Jiu-Jitsu and the 2024 Olympics

[Adam Lauritzen]

Rules which have nothing to do with the Olympics or the IOC and everything to do with years and years of the IJF promoting big, exciting, ippon scoring throws above all other aspects with a dash of classical Japanese style judo favoritism thrown in.



The fundamental position of BJJ is the guard in it's various forms. You don't penalize that position without fundamentally altering the sport. And even if you did, you'd just get ADCC where two people with mediocre takedowns stall on the feet or one person eats a penalty for pulling guard and the other person rides out the clock to win.

The problems with sport BJJ are almost entirely because stalling isn't aggressively penalized.

Guard is certainly the fundamental innovation of BJJ. I would submit that the fundamental position is that which allows you to finish with either joint destruction, choke, or strangle. In most grappling traditions the end of the match is typically a pin. Judo having evolved from throwing to the ground and finishing by opening the carotid with a short blade, could be an exception since the Ippon is very fast and other finishes having a 30-second limit (which encourages stalling but short-lived stalling).

I wholeheartedly agree that the types of stalling in IBJJF and similar federations are an embarrassment, and some limited penalty points for stalling are only used in the event of a tie. This certainly doesn't do much to dissuade though, especially when Brazillian privilege is invoked by the referee deciding at the end of a tie. I enjoy watching no time limit submission-only ruleset events, but this would be impractical for a tournament that needs an end to be specified for scheduling. A lot of promotions have popped up, but I think ADCC is the best-talented competition around, just opinion. I really hope they keep BJJ away from the Olympics and the IOC. I doubt the Olympics has any interest in adding a violent sport, seeing that they tried to dump wrestling a few years back.

[Soule]

Guard is certainly the fundamental innovation of BJJ. I would submit that the fundamental position is that which allows you to finish with either joint destruction, choke, or strangle. In most grappling traditions the end of the match is typically a pin. Judo having evolved from throwing to the ground and finishing by opening the carotid with a short blade, could be an exception since the Ippon is very fast and other finishes having a 30-second limit (which encourages stalling but short-lived stalling).

I wholeheartedly agree that the types of stalling in IBJJF and similar federations are an embarrassment, and some limited penalty points for stalling are only used in the event of a tie. This certainly doesn't do much to dissuade though, especially when Brazillian privilege is invoked by the referee deciding at the end of a tie. I enjoy watching no time limit submission-only ruleset events, but this would be impractical for a tournament that needs an end to be specified for scheduling. A lot of promotions have popped up, but I think ADCC is the best-talented competition around, just opinion. I really hope they keep BJJ away from the Olympics and the IOC. I doubt the Olympics has any interest in adding a violent sport, seeing that they tried to dump wrestling a few years back.

Plus, chokes are the equivalent of attempted murder now in the eyes of the general public.

[mitchless]

And try to get excited about watching an Olympic Tae Kwon Do match - a sport where two dudes are supposed to literally kick the shit out of each other - where they have electronic scoring and the biggest danger to an opponent is twisting an ankle or tearing an ACL.

Last time around I tried to find some clips to show my boys, who take Tae Kwon Do. After watching a couple I decided they didn't need to see that. Speaking to the former owner of their school, electronic scoring utterly ruined the sport. Instead of following through, competitors would tap and check the scoreboard for their points. In the fighters he coached, he'd tell them to ignore the scoreboard and follow through -- make the other opponent afraid of you. He has since sold his TKD school and teaches combatives.

[Nick Delgadillo]

He has since sold his TKD school and teaches combatives.

This is the way.