Hello Everyone,
Thank you once again for taking the time to read this blog. This month I feel quite saddened by the content of this blog, though I do feel that I have to address some issues that have arisen recently. What you are about to read may strike a chord with many of you, though I am sure there will always be some “haters” who do not agree with me. However, in life I believe that you have to stand up for something, and make a stand and not be concerned by the opinions of the “few”.

So what is it that I stand for?… The answer is: Master Carlos Gracie Jnr’s mission of providing “Jiu-Jitsu For Everyone”…. That’s my mission. I truly wish to provide a safe, friendly, positive environment where everyone can benefit from learning this beautiful art. This is regardless of age, gender, sexuality, race, religion, body shape or any other thing. As long as you are physically able to participate… you have a place with us, and we will welcome you, and embrace you as part of our team.

I truly aim to fulfil this mission and will do my utmost to provide this. The tricky thing that I’ve learned over the last week, is that unfortunately, sometimes in order to achieve this mission… you have to do the exact opposite of what you’re trying to achieve. Sounds crazy doesn’t it? You may be puzzled by my thinking!… Allow me to explain a little more.

In order to achieve this huge mission it requires EVERYONE on the whole team to fully embrace this mission too. We could not provide a safe platform for everyone to learn if someone in the class was racist, sexist or homophobic for example. So by that rationale… sometimes JiuJitsu is NOT for everyone. If you exhibit these kinds of characteristics openly on the mat then you simply don’t have a place on it. I do not tolerate people who refuse to embrace the mission of the whole school, and show a lack of respect for other people they share the mat with. I fully respect that every individual has their own thoughts beliefs and viewpoints, and THAT is perfectly fine by me. Embracing the mission does not mean you have to change that. I do not expect everyone to get along, or to change their belief systems… but I do expect people to treat each other with humility, respect, dignity and courtesy when on the mats. When we bow on the mats (among other things) it is a sign to ourselves that we are entering a different world. One where we are ALL equal. One where we treat each other with respect. We literally trust each other with our whole body and physical well being and health. It is absolutely ESSENTIAL that respect is there so that no one gets hurt. What you think, feel and do off the mats in your own personal life is of no concern to me… but when you’re on the mats, you’ve entered MY world and these are things I require from EVERYONE. These concepts are taught to the smallest children during our class message at the end of class, and is something that I believe THE majority of adults should already understand.

Sadly this week, I have learned that not all adults embrace this idea, and one particular student has not entirely embraced this mission; so unfortunately they have been removed from the school and will have no place on our mats. Some people may think I’m being harsh or extreme for doing so, or possibly even accuse me of overreacting. However, I would like to take this opportunity to explain a little more about the ins and outs of what happened, and why I came to my decision.

I would like to begin by saying that the student in question is an absolutely FANTASTIC guy (when he is OFF the mats). So, that’s what’s made this decision even tougher for me to make. But as I said… I stand for my mission and I have to follow through on my promise to everyone else. Allowing myself to be swayed by my own emotion does not come into it. I genuinely do feel deeply saddened by having to take this course of action, but I need to remind myself that I must to stick to my mission. Anyway, regardless of that, I have already mentioned that I am NOT concerned about your behaviour OFF the mats (no matter how good or bad it may be). I am ONLY interested in how you behave ON the mats. And it is a long list of things that I have observed on the mats over a period of time that have led me to this conclusion.

As a brief potted history the person in question always had an ego when on the mats. Didn’t exactly really realise where they were or the ettiequte of training. But not everyone does. We are all raised differently so have different views of the world. However, in the interest of providing JiuJitsu for everyone I tried to teach them and show them the way, hoping that the penny will drop and they will stop the bad habits. Which to be fair to them, they actually did for quite a while. But sadly the ego was never to far away and often reared it’s ugly head. In my opinion I personally blame the UFC and MMA environment for exposing people to a bad image of what it means to be a martial artist. All this “Connor McGregor” trash talk kind of stuff presents the wrong image of a martial artist. When you’re in a Gracie Barra academy you are NOT in an MMA gym. We wear uniforms and we bow. We are humble and respectful to each other and to our history and lineage. We have deeply rooted traditions and a rich history that needs to be respected. If you think it’s acceptable to “celebrate” when you tap your opponent, or get excessively angry when you get tapped then you clearly do not get what we are trying to achieve on the mats. It’s perfectly acceptable to ask for a roll, but there is a difference when it more of a challenge. Telling a higher belt you are “calling them out” is not good at all. We are warriors with virtues. We are humble, polite and respectful, at all times… to everyone.

However, this person did not follow that path, and on at least three separate occasion I myself was personally challenged to prove my fighting ability against them… and not just in JiuJitsu. As part of my job, and in an attempt to help this person learn, I actually accepted them and demonstrated that I could actually follow up with what I was teaching and make it work. Now for me, in essence this is kind of crazy in the first place. Even if that person could kick my ass…. I’m their teacher! Where is the respect? And even if they can beat me… I can still help you by teaching you techniques you do not know…. and even if you overdosed on YouTube and had more “knowledge” than me… I am the one who can tie belts around your waist and help you in that sense. Therefore, does it not deserve some respect, if only for the sheer amount of time and effort I have been through and the sacrifices I have made over the years (and continue to do so) to provide that academy for everyone. I am an “old” school guy and my original JKD teacher was like a God to me. In all his life I never called him anything other than his title, and would literally have died for him. I couldn’t ever imagine doing to him what happened to me… but anyway.. I’m actually cool with what happened and I still held out hope that this person would “calm down” and eventually shed the ego. Sadly this never happened.

The breaking point for me was when this person got extremely upset and started to get very aggressive towards one of my black belts. Now I can take stuff personally such as the challenges etc, and if it had happened to me then it would probably have been different. BUT I simply cannot tolerate aggressive volatile behaviour towards ANY other person on the mats… least of all one of such high rank. As far as I see this, if this person can do that to a black belt and show no respect… then they are capable of anything on the mats, which means that no one is safe. Plus I just cannot allow other students to even see this kind of behaviour. Imagine if this was a new beginner’s first class and they witnessed behaviour like that? They would probably never come back. Further to this initial fracas, in a blind rage the person stormed off the mat and almost stamped on some people who were training at the time. When they left the mat in what can only be described as a temper tantrum I asked them to at least bow to the Masters as they left. My request was met with abusive language and the Grand Masters did not receive the bow that they deserve as he left the mat. The final nail in the coffin for this person is when my black belt showed perfect dignity and humility; despite him being treated the way he was. He bowed off the mat and tried to talk to the person and calm them down and help them. Again it was met with more colourful language and rude comments. Again, all of which I will not accept in the academy.

I have to perfectly honest, that in coming up for a quarter of century of martial arts practise in various arts, in academies and schools all around the world, I have NEVER witnessed anything like that in my whole life and if I’m totally honest it has angered me. However, I am now calm and I have thought deeply about my actions and how I should handle this situation. So I feel that in order to maintain my personal mission I must no longer allow this person to train in order to maintain the best environment for everyone else. I hope you all can see my reasoning and will agree with me. I am sure this blog will be discussed and people will fall out with me over this, but I stand by my mission and what I have said on here. I remain unchanged. To use a quote from the Samurai “Shake the tree and only the rotten fruit will fall”.

I wish you all the very best I hope that you can continue to enjoy the benefits of JiuJitsu under our roof. One team, one family, one mission! We are Gracie Barra!… and to my old student… I genuinely wish you all the best and hope that you can also continue to study JiuJitsu somewhere else.

Until nest time!
See you on the mats!
Ossssssss!