I am tired of this election season. I am tired of political Facebook feeds. I am tired of social media friends trumpeting their political positions. I am tired of on-line bickering. I have grown extremely tired of phrases that start with, ‘I am so…’ and end with any of the following words: outraged, horrified, disturbed, offended, triggered, frustrated, appalled, disgraced. I am just bored of it all; furthermore, I never once participated in this sort of public discourse. Typically, I find harsh or emotional comments suspect. And this type of on-line banter likely says more about the person making the comments than it does about the actual subject matter.
Q: So what do you do to fend off the negativity?
A: Why, I do BJJ of course! I hit the mats! I roll! And I keep rolling. It doesn’t matter if you are a republican or democrat, Christian or Muslim, man or woman; I have respect on and off the mat.
Q: But what if you are at home, away from the peaceful mats and you need to escape the negativity?
A: Why, I read about Jiu-Jitsu on the internets and watch videos that teach me how to choke people! BJJ is my favorite form of escape...except when it is not:
A few weeks ago an article caught the ire of the BJJ community. EVERYONE seemed to have an opinion...The Jiu-Jitsu Times, BJJEE, Reddit, Watch BJJ, are among the few sources that reported on Joe McCaffery’s self-promotion from purple belt to brown belt. From white belts to black, from New York to San Diego, from Wisconsin to Agrabah...the personal attacks and opinions flooded the comments sections. The negativity was overwhelming. It must be something in the air. Keyboard warriors began trumpeting their stances and some people lost composure. Whether it is politics or BJJ, people just HAD TO have an opinion...And you know what they say about opinions they are like assholes; everyone has one...
On self promotion
I was riled after reading the article about Mr. McCaffery’s self-promotion. People bleed for this martial art. Every stripe involved some amount of blood and sweat. Every promotion received is an honor and blessing (or curse...those first few purple belt tournaments might be a rude awakening for some!). The path to promotion is arduous and the sacrifices made are significant. It makes sense that hardworking members in the BJJ community would feel outraged. Part of McCaffery’s argument was the BJJ community is dysfunctional and broken. That’s, like, his opinion, man. AND HE POSTS HIS SELF PROMOTION VIDEO FULL WELL KNOWING THE BJJ COMMUNITY WILL HAVE OPINIONS. And opinions were made: he was challenged to fights, he was called a hoax, and he was called an embarrassment to the BJJ community. Based on comments like these, many people felt threatened by the weight of McCaffery’s stunt. He knew what he was getting into by posting the video. He knew people would react harshly. And those harsh reactions only proved the point he was trying to make...DON’T FEED THE TROLLS! Rather than using words, let the mats be the judge and jury. If he holds his own with other brown and black belts (at tournaments with a loaded bracket) then isn’t that enough proof? If his blue belts are crushing it at tournaments, is that enough proof?
I AM NOT DEFENDING McCAFFERY’S ACTIONS; his self-promotion bothered me. I did not give myself my Bachelor of Arts degree, nor did I award myself my master’s degree--those degrees were earned according to the standards set forth by the universities I attended. However, I did become an ordained Dudeist Priest in a click of a button (but that accolade is not present on my resume). The Dudeist in me thinks that McCaffery’s belt really tied his GI together, did it not? And that is all it does for him. He chooses to be a joke or to be credible. I don’t wish to play the game that he is playing. If BJJ has taught me anything, it is to never carry the weight of my opponents; make my opponent carry my weight. McCaffery put this video out there so that we would carry this weight. Nope. Not going to carry this. We don’t need to waste anymore words on the topic. Respectfully and quietly, place your weight back on him and his students--like you would do to any other opponent, self-promoted or not--let your Jiu-Jitsu do the talking. Put your energy into your training because words will be lost, but answers will be found. The mats won’t lie.