Thank you Andrew, I think there is the potential a whole new post on that theme alone. Could be linked to the so-called 'manosphere' and possibly tracked back to Robert Bly and his book 'Iron John' (or even Rick Field, if you know his stuff).
Don't get me started on the toxicity of MMA. I practice (and teach) jiu jitsu, and our art has been infiltrated by mouth-breathers far too often over the years.
You surprise me... perhaps I have fallen for MMA propaganda. The idea I get from podcasts and articles is how inclusive MMA is and how they are a bunch of 'enthusiasts' who are just in love with the Art. Or maybe there is a cultural rift between MMA and BJJ?
I think that MMA culture is very, very toxic. If you're a fighter, you're very likely to be inherently selfish and focused on that at the exclusion of everything else. That pervades every competitive endeavor I've ever participated in, but the bonus of MMA being under a national spotlight for at least the last 15 years has amplified the situation. I have a lot more to say about this, but perhaps it would be best expressed in a future piece.
There's also the fact that sexual assault and harassment are all too common in both MMA and BJJ (again, a problem that pervades all martial arts to varying degrees, but it's super personal for me, being immersed in a very small world some 25 years ago that has vastly expanded).
It sounds like you have the basis for a lengthy piece there. I am surprised, but not surprised. It would be interesting to unpick this as a topic. What is at the root of it all? Is it that it is too far removed from the moral base of Japanese Budo? Or maybe that in itself is a myth we would all like to believe in?
I do know for a fact that the karate world is not immune from bad behaviour from people in elevated positions; particularly the abuse of power. Recently, some of these cases have been exposed to the light of day. A cautionary tale for anyone who starts to believe their own propaganda.
I think I'm of that camp, that it's a myth we want to believe in to a degree... but it's also definitely corrupted more and more by popularity, especially as "tough guy" culture becomes more and more dominant. Definitely more complex and lengthy, and I'm not doing the best job of making the case I want to here, but I can see that you've seen your share of icky things in martial arts too.
I don't mean to misrepresent the thousands of amazing practitioners out there who stand for the values of martial arts that I learned as a kid and associate with them. I'm talking about being supportive of your training partners and making it easy on them, helping out those who are weaker, and so on.
The "helping those who are weaker" thing gets lost among competitors easily. I hate seeing that happen.
This was cool to read. I'm a martial artist, and it's pretty gross to see the misuse of the word "warrior" out there. Enough, already!
Thank you Andrew, I think there is the potential a whole new post on that theme alone. Could be linked to the so-called 'manosphere' and possibly tracked back to Robert Bly and his book 'Iron John' (or even Rick Field, if you know his stuff).
Don't get me started on the toxicity of MMA. I practice (and teach) jiu jitsu, and our art has been infiltrated by mouth-breathers far too often over the years.
You surprise me... perhaps I have fallen for MMA propaganda. The idea I get from podcasts and articles is how inclusive MMA is and how they are a bunch of 'enthusiasts' who are just in love with the Art. Or maybe there is a cultural rift between MMA and BJJ?
I think that MMA culture is very, very toxic. If you're a fighter, you're very likely to be inherently selfish and focused on that at the exclusion of everything else. That pervades every competitive endeavor I've ever participated in, but the bonus of MMA being under a national spotlight for at least the last 15 years has amplified the situation. I have a lot more to say about this, but perhaps it would be best expressed in a future piece.
There's also the fact that sexual assault and harassment are all too common in both MMA and BJJ (again, a problem that pervades all martial arts to varying degrees, but it's super personal for me, being immersed in a very small world some 25 years ago that has vastly expanded).
It sounds like you have the basis for a lengthy piece there. I am surprised, but not surprised. It would be interesting to unpick this as a topic. What is at the root of it all? Is it that it is too far removed from the moral base of Japanese Budo? Or maybe that in itself is a myth we would all like to believe in?
I do know for a fact that the karate world is not immune from bad behaviour from people in elevated positions; particularly the abuse of power. Recently, some of these cases have been exposed to the light of day. A cautionary tale for anyone who starts to believe their own propaganda.
I think I'm of that camp, that it's a myth we want to believe in to a degree... but it's also definitely corrupted more and more by popularity, especially as "tough guy" culture becomes more and more dominant. Definitely more complex and lengthy, and I'm not doing the best job of making the case I want to here, but I can see that you've seen your share of icky things in martial arts too.
I don't mean to misrepresent the thousands of amazing practitioners out there who stand for the values of martial arts that I learned as a kid and associate with them. I'm talking about being supportive of your training partners and making it easy on them, helping out those who are weaker, and so on.
The "helping those who are weaker" thing gets lost among competitors easily. I hate seeing that happen.