Mass Appeal

​This is my uphill both ways story. When I started Jiu Jitsu there was no Ultimate Fighter, the UFC was barely back to relevance after being taken off pay per view,  and Ken Shamrock vs. Tito Ortiz #1 had just happened. It wasn’t a mainstream activity and as such, you had to be somewhat crazy to get into and stay in it for any length of time. The benefit of that is that there was no possible way you could leave without being tough and having good Jiu Jitsu. If you were grappling in 2003, it was like getting into pro-wrestling in the territory days. You were either recruited or you came in and got beat up until you figured it out. The mass appeal of Jiu Jitsu is great, we want more people to do what we do, but to maintain efficiency, we also can’t pretend that it’s for everyone, and we can’t cater to everyone. In this country we’ve lost many effective martial arts to the consumer. Jiu Jitsu needs to be difficult and less accessible in some ways for it to maintain its intended purpose.