Bjj culture and Surf Culture are very alike

[TheCobra]

I have many friends who practice Bjj and they are hardcore surfers and I fell like surfing and bjj go hand to hand. Also the Culture such as RVCA and because Brazilians love to surf as well and BJJ practitioners use the Shaka sign a lot which is a friendly gesture among Surfers , what are your thoughts?

 

[number9dream]

My thought's are I've never seen a surfboard in my life but I trained briefly with an American years ago who would do the shaka all the time and now I can't stop doing it in pictures plz send help

 

[efficientjudo]

During the early days in Rio there was a lot of crossover between BJJ and surfing so its unsurprising, and many that left Brazil to teach ended up in other surfing spots.

 

[TheCobra]

My thought's are I've never seen a surfboard in my life but I trained briefly with an American years ago who would do the shaka all the time and now I can't stop doing it in pictures plz send help

That’s what I’m sayin man

 

[aunshi189]

Arona is GOAT at both.

 

[Fla graplr]

They are both things where you can goof off and have fun and not have much of a job. I'm jealous

 

[Human Bass]

Ze Radiola was a pro-surfer before starting bjj.

 

[KnightTemplar]

It's common knowledge there's crossover between Surfing and BJJ, especially in Brazil itself.

 

[Normot]

IDK, Im in Hawaii and I don't see how they are similar. I guess if you are outside of Hawaii those are the two groups that throw shakas...
And the elite of both sports are trust fund kids

 

[EatMyShorts]

I grew up in a surfer village.

Never got into the surf scene, but I know personalities change dramatically when they get into it.

"Yo - duuuuuuude" - etc.

I didn't fit in there.
So I interpreted their personal changes as, complacency - as due to my apparent lack of being a douchebag, I was pretty much excluded from that scene.

However - I DID get into BJJ, and have also seen personality changes come about as newbie's become more proficient, get big idea's of themselves and feel they're in a position to glean some validation for being the "badasses" they are in their own minds.

Except this time - I can kick their asses, man handle them, and generally take their lunch money - yet not be part of the douchebag group they have founded.
It doesn't really seem to alter their new found douchebag disposition, but it does seem to piss them right off; I'd be lying if I said I didn't get some satisfaction out of that.

 

[Ice 9 Cobra]

Have we really hit the point where people don't inherently know the crossover between surfing and BJJ?

I mean, we wear boards shorts and rash guards for nogi...

 

[Evenflow80]

Well I dont surf but I can imagine it really teaches you to have excellent balance, and that would be extremely useful in BJJ as well.

 

[Cappy Goodtime]

Well I dont surf but I can imagine it really teaches you to have excellent balance, and that would be extremely useful in BJJ as well.

People always think that, but I'm a pretty good surfer with very mediocre balance (think the goofy guy always tripping).

 

[Evenflow80]

People always think that, but I'm a pretty good surfer with very mediocre balance (think the goofy guy always tripping).

I dont know man. The one time I tried surfing I couldn't believe how much balance and dexterity I would need. Spent like a whole hour and barely was able to flop on the board like once or twice. It sucked.

 

[Bigboot]

That’s a lot of use of the word douchbag and calling everyone around you a douchbag to sorta make it seam like well you know what I mean right?

 

[NewS]

I finally did it when I visited San Diego. Surfing in the morning and BJJ training in the afternoon.
The sun burnt skin fucking hurt during rolling though, that much I didn't take into account...

 

[Yojimbo]

I grew up in a surfer village.

Never got into the surf scene, but I know personalities change dramatically when they get into it.

"Yo - duuuuuuude" - etc.

I didn't fit in there.
So I interpreted their personal changes as, complacency - as due to my apparent lack of being a douchebag, I was pretty much excluded from that scene.

However - I DID get into BJJ, and have also seen personality changes come about as newbie's become more proficient, get big idea's of themselves and feel they're in a position to glean some validation for being the "badasses" they are in their own minds.

Except this time - I can kick their asses, man handle them, and generally take their lunch money - yet not be part of the douchebag group they have founded.
It doesn't really seem to alter their new found douchebag disposition, but it does seem to piss them right off; I'd be lying if I said I didn't get some satisfaction out of that.

Based on this post it sounds like you should reevaluate this.

 

[Seefoo]

Wherever it comes from, the laid back culture of BJJ is extremely appealing. I'm closer to my BJJ instructors than I was with my Karate and Judo instructors. We hang out, have BBQs, watch UFC together, etc. It's like doing martial arts with your siblings.

 

[Deleted member 551049]

Like anything else, it depends where you go. People talk like everyone in the BJJ and surf worlds are all mellow and laid back but that has not been my experience with either. Been doing Jiu-Jitsu since 2005 and I've been surfing off and on for my whole life. I would argue that there really isn't a cohesive BJJ or surf culture, the way that there is with something like wrestling. There are BJJ schools that focus on self defense, no-gi, MMA, traditional Gracie Jiu-Jitsu, competition, lighter rolling, etc. and they generally don't have much in common with one another, culturally speaking. Same thing with surfing. You'll find the breaks where there's a lot of localism and people are more aggressive. There are longboarder spots where it's nothing but mellow older guys. There are the more well known spots like Trestles where everyone is hyper-concerned about etiquette. Then you'll find spots where half the guys are on Wavestorms and have no idea what they're doing.

I'm in San Diego and I've met very few people who have done BJJ for any significant length of time that actively surf. Maybe it's different in Brazil but I haven't personally seen much crossover.

 

[Cappy Goodtime]

In jiu-jitsu you have to pay to play and more quality training partners is a good thing, so it makes the culture quite welcoming. In surfing waves are a limited commodity and ain't no one getting paid when you show up, so pretty much no one wants you there. But we do both use shakas, so....