’re already going “Jesus christ, that’s fucking disgusting” then congrats. You are probably not as on board with bigotry as some other folks around our community of jiu jitsu nerds.

Anyway, this would, as anyone who took a history class that actually was honest, help pave the way for the subsequent centuries of people, mostly white, finding rationale to exclude anyone who did not fit a specifically molded idea of what is an acceptable member of society.

And in practice, this simply will never end as it will essentially end up in a No True Scotsman scenario where everyone fails the purity tests because well…purity tests are dumb. If we base our societal standards on religious grounds, you kick out incredibly contributions made by the religious minorities. The same is said for literally any other form of bigotry aimed at cutting off sections of a society’s demographic make up.

There is, frankly, so much more to go into but for the time being I would highly recommend reading Lentin & Bargallie’s (2024) Key Concepts and Definitions for Building Racial Literacy to serve as a bit of a companion and to also help understand the many many forms of racism and ways they are expressed and applied.

The (Long) History of Bigotry in Jiu Jitsu

To save time we are going to start with everyone’s favorite globetrotting Japanese judoka, Mitsuyo Maeda. Sent out by both the Japanese government, and also Jigoro Kano himself, to promote Japan’s new entrance into the global society in the early 1900s, Maeda took with him not only the techniques of Kano but the social assumptions of a Japan that was deeply hierarchical and class-conscious. Throughout his travels through the United States, Europe, then to Cuba before ultimately arriving in Brazil, Maeda helped seed what would become jiu jitsu in the sense we discuss it today.

While explicit references to racial bigotry are not regularly present in the accounts from his travels, Maeda’s demonstrations nonetheless took place in social environments that were highly defined by rigid views of racial superiority, nationalism, and cultural competition. Martial arts challenges in this context were also used to not only provide entertainment, but double as assertions of cultural and ethnic dominance. These early cross-cultural encounters, which were simultaneously occurring with other ethnic groups in various sports such as black boxers competing in the USA, helped lay the foundation for later racialization. In particular for jiu jitsu this would become embedded in the social landscape of Brazil.

Following Maeda’s stint in Brazil teaching, among others, Carlos Gracie jiu jitsu developed within the Brazilian society that was stratified along racial and economic lines. Remember, the Gracies were a fairly affluent family at the time. Modern research into these early days shows that as Kano’s jiu jitsu began to be molded into “Gracie (aka Brazilian) jiu jitsu”, it was situated, implicitly, within the racial hierarchy of Brazil at the time. One that positioned “Brazilian jiu jitsu” as a “white” martial art especially through the explicit marketing of the Gracie family during their challenge matches against capoiera and judo practitioners in Brazil.

Although “Brazilian jiu jitsu” was promoted as egalitarian, its development within the Gracie’s academy reflected Brazil’s pervasive, yet unspoken, anti-Black and color-based social divisions. In more recent research and analysis of this early era of the sport, it has been noted that major schools in Brazil teaching “Brazilian jiu jitsu” intentionally, or even unintentionally, reinforced whitness as a marker of legitimacy and superiority within the sport despite simultaneously claiming that everyone is equal on the mats.

By the end of the 20th century and the explosion of the UFC, which again served as a means for the Gracie family to tout their superiority over others, “Brazilian jiu jitsu” had become a globalized sport. However, underlying issues of racial invisibility, structural, and systemic inequality persisted. In the 2020s, researchers have noted that many practitioners still describe the sport as one that is “democratic” (meaning it is open and equally accessible to all people) and racially neutral. Such sentiment exists even in settings where non-white athletes predominate yet still encounter subtle or systemic marginalization. This tension still remains.

Building Inclusive Settings

As mentioned, people within the sport really like to say, “On the mats, everyone is equal.” This is a beautifully worded idea on the surface. However, as both contemporary and historical research shows, this is not always reflected in real life. Jiu‑jitsu grew within societies with their own hierarchies, and some of those unspoken dynamics followed the art into its modern form. This is also not including the already existing bigotry that existed in nations and countries that the sport was later introduced to (eg. the USA). So when a high‑profile athlete or coach or even a local member of your gym posts online stuff that can be interpreted as racist it helps serve to remind us that the community has a long way to go to correct this disparity. So how can this be corrected? Well good news, it works the exact same way all other forms of stomping out bigotry work.

Call It Out

One of the biggest obstacles to addressing bigotry in jiu-jitsu is silence. In places like the US, UK, and Brazil, racism is often described as “invisible” precisely because people don’t talk about it openly. This is despite the reality that it clearly shapes social life beyond just the context of sports. In jiu-jitsu circles, this same quiet avoidance lets harmful behavior slide by unchallenged.

Coaches and gym owners can change this by simply acknowledging what research has already confirmed, that racism, colorism, and bias exists in our community. And when protests or political moments trigger openly racist commentary from well-known practitioners, the community shouldn’t quietly look away. It should call it out for what it is and allow people to identify those who are engaged in bigotry. A culture of honesty is the first step toward a culture of safety.

And we want our coaches, athletes, and participants in the sport to be honest people, right?

Set Clear and Public Standards

Recent scandals in the jiu‑jitsu world (even when not directly about bigotry) show what happens when hierarchies in gyms/academies go unchecked. Simply put that mindset of having such a strict hierarchical system allows for abuse to flourish and students feeling powerless to prevent being abused. In many cases, especially those that do not make much of a splash in the community, people just quietly leave the sport. It is only in rare instances that you may hear more about the situation and there being a wider discussion surrounding it. See: Andre Galvao’s accusations of grooming but you may not know much about any local instructors in your area doing the same.

In this day and age, an academy needs a system that is more than “trust the instructor” as a practice of standards. It needs at minimum:

• A written code of conduct

• Anti‑discrimination policies

• A confidential reporting system

• Consequences that apply even to black belts and leaders

All of which are things I spoke about in my previous piece. that can be implemented already. I even break down what the IBJJF, the leading governing body for the sport, could do to help. While I specifically talked about abuse by coaches/instructors in that piece, it can still apply to issues warranting punishment due to abuse caused by bigotry.

This breaks the “hero worship” mentality practitioners which I, again, have talked about previously.

More Voices Need to be at the Table

It’s also important to note that, based off existing research, “Brazilian jiu‑jitsu” was often positioned as a “white” practice within Brazil’s racialized social structure.

One of the most powerful ways to push back is to diversify leadership both within your local setting and within the upper echelons of the sport:

• Promote and encourage the advancement of individuals from underrepresented and historically excluded groups into leadership roles within the IBJJF (and local federations). This includes athletese who identify as female, identify LGBTQIA+, those from lower-income communities, those who are indigenous, and other marginalized groups within our Amerocentric/Eurocentric societies.

• Offer reduced rates or even, if possible, scholarships for underrepresented students from your community. Something Guardian Gym has done a fantastic job of for example.

• Amplify the experiences of people who’ve faced discrimination. Make their experiences known, and clearly outline how and why this should not be tolerated. We’ve already seen practitioners leave academies after leaders made racist comments, showing people will vote with their feet when given the chance.

These are, again, all things that are readily and somewhat easily available to local gym networks, federations, and even the IBJFF and similar multinational organizations. We see this in our sister sport of judo as well. So it is possible to do, and yet those in the sport who have positions of power have not done so yet.

Remember, representation isn’t purely symbolic. It’s structural change from within.

Make Education Part of the Culture

Most students can tell you when to invert or how to finish a bow‑and‑arrow choke, but very few can explain the contextual social history that shaped the sport. At best we get a highly glorified revision of history that puts the Gracie family as the main characters when, in reality, they were a small part.

By offering opportunities to share relevant articles and encouraging healthy discussions, gyms help practitioners understand why bigotry sometimes surfaces and, somewhat more importantly, how to recognize it and address it before it grows into something unwieldy.

Build Safer Spaces

Not all harm is “bigotry,” but bigotry thrives in the same environments that allow other misconduct to go unchallenged. The numerous examples recently within the sport highlight how easy it is for students to be silenced or dismissed when power dynamics are abused.

However, this is again not difficult to prevent happening. Measures can include:

• Not allowing people to be pressured into rolling with someone they don’t want to.

• Normalizing “no thanks” as a complete answer and leaving it there.

• Clearly discouraging sexualized, bigoted, or -phobic comments and boundary-pushing behavior. Even if its argued to “just be in good fun.”

• Designating trusted, trained points of contact for reporting concerns.

The Power of the Community Both On and Off the Mats

Sometimes the most meaningful accountability comes not from gym owners, but from the community itself. Online discussion platforms (Reddit, Threads, etc.) have become places where members of the jiu jitsu community have called out racism, shared experiences, and even distanced themselves from previously admired instructors.

This is good, and it is important to maintain. It signals that more than just the victim of bigoted comments do not condone nor do they support it.

Collective action is often what forces real change and not through the benevolence of just one person who happens to be in charge.

One More Thing…

Saying, “don’t politicize the sport” or “don’t take it so seriously” or anything similar to anyone who is calling out bigotry is not being neutral. You are actively allowing bigotry to continue, and are punishing the person who does not want any bigotry present.

Telling a bigot to shut up or fuck off is not undue and unwarranted hatred. It’s saying you’re not OK with racist, sexist, (insert word)-phobic behavior.

Something you’re entirely entitled to call out, and are highly encouraged to do.

So first off, I need to apologize. I meant to have the Tap Cancer Out / Jiu Jitsu Charities episode of the podcast out already. However, a lot of stuff has been happening in my personal and professional life that’s caused a delay in that. I’m working on it but it will be a bit later than I would like.

However, today we are going to talk about a topic I think is worth discussing following the recent community effort to hold gym owners, coaches, and athletes accountable for abuse.

Allegations Against Andre Galvao

If you’re unaware, and I certainly envy you for not being in the thick of this stuff, in early 2026 world champion and Atos Jiu‑Jitsu co‑founder Andre Galvao was directly accused of sexual misconduct and grooming of a minor.

These allegations primarily were brought forward by Alexa Herse, an 18‑year‑old former Atos student who had trained under Galvao since she was a child. Herse provided a detailed statement alleging a six‑month long pattern of inappropriate and escalating behavior by Galvao during training sessions. According to her account, Galvao had been inappropriately touching her, making repeated sexualized comments about her body, and would insist he partner with her despite her attempts to train with other similarly sized athletes.

Herse further alleged that Galvao would regularly make sexualized moaning sounds in her ear when he was in top-mount position and, in one incident, licked her ear while positioned very close to her head. I think this is a good time to point out that Galvao is currently 43 years-old and has known Herse since she was 12 years-old.

Additionally, Herse has accused Galvao’s wife, Angelica Galvao, who is both a black belt and a primary figure in the Atos gym of pressuring Herse into silence. When Herse attempted to raise concerns internally, it is alleged that Angelica told her “if it’s wrong, you have to at least act like it’s right,” in what can only be described as an attempt at discouraging Herse from reporting the misconduct.

Following Herse’s accusations being made publicly, other women stated that they had similar experiences. In response, high‑profile Atos athletes publicly severed ties with the organization. The accusations triggered a broader crisis within Atos, leading the headquarters to announce the immediate removal of both Andre and Angelica Galvao from all leadership and operational roles pending a third‑party investigation. Certainly something an organization does when its founder and leadership are accused of such acts (note: this is sarcasm).

In response, Galvao has publicly denied all claims by calling them fake and that they stem from personal grudges and vendettas. Galvao claimed that Atos maintains constant monitoring and provides a safe environment. He also stated that legal action would be taken to defend his name.

As of writing, no criminal charges have been announced however law enforcement reports were claimed to be filed and both internal and external investigations into Galvao’s conduct are ongoing. This situation has, thankfully, raised urgent questions about safeguarding, coach–student power imbalances, and systemic failures within the sport’s organizational culture.

Duty of Care and Why It Matters

In short, Galvao as the coach and owner of Atos Jiu Jitsu violated key duty he was entrusted to uphold: duty of care. As an educational environment, jiu jitsu gyms are expected to uphold and maintain this key concept. At a structural level, duty of care is the bedrock of a safe learning environment. A standard that is typically expected to be upheld in all learning environments, especially ones that provide educational space to minors (though it equally applies to adults too).

Duty of care is commonly described as the obligation to take reasonable steps to protect students from foreseeable harm, a standard derived from tort principles and widely taught to educators as part of negligence awareness and safety practice. In plain terms, and in the context of martial arts, instructors must anticipate typical risks of training (on and off the mats) and act as a reasonably prudent professional would to minimize those risks for adult and youth athletes alike.

While athletics and sports are not a direct one-to-one comparison with a classroom learning environment at a school, education frameworks provide a clear lens for defining what care looks like in youth-serving environments. The U.S. Department of Education, when they’re not being picked apart by corrupt administrations, serves to centralize federal laws and civil-rights guidance aimed at ensuring safe, nondiscriminatory learning conditions. These frameworks set expectations for institutions to protect students’ welfare and provide avenues to report concerns. A quick reminder, the current U.S. administration wants to shut this department and this sort of service down.

In practice, duty of care translates into competent instruction, adequate supervision, safe facilities, risk management, and clear boundaries—elements emphasized in educator-facing safety guidance and professional standards widely used across not only the U.S. but the world.

In youth sport specifically, the U.S. Congress codified a higher bar through the Protecting Young Victims from Sexual Abuse and Safe Sport Authorization Act of 2017. The Act designates the U.S. Center for SafeSport, who are partnered with the International Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Federation, to set abuse-prevention standards, requires prompt reporting of suspected child abuse, and mandates reasonable procedures to limit one‑on‑one interactions between adults and minor athletes—concrete expressions of duty of care in athletic settings.

SafeSport’s Code and its Minor Athlete Abuse Prevention Policies (MAAPP) lay out these obligations for coaches and clubs by defining prohibited misconduct, education/training requirements, and boundaries in communications and in‑program contact.

A coach’s duty of care is not limited to preventing sexual harm; it extends to injury prevention and medically sound return‑to‑play decisions. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s materials for coaches highlight the expectation to foster a culture of safety, teach risk‑reducing techniques, enforce rules and sportsmanship, and respond appropriately to suspected concussions. Actions squarely within a coach’s duty to protect athletes from foreseeable harm. These resources reinforce that aggressive or unsafe coaching practices increase risk, and that prevention, recognition, and timely referral are part of responsible care.

Particularly for adult athletes, duty of care recognizes autonomy and informed consent while still imposing professional obligations on instructors to avoid reckless training, misuse of authority, or discriminatory treatment, consistent with broader (and sometimes federal) commitment to safe and equitable learning environments. Specifically speaking about the U.S. context, laws and SafeSport policy create heightened safeguards, including mandatory reporting, restricted one‑on‑one contact, and structured supervision measures that jiu jitsu programs can adopt wholesale to meet contemporary expectations.

In short, duty of care in the context of jiu jitsu means building systems that anticipate risk and prevent harm such as through competent age‑appropriate instruction, vigilant supervision, safe spaces and equipment, ethical boundaries in coach–athlete relationships, and transparent reporting pathways. These are not merely best practices; they reflect the standard of care educators and youth‑sport leaders are expected to uphold in the United States.

Similar systems have been established, institutionalized, and enacted in other nations as well. Meaning this is not just a “Only U.S. athletes need to concern themselves with this” and makes it a “everyone in the sport needs to know about these standards” situation.

This Already Exists in the Sport

Within the context of jiu jitsu, the IBJJF explicitly partners with the SafeSport and provides the opportunity for athletes, coaches, and affiliated members to complete SafeSport provided training covering mandatory reporting, sexual misconduct awareness, emotional and physical misconduct, and prevention strategies. In fact, prior to beginning my current stint as a kid’s coach I myself used these programs to ensure I was aware of the standards and policies. It’s also worth noting that as an IBJJF member, you are granted these courses cost-free as the expense is built into your membership.

Additionally, the IBJJF published Coach/Parent Code of Conduct outlines clear behavioral expectations for adults during competitions, including:

• Mandatory courtesy toward athletes, referees, parents, and staff

• Prohibition of inappropriate language, gestures, or aggressive behavior

• Required seated position during matches to limit escalation

• Restrictions on physical or verbal interference with officials
  These rules help prevent intimidation, emotional abuse, boundary violations, and power‑based misconduct.

For example, with young competitors in the Pee Wee and Mighty Mite divisions (aka the very young kids divisions) the IBJJF restricts access inside barricade areas at competitions to one approved adult. The Junior and Teen divisions simply do not allow coaches inside the barricade space to reduce pressure and potential misconduct. Now, how often this is enforced is ultimately up to the individuals working at the event but systemically it should be regularly enforced even though in practice that’s not always the case.

Similarly, judo has one of the most mature safeguarding frameworks in Olympic combat sports, providing a model for jiu jitsu to follow. The International Judo Federation’s (IJF) Safeguarding Policy defines harassment and abuse, outlines clear reporting pathways, and specifies investigation and disciplinary responses. It places strong emphasis in outlining what is deemed to be psychological, physical, sexual, and neglect‑based harm and establishes the duty to maintain a non‑violent, respectful environment on coaches.

As part of its Sport and Organisation Rules (SOR), the IJF has a dedicated section titled “Policy for Safeguarding Athletes and Other Participants from Harassment and Abuse,” placing safeguarding alongside other core governance elements such as anti‑doping and disciplinary systems. To fulfill this obligation, the IJF maintains a public Abuse and Harassment reporting portal, offering confidentiality, anonymity, and direct access to safeguarding officers. This mechanism helps ensure transparent, accessible reporting and reduces internal suppression of misconduct.

Furthermore, the IJF’s published policies include documents outlining background checks for officials, risk‑assessment procedures, media guidelines and portrayal‑of‑children rules, and mandatory safeguarding education across its continental and national bodies. These in turn help reinforce duty of care practices at every level of competition and administration within the sport.

This is all to say that across grappling, athlete safeguarding has transitioned from the lax and informal “gym culture” to tangible and enforceable codified and established standards.

However, unlike judo there is no single unifying body similar to the IJF or for jiu jitsu. At best, you have the likes of the IBJJF who, while responding to the allegations against Galvao, proscribed no punishment or rebuke of the conduct of a blackbelt they themselves certified under their structure. Meaning a person they were affiliated with, did not lose their affiliation in any meaningful and established way despite facing numerous sexual harassment allegations including that of alleged grooming of a minor. This is, in my own estimation, the sort of inaction that allows for abusive behavior to exist.

These Systems Need to Be Enforced

Duty of care is ultimately tested not by what a sport says in the wake of a slew of allegations or what it writes in its charter, but by who it empowers in practice. When organizations be it the IBJJF or individual coaches/athletes/gyms, through inaction or an unwillingness to proactively police their learning enviroment, allow coaches or high‑status athletes with credible allegations or established histories of misconduct to continue operating, affiliating, or receiving recognition, they do not create a safe environment. Flat out, they in turn create an environment where the victims are told: the status of the accused outweighs the safety of you the victim.

In late 2025, multiple women publicly alleged sexual assault and boundary violations by ADCC veteran Izaak Michell. He was subsequently removed from Gordon Ryan’s gym (Kingsway), which issued cautionary statements to the community. By January, Texas authorities listed him on a “most wanted” notice for a second‑degree sexual assault warrant and urged the public to provide information that would allow them to make an arrest.

Despite those developments, community posts and coverage documented Michell appearing, apparently welcomed or tolerated,in training environments in his home country (where he has not yet been extradited). That dynamic signaled to many women and minors that even serious allegations and an active warrant do not reliably trigger protective measures across the sport’s ecosystem.

For event organizers, gyms, and federations, the duty of care question should be simple: if credible allegations and an active warrant exist, why is any organization exposing athletes, especially minors, to that risk before an independent resolution?

Because jiu jitsu lacks consistent, centralized discipline, signals such as recognition, affiliation, blackbelt status, and seminar visibility carry enormous weight. When high‑status individuals accused of misconduct continue to operate with institutional tolerance, families often interpret this as indifference from the broader sport.

Conversely, interim safeguards such as event suspensions, removal from leadership roles, independent reporting portals are not prejudgments. They are standard risk controls used in many sports while investigations proceed.

Judo, for example, operates under the SafeSport Code and federal law, with a centralized disciplinary and transparency system. Individuals under investigation who pose risk can be temporarily suspended or declared ineligible, often with no‑contact directives. These mechanisms provide rapid, risk‑based protections and make “gym‑hopping” significantly harder—something that repeatedly endangers athletes within jiu jitsu.

This is precisely why jiu jitsu does not simply need a unifying body. What the sport actually, and truly, needs is the organizations that already hold de facto governing power, particularly the IBJJF, to act like one. The IBJJF has unmatched reach, authority, and influence: it sets the standards for rank certification, regulates competition eligibility, and shapes norms for gym affiliation. That makes it the only entity currently positioned to implement universal safeguarding standards, mandate compliance, and publish public sanctions.

In sports governed by the U.S. Center for SafeSport, centralized governing bodies maintain public disciplinary databases, issue interim suspensions, and prevent individuals found responsible—or credibly accused—of misconduct from quietly resurfacing in new environments. These systems show that athlete safety becomes real policy rather than a patchwork of community outrage.

The IBJJF has taken steps to partially meet these standards, like requiring SafeSport training and background checks for black belts seeking certification or renewal. However, the IBJJF has not implemented core protections considered basic in Olympic‑governed sports: cross‑organization bans, public sanction lists, or a transparent disciplinary process. Jiu jitsu may not be pursuing Olympic status, but its global scale and the vulnerability of minors within the sport create the same ethical obligations regardless.

Crucially, the IBJJF already exercises centralized authority when it chooses to. It bans athletes for doping, and while not every organization respects those bans, their very existence demonstrates the IBJJF’s capacity to enforce universal standards. This simply leaves me with the question: why does the IBJJF choose not to in cases of sexual abuse by coaches?

Simply put, Izaak Michell should be barred from participation, affiliation, or recognition across both IBJJF‑connected environments and non-IBJJF environments (eg. ADCC, WNO, UFC BJJ, etc.). He should be persona non grata at minimum until the sexual assault charges he is facing are resolved. Ideally, he’d be barred for life from any and all gyms and competitions. Similarly, at a minimum Andre Galvão should face suspension pending investigation. These are not punitive leaps, they are standard duty of care measures already available and carried out by the IBJJF as mentioned above.

For jiu jitsu to become a truly safe sport, its existing power structures—not hypothetical new ones—must adopt and enforce coherent, centralized safeguards. Athlete protection must not rely on community outrage or informal networks but operate as standing procedures automatically triggered when allegations arise.

Until the sport’s leading organizing bodies actually start enforcing these already established standards upon gyms, coaches, and athletes, we will simply see what Izaak Michell, Andre Galvao, Lloyd Irvin, Marcel Goncalves, Ricardo de la Riva (and many, many others) have allegedly done continue to repeat itself. Ultimately creating an unsafe environment for children, adults, and the sport itself to persist. Something I think nobody in their right mind wants.

Another year has come, and another year is now in the books. 2025 was, for the most part, a pretty active year for me both as a writer covering jiu jitsu, and my own participation in the sport. A goal of mine this year was to cover the sport a bit more, writing more not just the educational and training aspects but also the professional side of competition at the upper echelons.

To this end, I feel like I accomplished this goal and now, as has been the tradition of my writing, it’s time to share some personal thoughts, perspectives, and lessons I’ve learned during the year regarding this stupid hobby of aggressively hugging someone on the ground I love so much.

“Professional” Jiu Jitsu Barely Exists

I’m going to quote , who I write & podcast with over at , regarding how “professional” jiu jitsu is treated and viewed by the audience.

I think what’s going on with spectator graps is that you get places like reddit where there’s a circle jerk of people going OH MY GOD BJJ CAN BE THE BIGGEST THING IN THE WORLD and then when someone like One creates some belts and tries to market it, nobody watches except for the people from that reddit, where 95% of them pirate it.

In short, the whole idea of a professional competition scene for jiu jitsu is more or less, as Neal put it, held up by duct tape, spit, and a lot of hope. And even though people say they want it, they ultimately don’t care enough about it at the end of the day.

I don’t think any of the athletes are to blame for this, as the sport has some fantastic competitors and athletes who do their jobs very well. The real issue, as I see it, are the organizations who are meant to be putting on these events. At present we have UFC BJJ, ONE Championship, Who’s Number One, AIGA Global League, Polaris, BJJ Clubes, and probably a few more being the more notable, what I would call, Tier 1 organizations.

That’s cool, but there’s just one problem I genuinely have with this. None of them really seem to know how to make me invested in watching.

ONE has put together some cool matches, but their grappling is an after thought of the after thought that is their MMA division. Meaning, they barely care about it.

AIGA Global League is inconsistent with its information available in English but has done a decent job making their content available easily.

Polaris has done a good job at putting together decent events, but they’re typically only UK centered competitors because they can’t compete with the deep pockets of the UFC or WNO.

Speaking of WNO, they still seem to think that Gordon Ryan and his crew of tail riders are THE people the sport needs to focus on, rather than say finding a variety of stars. Also adding to it, I just hate FloSports’ trying to swindle money from people by tricking them into buying a year long subscription on FloGrappling because they hid the monthly option available on other FloSports sign up portals (FloRugby etc), despite it all being interlinked so having a FloCheerleading subscription also entitles me to FloGrappling content. So fuck them for that alone.

BJJ Clubes is neat as it’s a more dedicated team sport and also features the gi unlike the other organizations. However, it also faces the Polaris problem but focused around Brazil athletes only.

Oh and the mentioned UFC BJJ is not all that great either. Excusing the rather bland production value, and the fact its only on YouTube, it’s hard to ever know when they’re on because even the UFC barely puts much effort into marketing it, despite having the UFC to promote it through. But there’s also the fact that they allegedly stole the format from CJI, allegedly have been artificially boosting their viewer numbers to avoid how embarrassingly low their views are, and how nobody at their organization seems to know how to market anything about their athletes to get viewers invested. That last one is a UFC/TKO wide issue and not uniquely a flaw of UFC BJJ.

So, in short, none of these organizations seem to be doing the whole “running a proper professional organization” very well at all. I don’t think “professional” jiu jitsu exists given its current form. Sure there’s money floating around but the actual professionalism in terms of organization, athlete behavior (which I didn’t get into but holy shit can the ‘pro athletes’ please stop putting out insanely bigoted shit for five minutes?), and so on are sub par. Professional esports, which has its own organizational issues as a venture, is better ran and also brings in better money than professional jiu jitsu. And I’m not saying this because I recently was watching professional StarCraft on Korean TV while on vacation, but that thought did come up while doing so.

Craig Jones is Saving “Professional” Jiu Jitsu

Of all the people involved in the “pro” scene for jiu jitsu, I think it’s safe to say the only person actively organizing to make things better ran is Craig Jones.

Two years ago he bucked the misconception that a more streamlined, well paid, and athlete (rather than organizer) focused event was not possible. Doing so right at the same time as the ADCC World Championships, often assumed to be the height of those very things, for good measure as well.

This year CJI 2 did well in continuing that, though it did stumble at times during the production but in general it was still a better product overall and more professionally ran. While the ending match did lead to some “controversy” that was mostly fueled by a terminally online dude who also has had issues with Craig Jones and the B-Team guys ever since the Danaher Death Squad broke up. So that’s a big block of salt you have to account for.

When I said Craig is saving “professional" jiu jitsu, it’s mostly because he’s calling out the shoddy and unprofessional antics of the people involved. He was instrumental in boosting the awareness of the dodgy UFC BJJ viewership numbers, he had a debate with Mikey Musumeci covering professionalism as well as re-investment back into the jiu jitsu community (which the UFC seems to not bother with), and has actively pushed for better pay for the athletes since they are ultimately what is making people want to tune in. Not a bald wife beater who is chumming it up with a tech guy whose company, at best, accidentally allowed for a genocide to be orchestrated on their platform that also suppresses information regarding another genocide occurring. I’ll take the dude who makes jokes about doing cocaine over that personally.

Craig is, self-admittedly, rough around the edges as a personality. However its hard to deny he isn’t actively trying to push athletes and organizations towards a more professional structure as a whole. With a promise of CJI 3 occurring in 2026, it’s at least good to know there is one person who understands the value that professional athletes should be held to, and actively is pushing for the industry as a whole to move there.

This is all not including the fact he has been active in calling out horrendous behavior by athletes directly and taking aim at those who are active in sweeping that stuff under the carpet.

So yes, Craig is probably the lone guy trying to fix the professional aspect of this sport. A task that I would best describe as a sisyphean.

My Interest in the Pro Scene However..

This is all a round about way of talking about how my interest in the professional scene has waned over the past twelve months.

I spoke a lot about how I generally prefer team oriented competitions like CJI 2, Quintet, Polaris Squads, and BJJ Clubes. There’s something more holistic in the story telling of the competition that they provide that individual competitions don’t necessarily hit for me.

Throughout this year I put a lot of effort towards highlighting those events and only focusing on them. And for the most part they were quite entertaining. However, going back to that quote by Neal, that’s all it really amounted to from my end as a writer. A lot of hype, good matches, but then no follow through. In baseball or football, we get the next match the next week. In jiu jitsu the next match may take three to four months depending on the organizer’s schedule not matching with the athlete’s. Which is a bit…disheartening? Irritating?

I think the athletes generally due deserve their due to make money doing the sport, but as mentioned the professional organizations are sporadically active which makes it frustrating. Followed by the fact the stakes for each competition are not always clear or apparently other than “wants to win this one” which, again, sort of is on the organizer to do a better job at selling.

Which is a long round about way of saying that for 2026 my coverage of the “professional” scene will be zero. I’m simply not enjoying doing the write ups and coverage of the upcoming events compared to simply training and thinking about the meta stuff related to the hobby of grappling. I won’t shy away from talking about competition related topics, and do plan to put some pieces out covering my perspective on that subject, but I don’t think the stuff you see in my write up for Quintet will returning any time soon.

Global Grappling Day 2025

Finally in 2025 my long overdue participation in the Tap Cancer Out Global Grappling Day occurred. If you weren’t privy to some of the posts I made about it, it is in short a marathon style event where you are meant to raise money for Tap Cancer Out, a 501(c) charity in the USA, who help fund raise and provide funding support for a slew of cancer charities and support organizations.

This year I was able to raise $505 USD with the goal being a modest $400 USD. To save a long winded write up, I just want to say this whole event made me feel…fulfilled as a person. I really am happy that we were able to raise the funds we did, and also the support I received from training partners, friends, and family really helped me feel less cynical about things.

As promised there will be an episode of the Punchsport Pagoda podcast soon with a few of the other members to talk about this event as well as the need for more community oriented social causes and similar activities within jiu jitsu itself. It may take a bit due to the holidays but we will be getting that out as soon as we can.

Final Thoughts

This year was, in general, a fantastic year for me personally, professionally, and in terms of writing here and I am very much appreciative of everyone who has been involved with all of it. It just ruled.

Here’s to the new year.

If you’ve noticed, I’ve been a bit quiet the past month or so in terms of output. That’s because I was off traveling in South Korea seeing new sites (and old), training with old (and new) training partners, and just letting my internal battery get a recharge. I really needed it to be honest.

Travel is often seen as a way to escape one’s own routines, a way to reset our emotions, and what I personally see as the most important aspect; simply experience and enjoy what this planet of ours has to offer.

The opportunity to travel as well as train jiu jitsu while abroad has been afforded to me on more than one occasion and so for today’s piece I figured I’d talk about training in South Korea, a place I called home for the better part of a decade.

This won’t be a “go train at this gym” kind of guide as, personally, I don’t think I’ve really been to any gym that really was too difficult to adapt to or participate in. Aside of course from the old “we only really have white belts here, maybe try this gym instead” sort of situations, and that has only ever happened once in about 10 years of training while traveling.

I’ll more so be going over some important info like the basic state of jiu jitsu in Korea, some basic Korean words and phrases to help out with training, and what I think are some notable cultural etiquette differences between Korean gyms versus ones in western countries.

Some Background on Jiu Jitsu in Korea

I don’t think it will come as any surprise that South Korea has a deep-rooted martial arts heritage. Traditionally the Koreans practiced Taekwondo and Hapkido though obviously in terms of “real fighting” those are not as useful. While jiu jitsu originated in Japan then Brazil, its philosophy of continuous learning and humility is pretty closely aligned with the cultural norms within Korean society, which is often pointed out for having a heavy emphasis on harmony and self-improvement.

In recent years, jiu jitsu has gained a ridiculous amount of traction on the peninsula. This growth reflects a broader trend of global martial arts exchange, especially concerning grappling as a sport, but also the fact that Korea is becoming more and more of a meeting point between cultures and societies. I mean look at the absolute success of entertainment coming out of Korea, and you get the gist of what I mean. Korea is becoming quite integrated into the global consciousness both as a participant and a trendsetter.

For expats looking to train and travel, this means that the barrier to entry is quite low compared to where it was just a decade ago. There are, and this is not really hyperbole, gyms in pretty much every other neighborhood in the main urban centers within the country. In terms of the general view of jiu jitsu, the sport has has become widely adopted, even making its way onto major TV networks to discuss, demonstrate, and promote the sport.

As an example, here’s noted Korean MC and megastar Yoo JaeSuk interviewing John Frankl, who is basically THE person who brought in, and set up jiu jitsu training in the country. Which is an entirely different story that I will get to at a later date.

If that’s not enough, then here’s a few random assortments of Korean celebrities trying out the sport on their nationally broadcasted TV shows.

So it’s safe to say that the a good portion of Koreans, in a generalized sense, have seen, embraced, and really become hooked onto jiu jitsu as a sport, a hobby, and as an athletic venue for competition.

As a bonus, and coincidentally happening while I was in the country, the tournament to determine the members of the Korean National Competition Team (the ones who will go on to compete in the Asian Games and be official representatives of the country) was held and and broadcasted on MBC+ in the country. And they’re all available on YouTube in a handy playlist as well as the Women’s finals being in their own video:

So with that primer out of the way, let’s take a look at some useful Korean phrases and words you can learn real quick to help yourself out while training.

Etiquette at Korean Gyms

Note: This is not a catch-all “every Korean and Korean gym does this” section. It’s more so what I’ve personally observed and noted as being defining differences in how Korean gyms operate versus western gyms and things to be mindful of as a visitor.

In general, most cultural differences in how Korean gyms operate versus those in the US/Australia/Europe is not very different. You show up, bow when you get to the mats, don’t be a jerk, and then shake hands and say goodbye as you leave.

However, I think there are some parts of this that are worth highlighting and pointing out as it’s always good to have some information ahead of time to keep in mind.

Basic Etiquette

As mentioned, most gyms in Korea will be understanding and OK with any cultural differences as, after all, you are a non-local so the cultural norms won’t be so strictly applied to you.

However there are some behaviors that are worth abiding to.

First, doing a short and quick bow as you enter the gym (typically towards the head coach) is pretty much how everyone enters. It’s a simple thing and can help show you’re at least trying to follow what other Koreans are doing. I’m not talking doing a deep long bow, just a simple headbob type of bow will be more than enough.

Hygiene

Another thing that’s worth pointing out is that Korea is a place that values good hygiene. This is pretty much the norm across the board and you may already be aware of that. I’m talking taking your jacket off and putting it in a cubby while at a restaurant so it doesn’t get the smell of the food on it, and then also using a Febreeze spray on yourself after the meal. Which makes sense in a “why do I want to smell bad to other people?” kind of way.

When talking about jiu jitsu gyms, it’s equally applied.

First, it shouldn’t be a surprise you will need to take your shoes off before entering the gym. This is normal and typically everyone’s shoes are just left at the front entrance in a sort of chaotic Tetris like organization. There may or may not be slippers you toss on if you need to go use the bathroom (which can be inside the gym or even outside the gym near the stairwell).

One important thing to be mindful of is that, typically, there is a decent emphasis on taking a shower prior to training, as well as after training, though some gyms may not have the facilities for this but that’s rarely been the case. This can be done provided you arrive early enough and a simple rinse and cleaning of any outdoor smells or gunk you may have gotten onto yourself is mostly what this entails. Mostly this is meant to help with any odor or hygiene related stuff you may bring in and is more so done for the benefit of your training partners in addition to your own personal hygiene. If you’re coming straight from an office job, it’s less of a concern but use good judgement of your own body odor to determine if you need to take a quick 2 minute rinse.

Adding to this, clean, odorless gis are pretty much the norm. Meaning, while you may need to hang your gis on a drying rack, using a deodorizing spray is advised (which you can grab at any grocery store or go with nicer smelling odors at places like Olive Young). Also, Korean gyms have in my experienced tended to be a bit stricter about using the same gi for multiple classes in a night. Meaning if you’re going to train let’s say two or three classes, don’t be surprised if you’re asked to change your gi and rashguard as you’ll be pretty sweaty and the like.

Another thing to keep in mind is that in Korea it’s very uncommon and sometimes seen as inappropriate to train without a rashguard on if you’re a guy. At competitions, this isn’t an issue but at a gym for training it’s recommended you wear a rashguard and also do not expose your bare chest outside of the locker room area. Korea is still a somewhat conservative country in this regard, as well as other public displays that may or may not cause issues and so its just best to err on the side of caution and cover up.

Finally in regards to hygiene, the normal etiquette regarding long hair and fingernail grooming applies like in the US/Australia/Europe. Excessive hair products or strong fragrances can be off putting and so making sure your hair is free of that sort of stuff is recommended.

Locker Rooms and Communal Areas

Most gyms in Korea provide locker rooms that have communal showers (sometimes without dividers). So that may be a bit of a shock at first but it’s never been too much of an issue in general.

Additionally, as these are communal areas its highly important to be orderly and not make a mess or leave your belongings strung out. Most gyms have cubbie holes with baskets to toss your stuff in and as is the norm in Korea nobody will really touch your belongings.

Class and Training Etiquette

Normally during training, there is very little talking. Especially when the coach is giving the instruction. This is normal for Korean educational settings as in their context, talking out of turn or when not directly called upon is seen as disrespectful. So don’t be surprised if people don’t talk much during the training as compared to your own home gym.

Furthermore, people may or may not talk much during your individual drilling or rolling but that can also vary depending on the person, their English skills, etc. so that’s a bit hit or miss and hard to give much further details on. It’s one of those “you’ll know when or when not to talk to someone during rolling” kind of things you just figure out on your own.

In this regard, the “laid back” gym culture that comes with a jiu jitsu gym may seem to be missing, but its still there under the surface. You just gotta…go with the flow and you’ll figure out gradually.

Learn Some Korean

So now that the etiquette stuff is out of the way we can shift to an equally important, and probably far more challenging, topic: speaking Korean.

The first thing to know is that in Korea while English is a mandatory language to learn, not everyone speaks it readily or comprehensively at a high level. There’s many reasons for it but keep in mind that the English availability is more likely to be found in Seoul and Busan than other areas of the country. So while those areas are great to visit, if you end up visiting other regions (which is highly recommended because Seoul & Busan are very much crowded cities), you may struggle to find a gym with someone with a high level of English.

That doesn’t mean it won’t happen. I went to a tournament in a smaller city called Miryang in Gyeonsangnamdo and my opponent spoke better English than anyone else at my gym (which was in a larger city near a university) which was definitely not what I expected.

Anyway, that’s why learning some Korean is useful just to at least communicate basic ideas or thoughts. Training wise, you won’t really need to know much if you just watch what the coach is doing because, well, jiu jitsu is a fundamentally universal concept regardless of language you speak natively.

Another thing to keep in mind is that Korean can be a tricky language to learn at first but there are two key things to remember:

1. Sentence structure is Subject-Object-Verb (eg. I Apple Eat) rather than Subject-Verb-Object (eg. I Eat The Apple) like in English or other European languages.

2. The language and writing is very much phonetic, meaning if you can read the alphabet below (with a useful guide linked here) then you can read out a phrase pretty easily and quickly. Granted you may not understand the response but it can help explain basic phrases like “I don’t speak Korean” pretty easily.

Key Jiu Jitsu Words

Body Parts

And this should, for the most part, get you sorted. There are plenty of also useful translation apps that can help but while training you should be fine language wise as people tend to be quiet or not speak too much. That said, if they do, just tell them you don’t speak Korean and they will, if they’re confident, try to speak to you in English.

Regarding language translation apps I personally recommend the following:

Papago by Naver: This is much better than Google Translate, owing to the fact more Koreans tend to use Korean company apps than Google thanks to various laws and policies we won’t get into from about 20+ years ago.

Samsung phones also have built in translation tools now which are mostly OK but keep in mind they aren’t so great at the regional dialects of Korean compared to the Seoul dialect (which is what most foreigners learn).

As for the technique names, there’s a big overlap of using English terminology rather than unique Korean terminology (which happens more in judo but that’s also in part due to the resistance to Japanese occupation etc. which is a discussion for another time).

Parting Thoughts

While this isn’t a very in-depth or highly detailed guide, and there are plenty of YouTube channels who specialize in those aspects, it should be enough to get you started with training in Korea.

As a place to train, South Korea is a really welcoming and awesome place to go visit. The people who train jiu jitsu and run gyms are typically very open to having visitors, especially those from overseas, and the opportunities to train there are hard to turn down.

Hey all,

We just wanted to put this last minute reminder out there that we are in our final hours of fundraising for Tap Cancer Out as part of the Global Grappling Day.

You can send any donations you want to our team page found here: https://wecan.tapcancerout.org/grapplerswin

Any donation you make is greatly appreciated and once we’ve had a little bit of time to recover we will be putting out a special episode of the Punchsport Pagoda podcast to have a group chat about why we participated, what it means to us both as a group and individually, and what our personal thoughts are on the whole idea of rolling for an hour nonstop.

For more info on the Tap Cancer Out Global Grappling Day 2025 event here’s a handy video.

Thanks!

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 7 FROM RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL
BROADCAST: UFC Fight Pass
STARTS: 7pm EST (US)

Once again, I must report that a team format season is ending and I am only just now aware of it. This is mostly because the event is on UFC Fight Pass which I forget exists because the UFC also seem to forget it does and doesn’t ever seem to create marketing that reaches me in any form.

BJJ Clubes, headed up by Andre Pederneiras (who also oversees Shooto Brazil & is also known for his coaching in MMA), is what I’ve consistently described as the likely ideal structure for a team jiu jitsu competition. Each team, or club, sends seven of their athletes out to each competition. Each athlete competes in their specific weight class and you win the team match by having more wins against your opponent. It’s the same set up as AIGA Global League, International Judo Federation’s mixed teams, and a standard wrestling duals.

Having had a successful eight team tournament in 2024, BJJ Clubes aimed to expand and have a 16 team format for this year’s season. That, unfortunately, did not come to fruition and so 2025 saw a return to the eight team bracket. The 2025 tournament included the following teams:

• Alliance

• Gracie Barra

• Nova Uniao

• GF Team

• Infight

• Almeida Jiu Jitsu

• Double Five Jiu Jitsu

• Ataque Duplo

So, with the grand final just around the corner we should probably do a quick recap of what went down in the Quarter and Semi-Finals.

2025 Tournament

Quarter-Finals: Alliance vs Ataque Duplo

Starting the first match of the season via a DQ loss because your athlete missed weight is a somewhat embarrassing start for Alliance, who are widely known as one of the most dominant jiu jitsu teams globally. It then got much worse as Alliance then dropped the next two matches via decision losses, meaning they were down 0-3 early in the night.

However, Vinicius Martins, Leonardo Ferreira and Amanda Hening rallied the team back with three decisive wins making it an even 3-3 score going into the seventh and final match.

This, however, would be where Alliance fell short was Harryson Pereira was able to keep a 3-0 lead in his match against Marcus Ribeiro sealing Ataque Duplo’s victory and slot in the semi-finals.

Ataque Duplo wins 4-3.

Quarter-Finals: GF Team vs Almeida Jiu Jitsu

The next quarterfinal match saw GF Team take on Almeida Jiu Jitsu. Winning the first three matches in a row, GF Team looked to be in a comfortable lead at 3-0.

Almeida Jiu Jitsu were able to begin their own rally and closed the distance with three wins of their own making it another sudden death situation going into the seventh and final bout.

GF Team’s Victor Honorio narrowly took the win with a single point scored, securing GF Team’s position in the semi-finals, albeit narrowly.

GF Team wins 4-3.

Quarter-Finals: Gracie Barra vs Infight

The second half of the quarter-final took place with Gracie Barra facing off against Infight in September. This was a very close contest as both teams traded two wins each in the opening bouts, but Gracie Barra’s Keven Sousa and Natacha Ribeiro put together a pair of wins securing the team’s slot in the semifinals. However, Infight’s Anderson Kauan did earn Infight the final win in the team match.

Gracie Barra wins 4-3.

Quarter-Finals: Nova Uniao vs Double Five Jiu Jitsu

The final quarter-final match was very much a one-sided afair as Nova Uniao dominated Double Five from the start by winning three bouts in a row and almost secured themselves the lone sweep of the tournament. However, Eduardo Avelar’s decision win kept Double Five’s hopes alive going into the sixth match.

With Double Five hoping to start their comeback, Nova Uniao’s William Dias spoiled their rally by earning NU’s fourth win to set them up for the semifinals. In the remaining two matches, Double Five did avoid a completely lopsided loss when Roberto Ribeiro won his bout, putting the team at just two wins, though NU’s Henrique Betta had the honors of closing off the quarter-finals with a win for his team in return.

Nova Uniao wins, 5-2.

Semi-Finals: GF Team vs Ataque Duplo

So, with the quarter-finals out of the way the next month BJJ Clubes held the semi-finals. Quickly into the first team match, GF Team scored three wins setting themselves up for a potential sweep. However, Ataque Duplo’s Gabriel Galvao snuck his way in and kept his team alive with a 7-1 win over Joao Venturi. This opened the way for his teammate Manoel Porto to also get a win over Jhonathan Pessanha putting the match at 3-2.

AD’s hopes were crushed as Gisele Menezes dominated Simone Abreu in a 7-0 win, meaning GF Team were bound for the finals.

To close things off, the final match saw AD’s Harryson Pereira get a win that was ultimately too little too late.

GF Team wins, 4-3.

Semi-Finals: Gracie Barra vs Nova Uniao

The second semi-final match saw Nova Uniao take on Gracie Barra, both of whom put on impressive wins in the quarter-finals. As one would expect, this match started off fairly even as the two teams traded wins in the opening two bouts.

NU started to gain distance on GB when Victor Nithael and Luan Carvalho took a submission and decision victory each. Keven Dias was able to keep the distance tight as he scored a 4-0 win over NU’s Will Dias putting GB just one win behind NU. This however led to Yara Soares, one of NU’s standouts, having her match agains Natacha Ribeiro which resulted in an armbar win for Soares, meaning NU won the match with the necessary 4 bout wins secured. The match closed off with another NU win with Henrique Betta getting the nod from the judges.

Nova Uniao wins, 5-2.

Finals: GF Team vs Nova Uniao

The stage is set for a high-stakes clash as Nova União and GFTeam collide once again in a finals situation. These two teams have had a very active and competitive rivalry over the years and it is somewhat fitting they are facing off in the finals of the 2025 tournament.

Nova União, long celebrated for its technical precision and fluid guard work, has dominated this year’s tournament with commanding performances, including their decisive win over Gracie Barra in the semifinals. Known for their relentless pressure passive, GF Team clawed their way through the tournament and demonstrated why their team is so well known for their grit.

Nova União and GFTeam have met countless times, often producing highly competitive matches. Historically, Nova União has leaned on its deep roster and strategic control, while GFTeam thrives on aggression and pace, forcing opponents into scrambles where they excel. However, given their performances over the tournament, it’s hard not to favor a win for Nova Uniao.

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 1 FROM POOLE LIGHTHOUSE, POOLE, UK
BROADCAST: UFC Fight Pass
STARTS: 3pm GMT

Polaris have done an amazing job at being consistently present in the jiu jitsu competition space, putting on events that are well produced, have good match making, and are making it spectator friendly. Which is why this is, again, the final major grappling event of the year for me.

With two title fights and the finals of the Squads World Tournament on the docket, Polaris 34 looks to end 2025 on a strong finish.

Main Event: Vacant No Gi Women’s Featherweight Championship - Helena Crevar vs Sula-Mae Loewenthal

The first meeting between Crevar and Loewenthal took place earlier this year at Polaris 32 during the Women’s Squads event, which again I should have covered but didn’t pay attention enough. During their bout Loewenthal secured a decision win in a short, high-intensity round. Loewenthal surprised Crevar by immediately leaping past her guard into mount, threatening multiple submissions and maintaining dominant control for most of the brief round. Crevar eventually escaped and began attacking the legs, but the round ended before she could fully capitalize. Which is important since nobody has been able to put Crevar in as bad of a position during a match other than Lowenthal, which is very much worth noting.

Crevar is widely recognized for her technical precision, positional control, and submission-oriented guard game. As a black belt under John Danaher she has developed a methodical style that blends strategic leg attacks with dominant front headlock sequences to great success. She has very quickly become a dominant name in women’s grappling.

Meanwhile, Loewenthal brings a contrasting style to the matchup, characterized by explosive transitions, aggressive positional play, and a high-pressure top game. Loewenthal has built her reputation on relentless pace and dynamic entries into dominant positions like mount and back control. Her win at the ADCC Asia & Oceania Trials in 2024 showcased her ability to perform under pressure and adapt to elite competition. Typically her approach often involves overwhelming opponents early, using fast guard passes and submission threats to control the tempo.

While I’m a fan of Loewenthal’s style, it’s hard not to pick Crevar to win. I want to be wrong though.

Co-Main Event: No Gi Women’s Bantamweight Championship - Ffion Davies (c) vs Margot Ciccarelli

Ffion Davies is one of the most aggressive guard passing, powerful top control, and well-rounded submission grapplers not only in the women’s divisions, but also in general. She became the first European woman to win ADCC gold in 2022 and has held the Polaris Flyweight title since its inception in 2019. This match also marks her final appearance for the promotion before transitioning to UFC BJJ. *sigh*

Davies and Ciccarelli have faced each other twice before in the gi, with Davies securing wins in each encounter. Since then, Ciccarelli has significantly evolved her approach and has shifted heavily into the no-gi rule set. Their most recent meeting was at the 2022 IBJJF Pan Championship, where Davies’ positional control proved decisive. While Davies has more no-gi experience, Ciccarelli made a strong impression earlier this year by winning five consecutive matches at the all-female Squads event, earning her this title shot.

Which is not surprising given Ciccarelli’s career. In the gi, she emphasizes lapel usage, berimbolo variations, crab rides, and leg drags. Her move to no-gi has also been quite fruitful with a win at the ADCC European Trials in 2024 capping off her achievements. I really like Ciccarelli as a competitor. She’s competitive and does not give up even if she’s on the back foot. Toughness is a great character quality, but it doesn’t always mean you’ll take home the “W”. Ffion keeps the belt, then bails for the UFC’s “illustrious” league. She’ll be out of there as soon as her contract ends after realizing what she is worth to them.

Squads World Tournament Finals - Team Europe vs Team Asia & Oceania

The first proper Squads World Tournament is coming to an end and we have found ourselves with two regions in the Grand Final that, most people, would argue are not the true hotbed of grappling. At least not consistently. Europe has always produced exciting talent, but their ceiling was never quite that high. The same can be said for Asia & Oceania. However, in the past handful of years that has started to shift and now we see both regions putting some amazing competitors in front of us, bucking the trend that grappling is a sport dominated by the Americas.

At the end of the night, only one team will be declared the best team in the world under the Squads format. And, hopefully, we’ll see another tournament next year and so on because this has been pretty fun to watch (and catch up on) so far.

Team Europe

I will continue to chastise myself for missing the first half of the Polaris Squads World Tournament. Earlier in the year, Team Europe faced off against Team North America in which the ever dangerous Mateusz Szczecinski was able to score several submission wins over the 90-minute team match, while Jozef Chen, Eoghan O’Flanagan, and Santeri Lilius scoring a handful of submissions and more consistently taking decision wins in their bouts. Despite strong resistance from North America, Team Europe’s depth of talent just easily overwhelmed their opponents and they took home a pretty strong 14-9 victory. Not bad for Eurotrash.

Owen Jones
A rising star in Europe, Jones has become known for his technical precision and creative guard work. He made headlines by winning the ADCC European Trials as a purple belt, showing he’s more than capable of competing at a high level. Jones has been seen training with groups like B-Team in the USA, and has also been featured on previous Polaris and AIGA events. These performances have helped cement his reputation as one of the most active and promising stars coming out of Europe.

Mateusz Szczecinski
The current Polaris welterweight champion is not a bad dude to have on your team. Hailing from Poland, Szczecinski has made a name for himself with devastating leglocks and a high submission rate, including standout showings at ADCC and Polaris. He has an aggressive style and ability to finish from pretty much most positions he can find himself in. Good shit.

Eoghan O’Flanagan
O’Flanagan gained a boat load of recognition with his breakout performance at the 2022 ADCC World Championships with wins over Alexandre Ribeiro and Mason Fowler en route to a fourth-place finish. Since then he hasn’t been as much of a focal point, but he has continued to compete at the highest level typically in the UK with Polaris.

Jozef Chen
We all know Jozef Chen by now. Widely regarded as one of the most technical young athletes in the sport, he has been consistently competing at a high level. At CJI 2 he Giancarlo Bodoni to a draw, which is pretty good to do against an ADCC medalist. We can sit here all day talking about Jozef, but I mean…it’s Jozef. He’s just good, even if he lost.

Taylor Pearman
Pearman was last seen at CJI 2 where he did a good job and even scored a submission victory over Giancarlo Bodoni (who claimed he never tapped even though we all saw it on air clear as day). Pearman also dominated the 2024 ADCC European Trials, submitting all six opponents in the under 88kg division, a feat that highlighted his aggressive and clinical finishing ability. Pearman has also competed successfully in events like Grapplefest and Polaris, where his relentless pace and submission hunting have earned him a loyal following. He is most assuredly a big threat for Team Europe to have in their roster.

Santeri Lilius
Lilius is a Finnish black belt with years of experience competing across Europe and internationally. A two-time ADCC European Trials winner, Lilius has built a reputation for his well-rounded game and calm, methodical approach to high-pressure matches. He also been present on prior Polaris cards, consistently putting on strong showings.

Team Asia & Oceania

The first half of Team Asia & Oceania vs Team South America was pretty good, if a bit lopsided in Team Asia & Oceania’s favor. By half time they were up 8-5 and I had pretty much convinced myself that the margin will stay that wide. Then, annoyingly, Team South America rallied in the second half and nearly took home the W but were just two points shy of reaching the finals. With a 15-14 victory, this puts Team Asia & Oceania at a bit of a disadvantage as comparatively speaking, Team Europe sailed on into the finals while the gang from the Eastern hemisphere had to desperately hang on to a lead they steadily shrank.

We all know who is on the team thanks to my Polaris 33 preview but let’s take a quick recap.

Lucas Kanard
Polaris 33 was pretty interesting given that, early on, Lucas appeared to have gotten a pretty bad cut on his eyebrow and then he just kind of kept competing and took out three Team South America members on his own, ultimately finishing the event 4-2. While he may be criticized for being a bit too keen to sit on bottom and enter the legs, it’s hard to deny that he isn’t more than capable of winning with that approach.

Mohammad Avtarhanov
Shortly before Polaris 33, Kit Dale was reported as injured and was replaced by the relatively unknown Mohammad Avtarhanov. Having most notably beaten Jacob “JayRod” Rodriguez at Polaris 29 in a controversial decision win, Avtarhanov has mostly flown under the radar until recently, mostly appearing in Polaris events. At Polaris 33 he did a solid job filling in for Dale and scored wins over Samuel Nagai and Jorge Gabriel, finishing the night 2-2.

Igor Tanabe
“Fat Ninja” had some great moments versus Team South America, including a very slick sequence taking him from guard to a John Wayne sweep to an armbar finish on Romao Carvalho. He went 2-2 for the night which was not as great as I would have assumed he could go, but scoring submission finishes helped keep Team Asia & Oceania up on the scoreboard. Which is kind of all that matters I guess. Still though, check out this finishing sequence.

Hejraat Rashid
Despite being a relative unknown, Rashid did not take long to show why he is someone worth keeping an eye on. While he ultimately only went 1-1 for the night, he also scored a submission win over Carvalho (rear-naked choke) helping put Team Asia and Oceania ahead with some much needed extra points gained via submission finishes. This however was also negated when he lost right after to an armbar put on him by Gabriel Sousa. Still though, fun guy to watch and definitely game.

Tommy Yip
At Polaris 33, it simply was not Yip’s night. Going 0-2, which hopefully he has been able to figure out how to avoid happening this time. Despite the poor performance, Yip is stilly a very talented and game competitor and he now has another chance to show that off. Hopefully.

Oliver Taza
Kenta is Kenta, and Kenta is good. Unfortunately, we do not get to have Kenta. Instead we have Taza, which works because of the alliteration. Taza is now Kenta. This is canon. Jokes aside, Oliver Taza is legit and a fantastic replacement for Kenta on the team. Putting the Western Asia (aka Middle East) in Team Asia & Oceania, Taza has been around and has consistently performed well. As a pro he has podiumed at ADCC US Trials, took second in the 170lb EBI Tournament in 2022, took silver at the IBJJF European Open (No-Gi), and also taken home a few IBJJF No-Gi championships recently. He’s also been pretty active in AIGA when it comes to team formats as well.

Given the format and the team rosters, this is a finals I am looking forward to. Team Asia & Oceania have some really technical grapplers who have competed at some of the highest levels in the sport. However, the same can be said for Team Europe who, arguably, have better individual performances in high level competition along with their experience in team formats. With that in mind I think Team Asia & Oceania may not have enough, so congrats, your 2025 Squads World Tournament Championship are Team Europe.

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 23 FROM COCA-COLA ARENA, DUBAI, UAE
BROADCAST: UFC Fight Pass
STARTS: 7:30pm GMT+4

I think it’s safe to say that 2025 has been a very active year in terms of hosting team base grappling events. Polaris Squads, CJI 2, and Quintet have all been active and able to showcase not only grappling as a sport, but how it can be iterated upon in new and varying ways beyond single one-on-one competition.

It is also safe to say that I am a big fan of this.

Quintet was, ultimately, what got us so hooked on the idea of a “king of the mat” style grappling competition that just “works” as a spectator friendly one as well.

Kazushi Sakuraba really nailed it out of the park on this idea, and the fact he’s put on twelve of these things (5 numbered events, and 7 Quintet Fight Nights) helps sell that it is, after all, something people are willing to pay money to watch.

The most recent Quintet was two years ago in Japan. In fact, it’s not really going to be surprising to hear that only two Quintet events took place outside of Sakuraba’s home country.

This time though, the Quintet banner will be unfurled in the Coca-Cola Arena in Dubai, UAE. Boy, this sure seems to be a new thing that is happening in sports. So many marquee names across a wide variety of sporting events all seem to be heading to the Middle East. But, let’s put a pin in that thought for the moment.

I am incredibly excited for Quintet to return. CJI 2 was…good. But there were several hiccups with it overall. Not many submissions, not really clear who was up on their points system, Renato Laranja (a character played by “comedian” Rhasaan Orange) making jokes about people having down syndrome and also for being sexually abused as a kid, and that final drama with who actually won the damn thing.

There is something I appreciate about how simple and not overly complicated the events Sakuraba has put on are. They’re sleek, simple, and elegant. I want more of that. So thanks to whoever was bankrolling the events in Japan for getting them started.

With this weekend, Quintet.5 is due to take place and features a sort of theme; PRIDE Never Die. And, that too, I am happy to see.

For their first show in the Middle East, Sakuraba reached out to former foe Renzo Gracie, former fellow PRIDE superstar Antonio Rodrigo Noguiera, and fellow enthusiast of participating in freakshow fights Bob Sapp to head up the other teams. It would be cruel to make these 50+ year old men have to fight for our pleasure. How dare you think that when you heard those names.

We will be respectable adults and enjoy watching them risk a heart attack by screaming instructions and gesticulating wildly from the sidelines.

With Quintet.5’s bracket released, we can start to speculate on who will take home the tournament prize.

Team Saku Japan vs Team Renzo Gracie

Well it’s pretty clear they did not want to risk NOT having another Sakuraba vs Gracie match, huh?

Kazushi Sakuraba has beaten so many Gracies in MMA that the family may have generational trauma. Given where this is being held and the state of MMA adjacent sporting events being funded by Sheikhs in the Middle East, it’s not really surprising either. I mean, when the WWE went to Saudi Arabia for their special royal rumble event, the Saudis in charge thought they could get Yokozuna to appear. Entirely unaware he had passed away. So, I mean, I guess it’s just a given that these sort of events are partially there for a random money man to go “I want to see X again.”

At least Renzo and Sakuraba aren’t actually fighting this time at the ripe old age of 58 and 56 respectively. At least, I hope they’re not expecting them to compete.

Team Saku Japan

Coach: Kazushi Sakuraba

Led by the legendary Kazushi Sakuraba, Team Saku Japan blends a mix of the old and new era of Japan’s grappling. Haisam Rida and Daisuke Nakamura are back with Team Sakuraba for another Quintet and have been consistently featured on Sakuraba’s team. Joining them are Taisei Sakuraba, Kazushi’s now adult son, and new additions with Sousuke Oshima and Igor “Fat Ninja” Tanabe filling out the rest of the team.

Haisam Rida
Ghana’s own Haisam Rida has been a regular fixture in the Quintet competitions and easily stands out given he is a giant of a man. His competition record is equally impressive with appearances and victories at the IBJJF American Nationals, Pan No-Gi Championships, and ADCC World Championships. He gained fame at Quintet 2 and shocked the grappling world by submitting Roberto “Cyborg” Abreu at ADCC 2022. His explosive and dynamic style is a staple of his aggression game.

Daisuke Nakamura
A veteran of PRIDE, DREAM, Strikeforce, and Rizin, Nakamura is a former DEEP Lightweight Champion with over 60 MMA fights. He’s renowned for his flying submissions and has competed in multiple Quintet events alongside Sakuraba and Rida. His style is flashy, aggressive, and rooted in shoot wrestling, making him an entertaining grappler.

Taisei Sakuraba
Son of Kazushi Sakuraba, Taisei has competed on previous Quintet events and even made his MMA debut in 2024 with a TKO win. He also, recently, competed at Rizin against Daisuke Nakamura, whom he is now on a team with. Japan combat sports is a beautifully convoluted space. Though early in his career, Taisei shows promise with a well-rounded base in judo and striking. Also the fact he is a Sakuraba and training under his dad’s tutelage helps make him very much a threat.

Sousuke Oshima
At just 17, Oshima is a purple belt promoted by Masakazu Imanari. And I’m pretty sure I saw him at Imanari’s gym when I visited last year but the photo is a tad blurry. He’s competed often and medaled consistently both domestically and abroad. Coming from Imanari’s gym, Oshima is obviously a leg lock specialist with a modern submission game. His youth, technical precision, and mentorship under Imanari make him a dangerous wildcard.

Igor Tanabe
Igor is back for another team based event after competing at Polaris the other week where he put on a stellar performance. Not much else to say other than that Tanabe is a submission machine.

Team Renzo Gracie

Coach: Renzo Gracie

As part of the “Pride Never Die” theme that Quintet 5 is using, it makes sense that Renzo Gracie was reached out to and asked to toss a team together. Team Renzo Gracie enters with a blend of legacy, elite technique, and raw submission power. Under the guidance of Renzo Gracie the team showcases the deep lineage of Gracie Jiu-Jitsu fused with modern grappling.

Talison Soares
The 2022 IBJJF World Champion, the 2019 No-Gi World Champion, and a multi-time Pan and European Open winner, Soares has dominated the roosterweight division for years and is considered one of the most successful colored belts in BJJ history. He really likes to use his pressure passing coupled with his positional control to dominate opponents from the start to the end of the match and is a terror no matter how large of a size difference he’s dealing with.

Delson Heleno
Heleno is an old head, and by that I mean he competed in the IFL, back when that was a thing, for Renzo’s New York Pitbulls. That alone should tell you how far back he goes. A powerful grappler, Heleno brings dynamic movement and a high degree of “old-school toughness.”

Neiman Gracie
Last time I saw Neiman he was competing in the PFL getting beaten up by Russian fighters. Before that it was in Bellator where, again, he got dominated pretty heavily by wrestlers. In terms of grappling though, Neiman is no slouch. He excels in back control and classical submissions like the rear-naked choke and armbar. However, given he is a Gracie and this is no longer the late 1990s, while he has good fundamentals it may not be on par with his peers in the competition.

Diego Freire
One of the top ranked competitors in Brazil and South America in the Abu Dhabi Jiu Jitsu Pro tour. Freire is a pressure-based grappler with a solid foundation in positional control. His experience in the AJP circuit gives him a strategic edge in point-based and submission-only formats.

Anderson Wesiley
A long time competitor in American Grappling Federation events in the Ultra Heavyweight division, Wesiley is still a developing talent who brings a lot of size and strength to Team Renzo Gracie. He has shown a strong ability to control space and absorb pressure to wear down opponents and create openings for submissions.

Semi-Final Match

Between the two teams, I think its fair to say that this match will have more “unknowns” than “knowns” present. We don’t really know much about two of Team Saku Japan, given they’re very young athletes who aren’t as well tested in international competitions as their other teammates. However, the same can be said for, well, most of Team Renzo Gracie. Most of the competitors aren’t as active in the upper tiers of grappling, at least for the major organizations. If you had to ask me who I think takes it, it will probably mostly come down to how long Haisam Rida and Igor Tanabe can stay on the mat and get the better of Team Renzo Gracie. Which is why, once again, Sakuraba will collect another Gracie scalp for his collection. Team Saku Japan wins this and heads to the finals.

TEAM NOGUIERA DUBAI VS TEAM BANGTAO THAILAND

I legitimately did not remember if Big Nog and Bob Sapp ever fought in PRIDE and had to look that up. And then I found this snippet from Big Nog’s Wikipedia page:

The fight soon became a brutal exhibition of technical skill against raw strength, as mere seconds into the match, Sapp would stop Nogueira’s first takedown attempt with a sound piledriver which almost ended the fight. The same outcome repeated itself several times, with Nogueira taking several powerbombs and heavy punches every time his huge antagonist managed to power out of his submission attempts. At the end, however, Sapp’s stamina started to falter, allowing a very worn out Nogueira to mount him and finally submit him with an armbar.

And then I thought to myself that this basically describes pretty much the majority of Bob Sapp’s matches and that’s probably why I forgot they ever fought.

Team Noguiera Dubai

Coach: “Big Nog” Antonio Rodrigo Noguiera

There is, typically, always one team at each Quintet who for some reason or another are just a weird mix of people who ultimately cannot put on much of a performance. Oddly, that’s usually Sakuraba’s team but for Quintet.5 I think it’s probably going to be Team Noguiera Dubai, and that’s in spite of the fact they have some decent competitors on the roster.

Abdelraaouf Mido
An Egyptian MMA fighter who has recently has moved into being more focused on professional grappling. Mido has been mostly seen in events like ADXC and Battle Jiu-Jitsu in the Middle East. Mido has an aggressive style with a lot of his submission wins being from guillotines. Beyond that, you’re looking at a relatively fresh face in the broader international scene.

Nikolay Vetrov
Having a Russian on your team is never a bad idea. Especially if you’re in the UAE, because apparently there are tons of Russians hanging out there these days. Vetrov has made a name for himself in the AJP tour, and has gotten in the upper ranks of the European and Russian grappling scene in both gi and no-gi divisions. Earlier this year he took gold at the Abu Dhabi Grappling World Championship in the -75kg division, so he’s no slouch.

Pouya Rahmani
As an Iranian heavyweight based in Dubai, Rahmani has been active in the AJP tour and ADXC as well. Hmm, I’m noticing a pattern here. Anyway, he has also been active internationally and has even faced off against, arguably, the best heavyweight in the world in Kaynan Duarte. That’s not too shabby for Team Nog.

Thiago Sá
A seasoned competitor, and also the head coach at Team Noguiera Dubai, Sá has been active in IBJJF competitions for a long time and reached the podium at the European Open, Brazilian Nationals, and the Las Vegas Open. He, amongst all his teammates, the most distinguished career in both gi and no gi competitions. Making him the biggest threat on the team.

Zelimkhan Kasaev
Ranked among the top athletes in Russia and Europe, Kasaev has earned recognition for his performances in no-gi divisions on the AJP Tour, showcasing a dynamic and technical style that reflects his high-level training and competitive experience across international platforms.

Team BangTao Thailand

Coach: Bob Sapp

Oh come on this is not even fair.

Alex Schild
A protege of Josh Hinger, Schild is a seasoned competitor based out of the actual BangTao camp in Thailand. In fact, I think he may be an owner of the gym or is at least one of the head instructors which makes Bob Sapp being in charge even weirder. Schild has been seen in previous Quintet events, as well as ONE Championship. So he’s not stranger to high level competition.

Dong Hyun Kim
I think we all know who “Stung Gun” Kim is. Since retiring he’s been steadily working as a TV star in South Korea and running his gym in Seoul. He is by my estimation arguably the “weakest” grappler on this team and he is still pretty damned good thanks to his tenure in MMA. That’s how lopsided this team is.

Lucas Barbosa
Like I said, how is this fair.

PJ Barch
It would not be a proper Quintet event without someone from 10th Planet present and so we have PJ Barch. Having reached the podium at the 2024 ADCC World Championships, he probably has the “highest” accomplishment out of everyone at Quintet.5. Again, lopsided.

Kemoy Anderson
Another 10th Planet guy. Anderson has steadily been building a reputation in the USA and is starting to become recognized as a rising face. With strong showings at Subversiv, Submission Underground, and Third Coast Grappling he’s established himself as a really solid competitor who will likely be a handful for most of the other teams.

Semi-Final Match

I think it would be insane to assume Team Noguiera Dubai will take this when you have PJ Barch, Lucas Barbosa, Alex Schild and even an aged Dong Hyun Kim on a single team. Team BangTao Thailand wins despite being paired with Bob Sapp.

So with them facing Team Saku Japan in the finals, I still think its a pretty clear that Team BangTao Thailand will take home the trophy.

I will also accept the absolute hilarity of being entirely wrong on both the semi-finals results.

The Giant Camel Shaped Camel in the Room

Earlier I made reference to why this event is being held in Dubai. I think it’s pretty obvious; sportswashing. I don’t want to believe it either, but with the way sports organizations are incredibly willing to jump into bed with questionable business partners who can front a shit load of cash it’s not too hard to connect dots together.

Look, at the end of the day it’s probably likely this is all being funded by some sketchy money man who has some questionable links to some horrific events we will only hear about outside of mainstream news outlets. I mean, it’s not really a surprise why the UFC enjoys going to Dubai and coincidentally also a wanted war criminal is in attendance.

And that’s hard to come to terms with to a degree. I want to watch Quintet 5, I love it as a competition. However, this adds a bit of a stink to the whole process. Which, given the history of combat sports says something.

In my opinion Kazushi Sakuraba, of all people I can name from his era, probably deserves a giant payday thanks to his career and for being an active driving force for at least expanding what type of sport grappling is with the formation of Quintet. These are two things he, individually, did that I applaud and support.

I just don’t want this to be another case of sportswashing. I just would like him not to be paid in any money tainted in blood, which again is shockingly not uncommon in sports media these days.

I have tried several times writing a closing to this point I’m trying to make, but I just can’t sum up my feelings in an effective way. I think the incredibly talented Katie Nolan said it best when discussing the sportswashing conducted by Saudi Arabia.

A while back, a social media post by Jeff Glover (a formerly “well known” grappler) made its way across my timeline. He was whining about how black belts used to be meaningful and now they are worthless because people he thinks aren’t “real black belts” are being promoted.

This is, frankly, a stupid argument to believe in but given Glover’s long history of saying dumb things, along with being a racist bigot, I’m not entirely surprised. You may ask “why do people bother to listen to him?” Well, it has to do with the color of belt he wears around his waist. In a future post I’ll come back to this specific topic of the supposed “devaluing” of the black belt. However, this post does help segue into a specific discussion I want to make about the “mythologizing” of the black belt itself as well as those who hold it.

As anyone can tell you, few symbols in martial arts carry as much reverence as a black belt does. It’s a symbol showing that person’s knowledge and skill in a martial art. In jiu jitsu it is the culmination of what often is a decade of consistent training and immersion into the grappling community.

But, as jiu jitsu has grown from a relatively niche martial art into a globally practiced sport, the way people see a black belt has, in ways, taken on a mythic quality that oozes off of the mats and enters into the social fabric that a gym is typically built with. Gyms then become a place where black belts are treated not just as experts in a sport, but as de facto leaders of a social group. Their status as a black belt grants them, by those who mythologize them, a place of authority on topics far beyond the scope of grappling. They are crowned as an expert on topics that have mostly centered around politics, gender relations, economics, ethics, and even philosophy. The means in which we understand and manage our society.

This is a dangerous fallacy to fall into, and it ultimately leads to harmful, toxic results within the sport. Which is, ultimately, thanks to a widespread epistemic error: the assumption that technical skill in one area of expertise makes you an expert in other areas.

Let me be clear, the problem is not that there are black belts who have opinions on things. That’s, actually, quite normal and everyone is entitled to their own opinion. The problem is that their opinions are treated as inherently more valid, simply because of that colored belt or rash guard they wear. This, in turn, creates a dangerous feedback loop, where charisma and technical skill reinforce each other, and dissent is silenced. This has been talked about by various people in sports in general, and about a decade ago Ryan Hall penned this very well crafted open letter about hero worship in jiu jitsu that is worth rereading.

Today, I want to continue that discussion.

Fallacy of Authority

To start, I think it’s worth first clarifying what exact fallacy is happening here. Like I said, the fallacy of authority is when someone is believed to be a credible speaker on a topic simply because they hold some expertise in another, typically unrelated field. Here’s a quick and good example, a commercial comes on the TV and it claims that that particular brand says it is the best meal because Michael Jordan himself says that he has it every day. In that scenario, Michael Jordan’s status as an NBA legend is the authority that you’re assuming means he can’t be wrong about that cereal.

In martial arts, this is rampant. A jiu jitsu black belt is, in a very simplified way, just an expert in using grappling on someone. That’s it. They are not, and it somewhat irritates me to feel the need to say this out loud, an expert in politics, sociology, or economics. Unless they, legitimately, are thanks to their education or work. But their experience and knowledge in that field is what makes them an expert. I’m going to listen to Josh Hinger talk about jiu jitsu and economics, since those are his jam. I would of course double check the things he is saying and also would say I don’t think he’s necessarily someone to solely rely upon for information on, say, vaccine science. And yet, again it irritates me to have to say this, there are those who treat black belts as if their opinions on these topics are inherently more valid than others’. This even extends to fans, as you can see displayed in the MMA community. But we’ll get to that example later.

This conversation we’re having about all of this is not new. In fact, there has been enough research on this situation that there is even a fancy word for it. It’s called epistemic trespassing and it is quite dangerous, especially because the kind of person who ends up in this situation will oftentimes be unable to distinguish between legitimate expertise and misplaced confidence. It’s that latter one that is the culprit. When a jiu jitsu athlete who is of notoriety or even simply someone with a black belt speaks on politics or gender issues or whatever, their audience may mistakenly assume they have authority on the matter, when in reality none exists at all.

Some researchers have argued that a degree of intellectual humility requires recognizing the limits of one’s expertise. Yet, in the culture of martial arts, the opposite of this is considered the ideal. There is a belief that mastery of the body results in mastery of the mind. Which is a literal trope.

This conflation leads to a dangerous dynamic where someone’s own charisma and technical skill are mistaken for being well read and an expert on a topic.

Those Damned Gracies

This mythologizing of black belts has deep roots in the foundational history of jiu jitsu as a sport. We all know how the Gracie family took credit for “creating” jiu jitsu after they rebranded the judo techniques they were taught. The way they told it, they created it themselves from scratch and it was for a long time sacrilegious in the wider jiu jitsu community to talk about how they got the ideas from judo. They also used their status within the sport to convince people they were credibly skilled in other fields.

Helio Gracie was, on top of being a jiu jitsu practitioner, also involved in Brazilian politics in the 1930s. And if you know anything about politics in the 1930s in countries like Brazil at the time, then you won’t be surprised he was tied to fascist political movements. Which, given the stuff the Gracies have allegedly gotten up to, isn’t all that surprising. In the 1930s, Helio and his brothers were convicted for violently ambushing a catch wrestler, but received a pardon allegedly due to their political connections. A working relationship between right-wing thugs and law enforcement that proudly lives on today.

This incident highlights the political entanglements at the heart of jiu jitsu’s origin story. The Gracies, a family that really works hard at marketing themselves at all opportunities, made themselves seem as though they were superior beings—physically, morally, and intellectually. Again, a thing they really like to still do even in the 2020s. We all mostly know the general story, the Gracie clan would go around to various gyms in Rio de Janeiro and challenge people to a fight or sometimes just show up with a gang and demand a fight (read: start a brawl) right then and there.

When they were doing actual matches for money, or whatever the prize would be, their challenge matches and self-promotion created a narrative that Gracie Jiu Jitsu was not just a martial art, but a superior philosophy for life. This narrative persists today, holy God does it persist, with many black belts adopting the role of life coaches, spiritual guides, and political commentators. Again, we’ll get to that last one later.

The phrase “keep politics out of jiu jitsu” is often heard in gyms, but as the genuine great ambassador of the sport Stephan Kesting has repeatedly, and accurately, stated that jiu jitsu has never been apolitical. The very founding of how the sport started in Brazil and the manner in which Maeda taught the Gracies judo was a result of numerous political acts and choices. The sport of jiu jitsu is steeped in political violence, elitism, and ideological manipulation. To ignore this history is to simply live in an alternate reality. One, it seems people are rushing to relocate themselves in.

Personality > Morality

The cult of personality is a powerful force in martial arts. It is not uncommon for charismatic black belts in the competition circuit to gain celebrity status. This is basically how it works. The problem really is that along the way of becoming a notable name or person to listen to, people mistake the athletic skills of the person as justification to treat their words as gospel.

This is especially pronounced in MMA and boxing, where fighters like convicted rapist Conor McGregor and the Nazi admirer Bryce Mitchell have built entire personas around their ability to speak authoritatively on any topic thanks to their status as an athlete.

In jiu jitsu John Danaher is looked up to not just because of their technical knowledge, but for their philosophical musings. Danaher is a former philosophy grad and was doing that long before he was seen as an amazing coach in jiu jitsu. Yet, Danaher’s showing up on holocaust denier Jake Shields’ podcast, who has a history of maxing and promoting right wing extremist views, makes me question the limits Danaher’s intellectual thinking has.

We saw this when Joe Rogan spread numerous hoaxes, conspiracy theories, and outright lies on topics he has literally no expertise in. On top of consistently not really showing that deep of knowledge of jiu jitsu as the UFC broadcast likes to make you think.

We saw this when Bryce Mitchell talked about how Adolf Hitler was a “good guy” he wouldn’t mind going fishing with, and that schools turn kids gay, which is why he’ll be the sole arbiter of his children’s homeschooling.

We saw this when Jake Shields repeatedly used homophobic and transphobic slurs and repeated promoted holocaust denial talking points.

We saw this when Roberto “Cyborg” Abreu, Vagner Rocha, and their respective gym networks allowed Marcel Goncalves, a fellow black belt and coach, to continue to associate with and be employed by them for three years despite the fact Goncalves was arrested for sexually assaulting a minor. Abreu didn’t even bother to speak to the victim for three years until the wider jiu jitsu community was made aware of the assault (thanks to former ADCC organizer Mo Jassim).

And that’s just a quick list off the top of my head, and keeps happening both with notable celebrities, but even in local contexts.

Blind Obedience

Blind obedience to black belts can have serious consequences. It is what enables abuse. It leads to silencing any and all dissent or pushback. It perpetuates harmful ideologies. In recent years, the jiu jitsu community has grappled with scandals involving all of these things, which all come from a culture of unquestioning respect.

When students are taught to obey rather than question, they become vulnerable to manipulation. This mythologizing of the black belt creates a power imbalance that can be exploited by people who are capable of abusing others. This is not a hypothetical situation or a theoretical concern, it is a very real and lived reality for many people not just within jiu jitsu but within our overall society.

This elevated position of moral authority can distort public discourse. When athletes speak on complex issues without expertise, they can spread misinformation and reinforce harmful stereotypes. Which we have seen in real-time over and over again. The result is a community that values charisma over competence, and obedience over critical thinking.

What Are We To Do?

Look, the black belt is a significant symbol. It represents years of hard work, discipline, and mastery. But it is not a license to speak on every topic, nor is it a mark of moral or intellectual superiority. This idolizing of a black belt should be dismantled, and replaced with a more nuanced understanding of expertise and authority.

As the saying goes, true education is about the liberty to think critically and discuss openly—not domination of thought. In martial arts, this means creating spaces where students can feel free to speak freely and challenge authority figures’ views without repercussions. It means recognizing that a black belt is a beginning, not an end.

The jiu jitsu community really should be embracing a culture of critical thinking. Something that the likes of Joe Rogan and company all profess but in practice stifle. This can be done by supporting the separating of technical skill from moral authority. A black belt should be respected for their grappling ability, not their opinions on unrelated topics. You, know, sort of common sense stuff?

At the end of the day, this is a larger issue that exists in our society but is still avoidable with enough thought and care put in. And ultimately, that’s what I personally would like to see more of. I want to see more people criticizing the harmful rhetoric that figureheads in jiu jitsu and beyond are putting out there. We are starting to see that, which is a good sign the community is starting to get better as self policing. So let’s keep that going.

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2025 FROM YOUR GYM
STARTS: ANY TIME YOU CHOOSE ON THE DAY

It is that time of year again and Tap Cancer Out is once again calling for all grapplers to participate in the Global Grappling Day. A day where, everyone participating, is expected to roll for one hour as a way to help raise money for those who are dealing with cancer.

Personally, I first learned about Tap Cancer Out (TCO) in 2019 when a family member was diagnosed (and later passed away due to complications). At the time, I was on the other side of the planet and didn’t really know what I could do other than send supportive messages and make as many regular phone calls I could until I was able to travel back home and see them. So I bought some jiu jitsu equipment from the TCO site which helps them run more charity tournaments and events in local areas, like those in my home state in the USA. TCO are a great organization and over the years I’ve quietly been a supportive and a fan of theirs.

Which is why I wanted to bring to your attention the Tap Cancer Out Global Grappling Day fundraiser myself and the rest of the crew here on Fight Island are going to be participating in.

What is Global Grappling Day?

Global Grappling Day is an annual event organized by Tap Cancer Out, a jiu-jitsu based 501(c)(3) nonprofit raising awareness and funds for cancer fighting organizations on behalf of the grappling community. It is, in essence, a day of giving and awareness where any grappler participating is meant to roll for one hour in honor and support of those who are facing cancer.

It is a fundraising event where anyone, anywhere in the world can participate to help raise money for a slew of beneficiaries partnered with TCO. All it takes is some time to raise the donations, and to roll for an hour. Pretty easy to do and it ultimately can help those who may need support.

Global Grappling Day Beneficiaries

The list of beneficiaries that TCO have partnered with has steadily grown over time and this year you can see it’s a solid collection of some reputable organizations. As expected, this has also led to a steady growth in funding that TCO has helped raised for them over time and it’s gotten to the point where we are talking in the millions of dollars being raised and committed.

Which, honestly, is really fucking cool and kind of a much needed breath of encouragement and positivity I think we could all do with at the moment. I say that because let’s be honest, 2025 has been a kind of a downer of a year across the board.

While all the charities are primarily focused around those in the United States, donations are accepted from overseas but may incur some additional costs for processing. It’s not a big issue, but something I think is worth pointing out for any of our non-US readers who may want to donate.

Team Punchsport Pagoda

As part of this event, myself and the rest of the gang at Punchsport Pagoda podcast over on as well as our many friends and family members, have put together a team page.

Our goal is a modest $1,000 USD to raise collectively to benefit Tap Cancer Out and their partners this year. You can find our donation pages below, and we would be incredibly grateful if you donated even a few dollars to help us raise money for this event.

My donation page:

https://wecan.tapcancerout.org/grapplerswin

Punchsport Pagoda’s page:

https://wecan.tapcancerout.org/psp

Additionally, this year I will be attempting to record the full one hour session I’ll be doing and uploading that to also help raise awareness. I am also aiming to have a joint conversation with some of the other folks from our crew about the event, what it means to us, and how we can keep supporting important causes like this and other charities in the grappling community.

So if you could help us meet our fundraising goal, that’d be awesome and (again) greatly appreciated.

Thanks, and much love.

Eric

Last time I went over key concepts when creating a curriculum and how to be mindful about managing it. Today we'll be focusing our efforts on understanding how to do an analysis on the learner group we want to teach. Specifically on how we can improve the way we design instruction around jiu jitsu specific techniques. Like last time, this is less of a “how to make a curriculum” as that’s a simple and easy thing you can replicate, however understanding how and why various components of a curriculum design work the way they do is arguably far more important.

And that’s what I’ll be trying to educate you on today. So as with the previous episode today’s discussion is focusing on curriculum, learning theory, and practical strategies that can make a real difference in a jiu jitsu program’s design.

This analysis today will be justifying and proposing learning strategies using a taxonomical analysis with the goal to enhance alignment between intended, enacted, and experienced curriculum, those three key components I discussed last time. We'll be using the topic of a double leg takedown technique as the contextual framing for this discussion.

After this discussion on the intended curriculum and taxonomical analysis, it will be followed by analysis of the learner group characteristics, concluding with justification of an instructional strategies based on this analysis.

Background

So let’s first start with the foundation. The Alliance Kids Jiu Jitsu program which I discussed last time was part of the Alliance Korea curriculum. It was created to give kids under 14 the skills and knowledge they need to train and compete in jiu jitsu. It’s a structured curriculum made up of core topics, broken into modules, with techniques branching off from each one. What’s great is that it doesn’t just rely on repetition—it uses both formative and summative assessments to track progress. These assessments happen in live and semi-realistic sparring, which gives instructors a clear view of how each child is developing and where they might need support.

So to begin we should first have a discussion on the intended curriculum of teaching a double leg takedown. This elected topic of a double leg takedown technique can be categorized as a localized curriculum. While learning jiu jitsu as a whole can be considered centralized learning due to its holistic nature, the process of leaning an individual technique would fall under localized learning. This is because it involves specific steps, positioning, and education utilizing a specific skill set to do so.

It is important to note that while this technique is a localized learning component, it still contributes to the overall understanding for jiu jitsu as a centralized learning endeavor. Proficiency in localized skills ultimately contributes to a broader competency of jiu jitsu. The instructional design of the intended curriculum is one that is heavily controlled with evidence of learners’ progress and learning outcomes monitored.

To determine a taxonomical analysis, consideration of the goals of the learning must be taken into account. The learner’s goal is to not only learn the process of the technique but to practically apply it in realistic context. It has been argued by researchers that breaking the goals into steps allows for the components of the goal to be identified which in turn can then be classified using a taxonomy model. In the context of this jiu jitsu technique, it is requisite for a learner to be able to remember and understand the components of the technique as well as be able to assess when to apply it.

Additionally, understanding the value such a technique provides to their overall jiu jitsu development on top of being open to guidance and feedback on their execution of the technique is necessary. Finally, developing the necessary motor skills and skilled movements to execute the technique is required to properly learn its usage.

So, it becomes clear these requirements for learning fall within what Bloom and his co-researchers identified as the domains of learning; cognitive (knowledge), affective (attitude & behavior) and psychomotor (skills). Therefore, it leads to the determination that Bloom’s taxonomy is best suited for this form of learning.

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Bloom’s Taxonomy

Bloom’s taxonomy helps provide a hierarchal structure for organizing and sequencing learning objectives and instructional activities. As the instruction moves from an initial introduction of concepts, it becomes increasingly more complex. The procedure is to utilize grips, body positioning, leverage, and timing to then cause the opposing person to become off balance and be forced onto the ground. With regards to the taxonomy’s cognitive domain, learners acquire knowledge and understanding of the technique. They first remember the steps and key elements associated such as the initial setup, footwork, and control of the opponent. Next they are trained to understand the principles and mechanics behind the techniques usage allowing them to grasp the effectiveness of its use in various situations. Later, as they apply the technique in controlled practice drills, the learners develop proficiency in executing it.

Moving to the psychomotor domain of the taxonomy, which can best be explained as the process where learners progress from imitation to manipulation, precision, and articulation. In the context of jiu jitsu, they observe and imitate the movements as shown by the instructor carefully studying the footwork, body positioning and timing. After consistent practice, they manipulate their own bodies to execute the technique with fluidity and control. It is crucial for attention to detail to occur so as to achieve precision, ensuring that each aspect of the technique is performed correctly. As they gain proficiency, learners then articulate their skills by seamlessly integrating the technique into live training and sparring sessions. Through this repetition and refinement, the development of muscle memory and the ability to execute the technique instinctively is attained.

The affective domain also plays a vital role in the learning process. At the receiving level, learners recognize the importance and relevance of the technique as it applies to jiu jitsu. They understand that mastering the technique is essential for gaining advantageous positions and control of opponents. Responding to the techniques involves displaying a willingness to learn and practice and being receptive of the application. Additionally, they learn to value the strategic use of the technique within the context of jiu jitsu. As such, they then are able to recognize its potential benefits towards setting up submissions, securing dominant positions, or controlling where the jiu jitsu match is taking place. As they develop this, they are then able to organize and integrate the technique into their overall game plan, thus showing understanding when and how to effectively apply it. Characterization can occur when the learners are able to execute the technique with consideration of their training partners’ safety and well-being, thus embodying sportsmanship. Bloom’s taxonomy promotes a balanced and holistic approach to learning, fostering both knowledge acquisition and skill development with regards to this jiu jitsu technique.

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Knowing the learner group

By using the selected taxonomy, there is a need for analysis to be done on the intended learner group in order for it to be effectively used. Researchers in education have argued that knowing learning characteristics with respects to instructional design is necessary as it will help shape the design of the goal outcomes within the intended curriculum. Hence, employing the framework analysis of the four components, namely cognitive characteristics, physiological characteristics, affective characteristics, and social characteristics, is considered a more suitable approach for selecting strategies in the intended curriculum, as opposed to relying on the similarities-differences framework.

As there is no entry requirement for learners to participate in the Alliance Kids Jiu Jitsu program, we can identify the learner group as learners who are children who have at minimum zero prior knowledge within the contexts of jiu jitsu. However, it is possible for some learners to hold prior knowledge that can apply to the technique and its learning process such as experiences in similar sports like wrestling, judo, or even gymnastics. There are methods for an instructor to attain that knowledge and determine the relevance to the context of jiu jitsu. This is done through non-verbal communication through the display of different jiu jitsu belt rankings. Under the International Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Federation’s guidelines there are belt stripes and belt colors to indicate an individual’s experience and knowledge within jiu jitsu . Additionally, information sheets are used as part of the enrollment process along with a direct interview and discussion between the child’s parent(s) and the head instructor so as to determine the goals of the parent and learner as well as assess their suitability for the program. The information gained from this can help the instructor identify age, as well as interpret any cultural or gender differences among the individual students based off the personal details provided.

In addition, it should be noted that there are learning preferences which an individual learner would choose if they were given a choice. As jiu jitsu is a subject that focuses heavily on physical movements, the Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) is most applicable of a system to consider. NLP situates around the learner favoring visual, auditory, or kinesthetic forms of learning. Visual learners, as implied by the name, prefer to learn by seeing through visual observation. Auditory learners prefer to learn through instruction and lectures on this selected topic. Kinesthetic learners prefer to learn through doing the targeting objectives. Each of these apply to the context of jiu jitsu as an instructor is able to give visual, auditory and kinesthetic learning opportunities throughout the course of learning session. Visual instruction is provided through demonstrations, while auditory instruction is provided in conjunction with this to elaborate key concepts and details. Finally, kinesthetic learning is afforded through practice time for drilling and realistic application via sparring sessions. Understanding these learning preferences can better serve towards

Furthermore, research has emphasized the importance of learner analysis as a fundamental step in instructional design. They noted that cognitive characteristics play a significant role in the learning process and that assessing the capabilities and previous knowledge of the learner is essential. When applied to a jiu jitsu program it is important to consider their understanding of basic concepts related to jiu jitsu and their ability to grasp new techniques. In order to identify these characteristics, instructors can use verbal communication to determine and interpret comprehension of the topic of focus.

By identifying these cognitive differences, the instructor can adjust the content, pacing and complexity to ensure optimal learning. Physiological characteristics were also noted as a key characteristic to consider. Children participating in this jiu jitsu program vary in terms of age, size, strength, coordination, and agility. This information of the learner group can be attained through observation of the individual learners by the instructor. It’s important to assess these characteristics as these factors influence their physical capabilities and limitations when performing the technique of focus.

Considering the physical development of each child and adapting the approach accordingly is necessary as well as modifications to accommodate such physiological differences. Affective characteristics are best defined as those that encompass emotional and motivational aspects of learning. When applying this to a kids’ jiu jitsu setting, a child’s interest, enthusiasm, and self-confidence in learning a specific technique can play a significant role in ensuring the learning outcome. It is possible to identify these characteristics through observation of the learner’s demeanor and behavior as well as through direct communication. Finally, social characteristics are also significant within this learner group. Social dynamics occur naturally among children, as well as in the instructor-student relationship.

As such, peer interactions and group dynamics can impact motivation and participation on top of skill development. Much like affective characteristics, social characteristics can be identified through observation and communication with the learner. Additionally it is not uncommon for children to sign up for jiu jitsu programs alongside their friends, so identifying this in the communication with parents prior to enrolment would aid in determining this.

This learner analysis highlights that the learners are children with diverse experiences, meaning that the learning activities can be aimed towards how to employ these different experiences to share among the other learners so that the learning is more diverse. With regards to inclusivity, the intended curriculum is designed to cater to all learner groups, regardless of any variances in cultural or socioeconomic background. This is seen through the non-restrictive requirements employed in the jiu jitsu gym on these factors. The only form of discrimination in assignment of class time based off age group indicated on the gym schedule. Therefore it is not necessary to focus on any specific culture groups as jiu jitsu is a multicultural sport practiced across a diversity of nations.

Instructional strategies

By using Bloom’s taxonomy, instructional strategies can be proposed so as to enhance the alignment among the intended, enacted, and experienced curriculum with regards to children learning a double leg takedown for jiu jitsu. To help further this design decision, consideration on the learner group characteristics has been taken into account as well as the important factor of how learners can be engaged while in pursuit of the learning outcomes. This strategy is structured so as to scaffold learners, guiding them from grasping basic concepts to engaging in increasingly complex problem-solving.

In order to do this, the focal point of information processing, attention should be given to both the learner’s processing of information as well as facilitation of the learner’s processing. This builds off of tthe distinction between ‘supplantive’ (teacher-centered) and ‘generative’ (learner-centered) strategies, as well as how each helps attain the intended learning outcome as part of an effective design for instruction.

Supplantive strategies involve providing learners with the information and guidance that is necessary to perform a double leg takedown. This approach is particularly important for beginners and young learners who may require more explicit instruction on the technique. Supplantive strategies aim to facilitate the learning of core knowledge and skills at a foundational level. In the case of the technique highlighted in this paper, instructors can demonstrate the technique while explaining key components that make it effective and work within the context of jiu jitsu. Additionally they can break down the movements into manageable steps and chunks in order to better highlight important areas of focus. Instructors can also provide learners with visual aids through repeated live demonstrations to enhance understanding. This approach ensure that’s the learners have a clear and well structured foundation of knowledge to build upon.

In comparison, generative strategies aim to foster active engagement and encourage the learner to apply their knowledge in different contexts. This approach promotes critical thinking and problem solving which they would realistically encounter in the course of a jiu jitsu sparring session or competition. Problem-based learning is defined as an approach where learners are presented with realistic scenarios and problems related to the topic of knowledge. They work in a collaborative manner to analyze the situation, identify useful strategies, and apply their knowledge to find a solution.

In relation to the technique of focus, this method is a relevant strategy as it allows the learners to develop a deeper understanding of the technique and the various nuances to it in a realistic and practical fashion. In turn it also aids in the enhancement of their decision-making skills and overall experience in application of the technique. Thus it is recommended that a combined approach using supplantive and generative strategies should be employed. By doing so, instructors can provide a balanced approach towards instruction that supports both knowledge acquisition and the development of higher-order thinking skills in performing the technique.

In pursuit of aligning the intended, enacted, and experienced curriculum there must be careful consideration with regards to designing a cohesive and meaningful learning experience as part of the instructional design. Several principles of instructional design ahve been proposed by researchers that can help in this alignment process. They include gaining attention, informing the learners of the instructional objectives, stimulating recall of prior knowledge, presenting the content, providing guidance and practice, facilitating performance, as well as supplying feedback and assessing the performance. Gaining attention should be employed to ensure learners are engaged and focused, which in the case of teaching the technique of focus the instructor can use attention-grabbing techniques such as demonstrating the double leg takedown while highlighting its practicality or relevance.

In order to clearly inform the learners of the instructional objectives, the goals and outcomes desired when using the technique can be clearly articulated and explained to the learners. Next, to facilitate learning the learners should be provided with relevant information, which can come in the form of the instructor breaking down the technique into smaller components with explanations for each step thoroughly provided. In order to enhance retention, the learners should be provided ample practice time and opportunities to apply the technique in various scenarios. Feedback should then be provided to correct any errors and reinforce correct execution of it.

Moreover, the need for assessment is significant, and within the context of jiu jitsu this could involve evaluating the execution of the technique through formative assessments such as drills or simulated sparring situation. Lastly, the principle of enhancing retention and the transfer of knowledge should be considered. This can be found in the form of providing opportunities for the learners to practice the double leg takedown in realistic contexts, such as live sparring sessions or even competitions. This in turn creates connections between the technique and its application in different situations which can promote the transfer of learning.

So what did we discuss?

In summary, the incorporation of combined supplantive-generative strategy derived from Bloom’s taxonomic analysis fits well to enhance the alignment of the intended, enacted, and experienced curriculum for the selected topic of this paper. This approach helps to identify the targeted learner group of children in the pursuit of developing jiu jitsu technique skills. As jiu jitsu practitioners, the cognitive, psychomotor, and affective domains are important for the development of skills within the context of the sport. Through this, it is possible to then determine and use a model which can address the learning preferences of this group. As such, with this taxonomic analysis and the recommended strategies, alignment concerning the intended, enacted, and experienced curriculum for the technique of focus can be enhanced.

Moreover, there is potential to supplant the topic of this paper with other jiu jitsu techniques and still use this recommended approach. Furthermore, replacing the learner group from children to adults also appears to be feasible with minor adjustments required as to instructional language choices and activities. The argument for this is that there is a near universal approach to teaching techniques due to how the intertwining system of techniques are connected to each other, as well as there being uniformity in techniques across age groups with the only variances coming in what techniques are deemed permissible in competitions by the IBJJF and other organizational bodies. With that said, there is limited literature regarding instructional design development within the specific focus of jiu jitsu, which means further exploration on this topic is needed.

In the end, it’s all about alignment—making sure the intended curriculum (what we plan to teach), the enacted curriculum (what we actually teach), and the experienced curriculum (what the kids actually learn) are all working together. When we get that alignment right, we create a learning environment that’s not just effective, but empowering.

Preamble Ramble

Today I’m going to talk to you about some important concepts when it comes to designing a jiu jitsu curriculum. This is a thing I think its quite important and worth having a discussion on. Now, currently I have this written out as one episode but there may be a few more I make on similar or related topics.

Before we get into the deeper focus on this topic I should probably explain how and why I think I have some role to play in this conversation. I’ve been doing jiu jitsu for the better part of a decade and one of the It’s also a sport where there is an evolving and ever changing meta, which in turns requires knowledge to be generated and passed along. Furthermore, I’m actually in the process of working on my PhD thesis in Educational Research so it’s not very surprising to know that I’m quite interested and well read on education related topics.

I like to blend the two and in some of my previous written work I’ve done just that. I’ve taken MMA and jiu jitsu and talked about them from the lens of an educator as I think those areas are often not commonly brought up or discussed.

That’s not for any special reasons, just that it’s an often overlooked and under-discussed aspect of the sport.

One of the most important things you can find in the jiu jitsu landscape is the need for, and management of, a good curriculum. This is something I have personally observed, as well as friends and training partners expressing in our conversations at the gym. This specific point is often mentioned as one of the more important indicators that you’ve found a good coach. Do they have a curriculum or do they just wing it after watching a five-minute video on YouTube?

I’ve had both kinds of coaches and learning environments and speaking from my own experience, someone taking the time to figure out a curriculum is going to be way better to learn from not just in terms of technical knowledge, but holistic development of your jiu jitsu game.

Which brings me to today’s article. While I was in grad school I was tasked with writing a relatively short paper that analyzed a curriculum in any setting I chose and looking at what the academic outcomes were, as well as what misalignments occurred.

I took a recent look at the papers and thought they’d be worth discussing. Now, I want to emphasize that this is not going to be a step-by-step breakdown of how to make a curriculum. Instead, the focus here is on the overarching approach and key concepts to designing a well-rounded curriculum. This is a very academic focused discussion and more so sits in the realm of the heady concepts that govern educational work, more so than jiu jitsu itself or how to be a good coach. To that last point, these sorts of discussions are how I think you can improve as a coach but again focusing more on education skills rather than how to do a flying gogoplata well. In short, this is the stuff you need to know to make sure your curriculum is achieving what you want it to achieve and how to assess your curriculum.

This analysis we’re going to go through specifically looks at the kids jiu jitsu program I had to design and conduct while teaching a kids jiu jtisu class in South Korea.

So, without wasting too much time on the preamble, let’s get into it.

Background of the Analysis

Here’s the quick and simple background to help set the stage for understanding the purpose and reason this curriculum we’re looking at.

I was training at the main Alliance affiliated gym in South Korea, where I also happened to be the only non-Korean. For the most part, there were some other non-Koreans who would show up and train for a bit and then move on.

In 2019 I was approached and took on the job of creating and conducting a 16-week jiu jitsu program for South Korean kids aged 5 to 10. The basic guidelines were that these kids would have no prior experience with jiu jitsu and there was no current or available curriculum I could use.

To that latter point, this branch of Alliance did not have a prior kids program to build a curriculum off. Additionally, while Alliance does have their own internal curriculum at the time I did not have access to it, so I was left designing my own curriculum.

So, the main learning goals that we have for the kids in the program were as follows:

• Teach basic jiu jitsu techniques

• Help them develop body control

• Foster teamwork and discipline

• And, this one would be the biggest challenge, teach the classes in English to a bunch of non-English speaking kids to support their language learning and encourage English development and usage.

That last goal was also pretty much the main learning outcome the parents were expecting and why the whole program existed.

South Korea has English as a mandatory language; however not all South Koreans are as proficient in English. So, the goal here was to help support and further the English language development the students were getting at their public schools by exposing them to English in a new environment. This is not too uncommon in South Korea and so that was why I the lone non-Korean at the gym was tasked with heading up the program.

To say this was a challenging task is an understatement.

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Terminology to Keep in Mind

Now, before we start, I think it’s important to clarify some terminology.

When I say “curriculum” I’m not just simply meaning the list of things to teach. Researchers Gobby & Walker explain that a curriculum is the course’s contents being learned by the student and being taught by the instructor. They state that this summarization is a very narrow view and that there is much more nuance and breadth to the concept of curriculum than what is commonly assumed. Furthering this discussion of what exactly curriculum is, the researchers Webster & Ryan (2019) also state that there are multiple types of curriculum. These most typically are seen as; intended (stated), enacted, experienced, null, hidden, learned, and assessed.

For the purposes of the analysis of the curriculum I designed and today’s discussion we’ll focus on three: intended curriculum, enacted curriculum, and experienced curriculum. That is not to say the other forms are not necessary, but once we started talking about just these three and how they interrelate you’ll start to realize how thick into the weeds we get. And this is just a surface level discussion.

To simply describe these curriculum types, let’s put them in the context of a jiu jitsu setting.

The intended curriculum takes the form of the specific learning outcomes, aka what you want your student to know at the end of a session. This, in jiu jitsu terms, are the techniques or system of techniques that you can teach in a set order or chain so your student can repeat them while sparring or competing. So again, the intended curriculum is WHAT YOU WANT THEM TO LEARN.

Next, the enacted curriculum is what is being taught by the educator during the period of learning. This is less about the specific topics, but how those topics are taught and the way they are taught. Enacted curriculum is quite closely linked to pedagogical approaches and so if you’re aware of at least what pedagogy is, then you’re already about halfway there to understanding this concept. Again, enacted curriculum is WHAT IS BEING TAUGHT AND HOW.

Finally, we have the experienced curriculum. This is, probably, the biggest one of the three to be mindful of. Experienced curriculum is described as being what is actually experienced by the student as they engage with what is being taught. This term applies regardless if the experience is happening in a planned or unintended manner. When we apply this to jiu jitsu, you can see it in the form of your students developing a sense of understanding on timing, positional placement of body parts, knowing when to or not apply pressure, and so forth as they are completing a technique you taught. Furthermore, this can also apply to the psychological state of the learner, in the context of a jiu jitsu program this can be seen when a student is able to maintain focus during a competition after the experiences of sparring and competing over time, as compared to when they first start. To simplify this, experienced curriculum is ultimately WHAT DID THE STUDENT TAKE AWAY FROM THE LESSON?

So we have these three curriculums:

Intended, what we’re are trying to teach.

Enacted, what and how we are teaching the topic.

Experienced, what is gained and retained by the student.

All of this is to say that curriculum as a concept is far more nuanced than you may initially think it is. Curriculums are entire ecosystems of learning where these various parts all interact and affect each other in nuanced and subtle ways.

So now that we have these three terms, let’s dive a bit deeper into this curriculum program and how these curriculum types come into play.

Let’s Analyze this Program Already

In the case of the program I created and taught at Alliance Korea, the newly created intended curriculum was planned to focus on in person training sessions for two hours per week over the course of a 16 week long schedule that would then repeat itself. The course aims were shaped by what the head coach at Alliance Korea viewed as the base standards for jiu jitsu learning. So, the program was designed along “normative needs”, as described by Morrison et al, by using the established IBJJF requirements for belt promotion for children, as well as the standards outlined by Alliance Jiu Jitsu itself.

Having autonomy in the design, I was allowed to utilize external curriculums from other children’s programs for jiu jitsu. In this case I relied heavily on the Gracie University Bully Proof program, which I think is quite good in general but there are some minor grievances I have with it that I won’t really get into today. In addition, I went out and got personal guidance via conversations with other coaches at different gyms around the world. Mostly these were my friends who I just knew from jiu jitsu and who happened to be teaching kids classes as well.

As the sole educator, it was my responsibility to track and maintain an understanding of the intended curriculum and effectively perform it during the learning sessions. Unbeknownst to me at the time, my preparation work for each of the training sessions for whole program followed the curriculum strategy framework as described by researchers Sherin & Drake in 2009. According to their framework, there are three phases of curriculum strategy; reading, evaluating, and adapting.

The first stage, reading, comes when the instructor reviews the written documents and goals as an overview and for details prior to instruction and during instruction. The evaluating stage comes when a teacher focuses on the target audiences’ needs when determining if the curriculum is appropriate. The third stage, adapting, occurs when the instructor creates, replaces, or omits components from the curriculum during the instruction.

This can be seen when, prior to each lesson, I would review the written curriculum to ensure I knew what the goals for the day were as well as the associated teaching methods I was planning to use. Then, I would determine which of the techniques being focused on would be most suitable using the knowledge I acquired from observing and assessing the student’s development and skills.

Finally, I would then adapt the curriculum for the day by typically adding additional steps to the learning process to ensure a more clear line of knowledge was established that did not necessarily exist within the written curriculum. This can be seen when I would repeat the technique being taught, but add in a bit more information or detail to it so any consistently observed mistakes can be corrected.

Additionally, in the course of conducting the classes it was unknown to me that the existence of curriculum potential existed and was being explored. This concept, described by Ben-Peretz (1990), states that there are a range of possibilities for learning that are inherent in the curriculum. Thus, curriculum potential refers to the opportunities of learning that a particular curriculum provides for students so that they can learn and grow.

This potential can be maximized by designing the curriculum to meet the needs and interests of the students, and by using a variety of teaching methods and assessment strategies to promote student engagement and participation. Due to the large language barrier that existed between the children in the program and me there was more curriculum potential that existed within the context of the jiu jitsu training as opposed to the English language learning. These jiu jitsu specific examples came in the form of the techniques and drills as they provided opportunities for the students to develop physical strength, flexibility, balance, and coordination as well as mental focus.

When it came to the light sparring, that was part of the curriculum so as to develop technique application against a resisting partner, it allowed for the students to apply the learned techniques in a dynamic and more real-world context and to expand the approach of using strategic timing to apply the technique. This in turn benefited the students when it came to the concept of the experienced curriculum.

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Interaction Between the Curriculums

Now that we’ve gotten all of this initial discussion out of the way, we can now take a look at how these three curriculums interrelate, how they can align or misalign, and what in my program did or did not work.

When looking at the curriculum it is important to assess the alignment of goals as stated in the intended curriculum to what is actually taught in the enacted curriculum.

According to Schubert (2008) there are opportunities for a misalignment to occur in the Intended-Enacted Curriculum relationship. Specifically, they mention that the differences in these two forms of curriculum can come from teacher misunderstanding in the form of reading the curriculum, evaluating the curriculum, or adapting the curriculum. This supports Sherin & Drake (2009) in their view of the intended-enacted curriculum relationship wherein educators can view, evaluate, or adapt a curriculum differently depending on various factors relating to the individual teacher.

In the case of the curriculum I designed, alignments and misalignments were seen in different areas. One such area of alignment was that the instruction of the techniques did follow the intended curriculum and its overall plan and approach to teaching technique sequences. As an example, the body mechanic known as “shrimping” was taught as a basic movement and a key necessity for the learners to develop and after the first lesson being exposed to it the children was able to competently perform the motion when needed.

However, when looking at the relationship a notable misalignment came in the form of the evaluation of the curriculum. Specifically, it was determined that the pacing of the introduction of certain body mechanic techniques was too fast and that the learners needed more time to develop proper balance and body control first. To resolve this issue, it became necessary to adapt the curriculum in its enactment to allow for more time to work on the nuances of the specific body mechanic motions and provide additional time for drilling.

Using the aforementioned curriculum strategy framework by Sherin & Drake (2009), this meant that the creation of new components to the curriculum were necessary, as well as omitting sections to fit within the allotted time for the lessons as well as within the total course program’s length. The results of this adaptation to the curriculum allowed the learners to get a better sense of the key foundational mechanics and techniques that would allow them to progress further with minimal impact later on in their development, rather than going down a path of poor technique performance and struggling to adjust at a latter point.

Another challenge with this alignment relationship was the issue of a language barrier existing between myself and the learners. As a native English speaker, one of the intended focuses of the program was to do all instruction in English to allow for exposure to the language for the non-English speaking learners. This goal was mostly met, but there were numerous instances of the learners clearly struggling to understand the instructions and directions that were given in English due to their own limited English capabilities. This would then cause misalignments in understanding the technique as effectively as a native English speaker could.

Thus, it became necessary to replace certain components within the intended curriculum, specifically terminology related to jiu jitsu, with more simplified and easier to comprehend terms. An example of this is rather than saying “use C grips”, the instruction had to be adjusted and the term “C grips” was replaced with “Lego hands.” This was a concept that was more readily familiar to the learner than the intended curriculum assumed, and so some adjustment and adaptation was needed.

The misalignment due to the language barrier does not solely exist within the realm of the intended-enacted curriculum relationship; rather it can also be seen in the enacted-experienced curriculum relationship as well. This second relationship refers to the degree in which what is actually taught and learned aligning with the experiences and understanding of the curriculum by the student. An example of this misalignment can come in the form of that pesky language barrier. As seen in the implementation of the curriculum, instructions were in a language that the children did not fully comprehend. Thus, at times they struggled to understand and execute techniques effectively. There was a clear lack of effective comprehension on specific body mechanics to perform techniques that caused the child to struggle executing them.

Another example of a misalignment was that some of the techniques appeared to be too difficult for some of the learners, specifically the younger ones, to properly perform likely due to lack of body control. There was visible frustration displayed by the learner when attempting to do the technique that led to them foregoing the proper methodology and instead performing a variation that ignored all the key foundational methods that were part of the instruction.

Despite these misalignments, there were also examples of proper alignment in the enacted-experienced curriculum relationship. This mostly came in the form of the students, during both sparring sessions and in competition, being able to perform several of the techniques they have been taught and had instruction on. There was also alignment between stated goals of the program when the students consistently showed good sportsmanship and behavior while at a competition by shaking their opponent’s hand win or lose. This indicates that there was successful alignment between the enacted curriculum and the experienced curriculum as the student ultimately portrayed a competent understanding of the lessons taught to them during the course of the kid’s jiu jitsu program.

Resolving Misalignments

Due to the existence of these misalignments across both relationships, it’s important to analyze and assess what alternatives could be used to adjust the overall curriculum to ensure there is no further deviation. One such solution to resolve any further issues with alignment can come in the form of a total reassessment and rewriting of the intended curriculum.

Due to the nature of the creation of the kid’s jiu jitsu program being that it was made with only guidelines from the head coach, further detailed instruction on what is or is not necessary would have been an ideal starting point. Allowing for the more experienced instructor to guide the creation of the curriculum could have negated any issues with introducing complicated concepts too early. This in turn may have lead to more focus on core fundamentals and development of those associated techniques that would have aided in the student’s ability to conduct body mechanics more efficiently.

Additionally, it would have allowed for a more refined approach towards teaching as the head coach had more jiu jitsu instruction experience whereas my own experienced drew from the realm of ESL classroom teaching. In conjunction with this, the choice of focusing on instruction being solely in English could have also been omitted from the curriculum to allow for better and clearer instruction to the students. There were several issues with the curriculum misalignment drawing from the reality that there was a large language barrier between the educator and the student.

There is also an argument to be made that emphasis on the curriculum not being about jiu jitsu techniques per se, but focusing on body movement and body mechanic exercises instead. Following the guidelines offered by the Canadian non-profit organization Sport for Life (2023) on long term athletic development of children, rather than focusing on highly technical mechanics associated solely with the sport of jiu jitsu. Instead, an emphasis could have placed on related body motions and control.

As there were issues with misalignment due to students struggling to effectively utilize required body mechanics and needing to develop those first, the focus on body mechanics would allow for better competency in the jiu jitsu specific techniques later on in their overall development. In conjunction with this, allowing for a division to exist splitting the classes up from a singular class covering the wide age range of 5 years-old to 10 years-old would aid in this endeavor and allow for sparring to occur between participants who are of equal size and strength so as not to allow room for discouragement from the smaller student who struggles against a much older and much heavier sparring partner.

Wrapping it all up

In summary, the process of implementing a kid’s jiu jitsu program curriculum at the Alliance Korea gym required a wide degree of theories and concepts. As the educator and curriculum author, it was required of me to apply these theories and stratagems efficiently and effectively and be cognizant of the factors, areas, and remedies for any misalignments in the instruction and internalization of the curriculum.

While perfect alignment across all components of a curriculum is ideal, practically speaking such a goal is not attainable due to uncontrollable factors and variables.

I hope this whole discussion has helped clarify some of the often vague or unseen factors in how to improve a curriculum. The misalignments of the various curriculum types are, frankly, a never-ending struggle to manage. There simply is no such thing as perfect alignment, which means that curriculums are always in a state of needing analysis, adjustment, execution, and then you repeat it all over again.

Hi, hello. I’m Eric, and I’m the person behind Grapplers.win (or is it Grapplers Win?).

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