Something You Need to Know About the BJJ Gauntlet

I think the whipping is stupid and am glad my gym abandoned the practice. I've done martial arts since the 80s in some old school places, so this isn't coming from some millennial safe space wanting pussy.
 
I can't read the article due to workplace internet security (MacAfee doesn't like you), but my feelings on the gauntlet is that it's pointless hazing. There's more than enough shared suffering to get people to bond on the mat, you don't need the additional piece of ritual beating (which is what it is). If you really want to have a rite of passage, shark tank the guy. At least that's related to BJJ and doesn't smack of submission to the group will.
 
I don't read articles that people won't post here, but I'll say that the whipping thing is very bizarre. I'm not really against it, but I'm puzzled as to why certain hazing-like things (this may be considered outright hazing, idk) are done.
 
I'd like to officially go on the record as being pro-faixada, and also to go on the record as stating "harden up, Nancy".

That is all.
 
I'm full-grown adult. I don't need hazing from someone i'm paying significant money every month.
 
Yeah belt whipping is a bit silly. We do it, and its not that big of a deal (since it's only done belt promos, aka every 2 yearsish), but i don't understand it. I'm a big fan of the shark tank though (which we do before the whipping).
 
I'm full-grown adult. I don't need hazing from someone i'm paying significant money every month.

There is a massive significant difference between hazing and faixada though. I guess some particularly sensitive individuals may view them as being somewhat in the same category, but even in these instances surely these highly sensitive individuals cannot deny it would be at drastically polar opposites of the spectrum.
 
nothing like hazing disguised as some deep meaningful ritual.

always see a couple lower belts looking psychotically happy and trying to hit ppl as hard as possible as many times as possible.
 
One of the few old school things I don't particularly feel nostalgic for. Idiotic practice that hopefully should completely disappear in not so many years.
 
I used to think like the article posted, but I changed my mind and let me tell you why:

When I was wrestling in college, I lost in the medal round at the national championships when I had a huge lead. I was devastated. I vowed to never let that happen again. I had read about this in one of my college courses, so I decided to tie a physical reminder to how I felt emotionally, so I went outside, grabbed a big hand full of dirt, and chewed it up. From that point on, even the smell or sight of dirt transports me to exactly how I felt emotionally after that loss. It is something I will remember intimately until the moment I die.

I was never a fan of these kind of hazing things in BJJ or wrestling, because honestly, I didnt believe any of them really served a purpose. From white belt to brown belt, I never was whipped. And you know what? I barely remember the day of the promotion, how I was feeling, or many details from white to brown. That is, up until Black Belt. When I got my black belt, I was given the option if I wanted to do the gauntlet. I did. I can tell you, the memorial ties to an event when linked with acute physical pain is MUCH stronger than if it is not. This is not just anecdotal evidence; I have read many peer reviewed studies that show this to be true and it also was true in my case. I remember that day much more vividly than other days in my life, that to me, were more important, simply because the tie to acute physical pain.

I do not believe people in BJJ participate in the gauntlet to degrade, harm, embarrass, or exploit other teammates. Coming from being a skeptic and detractor of the tradition, I have found it extremely meaningful to my own journey in terms of memory retention of the event. Others may view it as predatory or harmful, but I guess the experience is formed by the mind of the beholder.
 
I was never a fan of these kind of hazing things in BJJ or wrestling, because honestly, I didnt believe any of them really served a purpose. From white belt to brown belt, I never was whipped. And you know what? I barely remember the day of the promotion, how I was feeling, or many details from white to brown. That is, up until Black Belt. When I got my black belt, I was given the option if I wanted to do the gauntlet. I did. I can tell you, the memorial ties to an event when linked with acute physical pain is MUCH stronger than if it is not. This is not just anecdotal evidence; I have read many peer reviewed studies that show this to be true and it also was true in my case. I remember that day much more vividly than other days in my life, that to me, were more important, simply because the tie to acute physical pain.

By contrast, I've been whipped for my two promotions thus far and I can barely remember them. Obviously, YMMV.
 
I used to think like the article posted, but I changed my mind and let me tell you why:

When I was wrestling in college, I lost in the medal round at the national championships when I had a huge lead. I was devastated. I vowed to never let that happen again. I had read about this in one of my college courses, so I decided to tie a physical reminder to how I felt emotionally, so I went outside, grabbed a big hand full of dirt, and chewed it up. From that point on, even the smell or sight of dirt transports me to exactly how I felt emotionally after that loss. It is something I will remember intimately until the moment I die.

I was never a fan of these kind of hazing things in BJJ or wrestling, because honestly, I didnt believe any of them really served a purpose. From white belt to brown belt, I never was whipped. And you know what? I barely remember the day of the promotion, how I was feeling, or many details from white to brown. That is, up until Black Belt. When I got my black belt, I was given the option if I wanted to do the gauntlet. I did. I can tell you, the memorial ties to an event when linked with acute physical pain is MUCH stronger than if it is not. This is not just anecdotal evidence; I have read many peer reviewed studies that show this to be true and it also was true in my case. I remember that day much more vividly than other days in my life, that to me, were more important, simply because the tie to acute physical pain.

I do not believe people in BJJ participate in the gauntlet to degrade, harm, embarrass, or exploit other teammates. Coming from being a skeptic and detractor of the tradition, I have found it extremely meaningful to my own journey in terms of memory retention of the event. Others may view it as predatory or harmful, but I guess the experience is formed by the mind of the beholder.
Same reason we celebrate weddings by kicking the groom in the teeth?

Take a photo, for fuck's sake.
 
Same reason we celebrate weddings by kicking the groom in the teeth?

Take a photo, for fuck's sake.

But we do make a very big deal out of a wedding with rituals of various kinds partly because just taking a photo would not accomplish the same thing.

There is a reason these rituals exist. Painful rituals and difficult rites of passage have existed for 1000s of years across mang cultures. They serve a purpose and cannot just be dismissed as " pointless hazing"
 
So many people whining. It doesn't matter either way to me. But damn the whining.
 
There is a reason these rituals exist. Painful rituals and difficult rites of passage have existed for 1000s of years across mang cultures. They serve a purpose and cannot just be dismissed as " pointless hazing"
Not as pointless hazing, no. Hazing absolutely has a function, it binds your in-group identity at the expense of your other affiliations.

That's why BJJ has invented this whipping thing rather than e.g. sparring a lot of rounds, because it's essential that the participant's other culture find it weird or disgusting.
 
So many people whining. It doesn't matter either way to me. But damn the whining.

This is MERICA...it's what we do.. plus we sue people for hurting our feelings and everyone gets a trophy
 
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