I often love to envision what BJJ might be like in 40 years. Not from a technical or philosophical standpoint, but from a professional one.
In the last 10 years we have seen a lot more professionalism in the BJJ community, and this is great . After all, as athletes and teachers, should we not get paid a reasonable salary when other sports’ athletes and coaches make millions? I don’t think this is too much to ask.
Here is my personal vision for the future of BJJ built into 5 key points.
More Live Stream and PPV– By this I don’t mean underground; I mean mainstream and possibly even aired on ESPN (after all “professional gaming” is now on ESPN). This will get sponsors more heavily involved in the sport, as it will be seen by more people.
School integration – I recently wrote an article about why BJJ should be taught as a PE class in our school system and I think this will help put BJJ on the map. If our kids have the chance to learn BJJ at school, this will promote the growth and popularity of the sport and take the competition to another level.
More Funding Behind Training Centers– Academies as we know them now tend to be pretty modest compared to major athletic facilities that other sports use. I believe that it would be great if, in the future, companies or the government could sponsor the building of large academies lead by world-class coaches.
Uniform Rule Set– This one is key to popularizing the sport, as even competitors can get confused about the rules. There needs to be a uniform rule set of rules if we want BJJ to become more professional. It will also make the sport easier to understand for spectators.
Olympic Recognition– While many are against this, I believe this is the ultimate goal for the professionalization of BJJ. If we can get BJJ into the Olympics, almost all of the former will end up happening. While becoming an Olympic sport does have some drawbacks and complexities, it will work to elevate the pay and professionalism of athletes and coaches.
What would you like to see in the future for BJJ? Do you agree with my list or is there anything that you think is not a good idea?
The post A Vision Of The Jiu-Jitsu Future appeared first on Jiu-Jitsu Times.