Jiu Jitsu as a Spectator Sport

If you’re into Jiu Jitsu, then you probably saw the bonanza of a weekend we had on the professional grappling circuit. CJI and ADCC on at the same time. There was some drama in the lead in about how CJI came about as a sort of protest event, which I’m not going to go into here as it’s boring to me, but the net result was that the best grapplers on the planet competed all weekend- just not at the same event.

It’s worth watching the CJI which is free on YouTube, ADCC was behind the flograppling paywall. But I’m not going to do a who was best, instead let’s take a look at Jiu Jitsu as a spectator sport.

Even those who are interested in Jiu Jitsu would agree that it’s not the world’s best spectator sport. I know of huge fans of Jiu Jitsu who can’t sit through a match. I actually don’t buy that it’s a terrible spectacle though, I think all sports are bad spectator sports when there’s nothing at stake.

Let’s take an example. The most popular sport in the world is football, by some margin. But it’s really only exciting when we’re invested in it. Most games are not great. Believe me, as a Shelbourne fan, I’ve sat through some pretty turgid stuff, though of late, the fare has improved considerably.

What you’re waiting on is the incident- the goal, the piece of skill, the tackle. And there are rare games where it’s like that for 90 minutes. Most though, are pretty dull if we’ve nothing riding on them. No skin in the game. Even avid football fans wouldn’t make time to watch two teams they didn’t care about.

And it’s the same with Jiu Jitsu. If you are watching the final of the IBJJF Worlds, you’re wondering who the next champion will be, and you’ll sit and watch the tactical chess match with interest. If your mate is on the mat at a Jiu Jitsu tournament, you’ll have you heart in your mouth at every near sweep or pass. And, if like on Saturday night, a friend is in line to win a million dollars like my friend Fellipe was, you’ll be on the edge of your seat.

Hey! There are people out there who bite down their fingernails down watching Curling! People scrubbing ice!

So Jiu Jitsu is a great spectator sport, when you’ve got a stake in it, or when there's something (like a million dollars or a major title) at stake, and the weekend’s stuff was exciting to me as I followed it. The Routolo vs Tackett match is worth 20 minutes of your time.

For us mere mortals, we can look on at these events as inspiration, and (I’ve spoken a bit about this in the past) we need these events so kids who we’re training can dream about one day being on those mats, fighting in these huge events. Your dream shouldn’t be to go to Cork (nice as Cork is).

See you on the mat!

Barry