Society's view of BJJ

[GS828]

I just hate then when some family members talk about what I do at a party they refer to it as "Karate." Not that I have anything against karate, but it isn't karate. *facepalm*

 

[xtreme1227]

You will always get "strange" reactions from most domesticated men over 25-30 years old. Here is my opinion why ...

The fact that you are a fighter reminds them they are not. This is an uncomfortable truth.

Men past their prime and out of shape do not like to be reminded their better days are behind them. They also feel a secret guilt for letting themselves get this way. It gets worse the older and fatter the man gets. You should see the dads that scream for violence at my son's Lacrosse games. The weaker and more pathetic the man, the more he yells at the kids to do the things he can't.

(House cats are jealous of outdoor cats)

Great observation! It's so true

 

[[Tycho?]]

My boss decided to be nice for a moment and tried to make convsersation.

-How's your karate going?
-Its jujitsu!
-Oh its all the same

And this is when 2 of his three employees train BJJ, I actually got the job because of a guy I met at my gym. Oh well.

 

[georgejjr]

My boss decided to be nice for a moment and tried to make convsersation.

-How's your karate going?
-Its jujitsu!
-Oh its all the same

And this is when 2 of his three employees train BJJ, I actually got the job because of a guy I met at my gym. Oh well.

A woman in our office does some kind of dancing - I think its flamenco, but I'm not sure, though she's mentioned it in passing to me and everyone else from time to time over the years. We all think its great she's doing something outside of work, but the detail isn't important to us, because none of us are dancers. But I suspect the difference between say ballet, ballroom, salsa, and flamenco is as large as between karate and BJJ.

I'd say its great your boss knows you do some sort of martial art, more than that isn't important to him or you. And BJJ (and judo and karate for that matter) are pretty specialized, minor activities in North America ... 90% of people couldn't tell them apart if their life depended upon them. Most folks still think 'judo chop' is real - and there's no reason for them to care its not.

 

[Keej613]

A woman in our office does some kind of dancing - I think its flamenco, but I'm not sure, though she's mentioned it in passing to me and everyone else from time to time over the years. We all think its great she's doing something outside of work, but the detail isn't important to us, because none of us are dancers. But I suspect the difference between say ballet, ballroom, salsa, and flamenco is as large as between karate and BJJ.

I'd say its great your boss knows you do some sort of martial art, more than that isn't important to him or you. And BJJ (and judo and karate for that matter) are pretty specialized, minor activities in North America ... 90% of people couldn't tell them apart if their life depended upon them. Most folks still think 'judo chop' is real - and there's no reason for them to care its not.

I used to do Muay Thai and this one guy at work always asked me how my Karate OR my Kung-Fu was going.

When I'd remind him that it was Muay Thai, he'd just laugh it off and say it's all the same to him and that he didn't even know the difference between Karate and Kung-Fu.

One day, he finally asked me what the difference between was between Karate and Kung-Fu.

I asked him if he wanted to short answer or the long answer. He said short. So I told him "Karate is Japanese. Kung-Fu is Chinese".

His eyes lit up like I had just explained to him the origins of the universe. It was hilarious!

So yeah . . . 90+% of people don't know the difference between various martial arts out of innocent ignorance and many of them don't care to know, either.

But sometimes it produces are pretty funny moment!

 

[Zaros]

The people at my school will say that stand-up MMA is two guys going with no skill until someone gets knocked out and that groung MMA is "some gay wrestling sh*t". You cannot belive how annoying this is after a while.

 

[CA_Boricua]

You will always get "strange" reactions from most domesticated men over 25-30 years old. Here is my opinion why ...

The fact that you are a fighter reminds them they are not. This is an uncomfortable truth.

Men past their prime and out of shape do not like to be reminded their better days are behind them. They also feel a secret guilt for letting themselves get this way. It gets worse the older and fatter the man gets. You should see the dads that scream for violence at my son's Lacrosse games. The weaker and more pathetic the man, the more he yells at the kids to do the things he can't.

(House cats are jealous of outdoor cats)

I completely agree with this statement. Given that (from what you described) the people you work with were/are children of privelidge they probably don't like to be reminded that you could kick their ass at any given moment if you wanted to.

 

[ASEGSEA]

One day, he finally asked me what the difference between was between Karate and Kung-Fu.

QUOTE]

Making progress. That's how it starts: get them interested, and maybe someday they'll join!

 

[Amiro]

A woman in our office does some kind of dancing - I think its flamenco, but I'm not sure, though she's mentioned it in passing to me and everyone else from time to time over the years. We all think its great she's doing something outside of work, but the detail isn't important to us, because none of us are dancers. But I suspect the difference between say ballet, ballroom, salsa, and flamenco is as large as between karate and BJJ.

I'd say its great your boss knows you do some sort of martial art, more than that isn't important to him or you. And BJJ (and judo and karate for that matter) are pretty specialized, minor activities in North America ... 90% of people couldn't tell them apart if their life depended upon them. Most folks still think 'judo chop' is real - and there's no reason for them to care its not.

either that or his boss is such an evolved fighter that he can see it all as one universal martial art and he fights like neo. think about it, hes the BOSS, and most of his employees do bjj lol he must be sick

 

[newbjj]

You can do the Good Will Hunting where you blow his mind with facts on the effectiveness of BJJ, and then tell him if he wants to, you'll step outside.

.

OR you could go Good will hunting 2 on there ass

 

[GS828]

People really think there's such a thing as Judo Chop? WTH? Seriously?

 

[georgejjr]

People really think there's such a thing as Judo Chop? WTH? Seriously?

Yup. At least a lot of folks I know and work with do. Judo, karate, ju-jitsu, tae kwon do, kung-fu, its all the same. Its like asking someone like me about say dancing or different kinds of classical music ... what's the difference between baroque, medieval, romantic and so on? I've a vague idea they're different, but its all classical music to me. For most other folks the same is true for martial arts ... just slightly different flavors of the same thing.

either that or his boss is such an evolved fighter that he can see it all as one universal martial art and he fights like neo. think about it, hes the BOSS, and most of his employees do bjj lol he must be sick

That is the alternative reason all right, I should have thought of that :icon_chee

 

[valdivia123]

Most people have no clue what BJJ is. I don't ever bring it up, and don't really like talking about it when someone asks.

Here in Brazil everbody know bjj, but some associate it a lot with vale-tudo/mma, and some people think they the same thing!

So the societys view of BJJ here in brazil is that its a violent martial art, and the practioners usually use it to fight on the streets, which is not true.
People just start to respect you a lot when they know you train BJJ, and thats why bjj practioners wanna show everyone that they train BJJ.

I think the society view is pretty diferent in the US huh?

 

[An end for]

Here in Brazil everbody know bjj, but some associate it a lot with vale-tudo/mma, and some people think they the same thing!

So the societys view of BJJ here in brazil is that its a violent martial art, and the practioners usually use it to fight on the streets, which is not true.
People just start to respect you a lot when they know you train BJJ, and thats why bjj practioners wanna show everyone that they train BJJ.

I think the society view is pretty diferent in the US huh?

Also you can get a lot of respect if you liberally apply pliers to your ears. You lose it all if someone asks why aren't your ears busted up though.

 

[hackenbush]

People really think there's such a thing as Judo Chop? WTH? Seriously?

Hell ya!

Look at this old school footage of it, in action! The Gracie's have nothing on this.

 

[Cash Bill 52]

A woman in our office does some kind of dancing - I think its flamenco, but I'm not sure, though she's mentioned it in passing to me and everyone else from time to time over the years. We all think its great she's doing something outside of work, but the detail isn't important to us, because none of us are dancers. But I suspect the difference between say ballet, ballroom, salsa, and flamenco is as large as between karate and BJJ.

I'd say its great your boss knows you do some sort of martial art, more than that isn't important to him or you. And BJJ (and judo and karate for that matter) are pretty specialized, minor activities in North America ... 90% of people couldn't tell them apart if their life depended upon them. Most folks still think 'judo chop' is real - and there's no reason for them to care its not.

Good one, George. Speaking of dancing; Jiu jitsu has definitely helped my dance game. I am not quite ready for "Dancing With The Stars". I just need the "Star" part!:icon_twis

I have appointed myself an ambassador for jiu jitsu. I try to explain it to anybody who is interested. I feel that I am in a position to do so...

When a ten year old says, "I am a brown belt, too." I say, "Cool!". I honestly believe that we have something in common. I let people find out on their own by asking me questions.

 

[ProdigyOfZen]

I can imagine that most brazilians know what BJJ is and have heard someone talk about it but don't really know about it. In fact most of the Brasilians i meet in the US do not know much about it. They prefer soccer.

 

[GS828]

I can imagine that most brazilians know what BJJ is and have heard someone talk about it but don't really know about it. In fact most of the Brasilians i meet in the US do not know much about it. They prefer soccer.

That I will agree with. Most Brazilian people I've met are Soccer nuts and do not care one bit about BJJ or MMA.

 

[blfdgrappler]

I tell everyone who will listen that I train BJJ. I interject it into conversations. Hell, I'd scream it from the mountaintops. It's my passion, and I love it!!! I really do not care what other people think. And if they want to make some snarky jab, I never get riled up. Oftentimes, I will also make some joke about it at my own expense. The ignorant get tired of never getting a reaction and just fade away. When people ask me if I train UFC, Karate, or whatever, I just say, "Yeah, something like that," and move on. Hell, they're gonna think what they are gonna think, regardless of my response. Life is too short to worry about what other people think. When people are generally interested but misinformed, I usually seize the opportunity to try to educate and promote. Piece of cake.

 

[jzpowahz]

I have only had positive reactions. No one at my work (accounting) cares or says anything disrespectful. Some were asking me when I was getting in the cage. (not anytime soon!)

I don't generally bring it up but a mate of mine just loves telling people for some reason. He told his friend (who I had just met) while we were at the beach and she asked me to armbar her haha.