BJJ olympic sport???

[Rob Battisti]

I sometimes ponder how breakdancing can be an Olympic Sport but not submission wrestling

 

[kintana]

I think 10 years ago there were a lot a articles about this.

In short it is not close to becoming a olympic sport. I cannot recall everything exactly but these were key points of why it is not close (GI) only:

- Drug testing, we all know BJJ does not drug test heavily and the olympic committee requires this. Though it is funny of how many juiced athletes make it to the olympics.

- Diversity in competition, though it is changing now compared to 10 years ago, most winners are Brazilians.

- The olympics wants 1 governing body, we have different organizations that are creating events:

a) IBJJF
b) AJP
c) ADCC(I know it is only no gi but just an example)
d) CBJJF
*And I think a few more.


- Wrestling and judo are already in, both are grappling sports so another grappling sport is not high on the list of priorities.


Not saying it is impossible but unlikely.

 

[Einheri]

The Olympics would be terrible for Jiu-Jitsu. You really don't want the IOC anywhere near it. I really hope Judo gets removed as an Olympic sport, that would be great.

Combat sports are generally exempted from this woke bullshit, and there has been enough pushback in other sports that I think the Olympics is safe.
I think it would be cool to see BJJ as a demonstration or exhibition sport though, maybe as an acompaniment to the Judo competition. The reason Olympic style Judo focused more on the throws was to make it more viewer friendly anyway, so I can't see them advocating for a style that spends all it's time on the ground.

No, Kano Jigoro always favoured throws over groundwork. Nothing to do with the Olympics.

 

[TheMaster]

The Olympics would be terrible for Jiu-Jitsu. You really don't want the IOC anywhere near it. I really hope Judo gets removed as an Olympic sport, that would be great.

Olympic Judo is fantastic, gives it the prestige it deserves for a worldwide sport and raises the level of competition. It's one of the highlights of the Olympics.

There may be drawbacks but no particular club is forced to train Olympic style Judo.

No, Kano Jigoro always favoured throws over groundwork. Nothing to do with the Olympics.

He always favoured throws yes but the length of time on the ground has been limited in Olympic competition.

 

[Einheri]

Olympic Judo is fantastic, gives it the prestige it deserves for a worldwide sport and raises the level of competition. It's one of the highlights of the Olympics.

There may be drawbacks but no particular club is forced to train Olympic style Judo.


He always favoured throws yes but the length of time on the ground has been limited in Olympic competition.

It raised the level of competition for 0.01% of practitioners, and compromised the integrity of the art for that. Grassroots, club-level Judoka are the lifeblood of Judo not the tiny minority of Olympians. Very few Judoka under the age of 30 would have any idea how to deal with a basic blast double, probably the most common takedown you'd ever face from an untrained person. And the IOC did that to increase viewership and to differentiate it from Freestyle Wrestling - absolutely not a reason to limit the effectiveness of a martial art.

You say "no club is forced to train Olympic style Judo", but in practice they do. Go to any randori at any random club and start throwing with morote gari, classic kata guruma, te guruma, kuchiki taoshi, et cetera . . . it won't be appreciated. And these Olympic rules have filtered right down to mon grade competitions, everything has been affected by these rule changes.

I'm saying the focus of Judo has always been throwing. That was Kano Jigoro, not something specific to the Olympics.

 

[DoctorTaco]

Fuck the IOC. These athletes make peanuts and only handful can make money while the IOC fatties steal from coffers. Hope it dies.

The Olympics would be terrible for Jiu-Jitsu. You really don't want the IOC anywhere near it. I really hope Judo gets removed as an Olympic sport, that would be great.


No, Kano Jigoro always favoured throws over groundwork. Nothing to do with the Olympics.

USA boxing has finally had enough of their shit and has started to officially back a different international org. I’d love to see other sports do the same

 

[Einheri]

USA boxing has finally had enough of their shit and has started to officially back a different international org. I’d love to see other sports do the same

We don't even need them. The IJF holds a world championship every year which is usually held to be a tougher competition to win than the Olympics. If they wanted to hold an international competition in the format of the Olympics every four years, they could. There's little reason to involve outside organisations in Judo, and no reason for non-Judoka to have any input in the rules of shiai.

 

[ChickenBrother]

USA boxing has finally had enough of their shit and has started to officially back a different international org. I’d love to see other sports do the same

Haven't followed boxing lately but am curious to know more about this. A cursory google search mentions USA boxing distancing itself last year from the IBA in favor of World Boxing, but looks like this is being done primarily to get boxing back into the 2028 LA Olympics and to stay in the good graces of the IOC. Is there more to it and is USA boxing actually getting ready to give the finger to the IOC itself?

 

[ChickenBrother]

It raised the level of competition for 0.01% of practitioners, and compromised the integrity of the art for that. Grassroots, club-level Judoka are the lifeblood of Judo not the tiny minority of Olympians. Very few Judoka under the age of 30 would have any idea how to deal with a basic blast double, probably the most common takedown you'd ever face from an untrained person. And the IOC did that to increase viewership and to differentiate it from Freestyle Wrestling - absolutely not a reason to limit the effectiveness of a martial art.

You say "no club is forced to train Olympic style Judo", but in practice they do. Go to any randori at any random club and start throwing with morote gari, classic kata guruma, te guruma, kuchiki taoshi, et cetera . . . it won't be appreciated. And these Olympic rules have filtered right down to mon grade competitions, everything has been affected by these rule changes.

I'm saying the focus of Judo has always been throwing. That was Kano Jigoro, not something specific to the Olympics.

Agree with the rest of your post but IMHO you're underselling how many more eyeballs (and hence gyms, sponsorships, skilled practitioners, etc) have been brought in by Olympic Judo. Also due to the trickle down effect which you mention, a higher sea level raises all ships.

I think the sweet spot for Judo was 80's and 90's when leg grabs were allowed and it was still a complete martial art. It's never been that popular in the U.S. but it used to be at every YMCA (which used to be everywhere), along with boxing and maybe wrestling. And with leg grabs, everything you could do under wrestling rules was kosher in Judo, facilitating more cross-training and making it practically a gi analog to wrestling (as gi grappling is to nogi). I also recall turtling being less of an issue because it's much harder to turtle out of a throw if tori has grips on your legs/pants.

But like wrestling and boxing, Judo is a hardcore combat sport with an emphasis on competition. And for that reason, its popularity will wane as more and more of Gen Z (safe space bitches) becomes the norm. I only care because I would like it to remain available for me and my kids. My son is doing BJJ and wrestling because the nearest Judo gym is an hour away in traffic and it's a grassroots style gym with no elite competitors which will probably go away too once the current owner ages out.

Without being in the Olympics, interest in Judo probably declines to what Sambo is internationally. It would never retain the popularity that BJJ enjoys today because the target player/competitor demographic is much smaller.

 

[Nathan LaMontagne]

You don't want BJJ in the Olympics.

-Judoka

Came here to say this but ill say it again..


For the love of fucking all that is holy

KEEP ANY SPORT YOU LOVE FAR, FAR, FAR, FAR, FAR AWAY FROM THE OLYMPICS.

The Olympics fucking ruined judo.

Ya know why Judo is mostly throws now?
Bullshit Olympics wanting a spectator friendly sport.

Your hand can't even touch a leg standing.
Why? Bullshit politics and trying to differentiate from wrestling... oh and to be more spectator friendly.

You want Brazilian jiu jitsu to remove submissions in general? Have it join the olympics.

 

[DoctorTaco]

Haven't followed boxing lately but am curious to know more about this. A cursory google search mentions USA boxing distancing itself last year from the IBA in favor of World Boxing, but looks like this is being done primarily to get boxing back into the 2028 LA Olympics and to stay in the good graces of the IOC. Is there more to it and is USA boxing actually getting ready to give the finger to the IOC itself?

There has been so much corruption on the world scene that USA boxing is preemptively looking at other orgs bc the IBA is one fuck up from getting banned from the Olympics. If that happens we want another option in place so we don’t have kids training and fighting for 4 years just to be told tough shit

 

[ChickenBrother]

There has been so much corruption on the world scene that USA boxing is preemptively looking at other orgs bc the IBA is one fuck up from getting banned from the Olympics. If that happens we want another option in place so we don’t have kids training and fighting for 4 years just to be told tough shit

Yep understood. But this thread is about BJJ being in the Olympics and whether the extra attention would be worth the inevitable nerfed ruleset and having to cozy up to the (corrupt) IOC in order to be in the Olympics.

Maybe I misunderstood your previous post but it sounded like you were saying USA Boxing was done with the IOC. But it sounds like they are merely changing international orgs to comply with the IOC and try to remain in the Olympics (under IOC governance).