One of my favorite things about Jiu Jitsu is that the only colors we worry about are the colors of the belt. When we show up to class there are 2 purple belts 3 blue belts about 10 white belts and a black belt. That’s it, not how many races, not how many women, and not how many fat or skinny people that are there on a day to day basis. We talk about Jiu Jitsu matches we’ve seen or MMA drama we’ve recently read about, not about Ferguson or what that white guy did to this black guy, it’s all about the roll.
Why is it that in a Jiu Jitsu academy people can look past race, sex, and religion? Well to be honest, it’s because no one gives a damn! We want to see what that purple belt does when in guard or why that new white belt chose to join the academy. We don’t have to worry about the girl getting mad because we made a boob joke, because she was probably the one that pointed it out to start with. We are at home, it’s family, our skin color is Jiu Jitsu! We bleed on these mats all the same.
You won’t find a better environment to learn any other martial art. Jiu Jitsu is laid back and comfortable, no matter what you are there for, you won’t find hate and discrimination! For that hour or two during class or open mat, we are all the same!
There has been a lot of talk lately about women in Jiu Jitsu and kids in Jiu Jitsu. These are popularity contests and not sexism or age issues. We hear about “women’s self defense class” or “kids bully proof class”, this is fantastic, we want our women and kids to be able to defend themselves when the time comes! What do we not hear? That this is a “white only class” or “black only class”! This is our world, everyone is welcome!
In my opinion the world today needs to see that this is possible. That we can spend time as equals to everyone without hate! We don’t need gay pride marches or women’s rights movements, we need to all put on a Gi and sweat a little! This is the beauty of Jiu Jitsu! It’s ours, embrace it, share it with others. Even if it doesn’t make a huge difference in this world, it’s different in our world! Roll safe and hate free! Oss!!
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