Marketing in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu schools
My son’s school ends before the work day, so when I pick him, we often have free time. I’ve recently been trying to find some activity to get into shape–other than running, which kills my knees–and since there’s a well regarded Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu school around the area, I thought I’d pop in. I don’t know if I’d have time to make the class times, but it never hurts to look, right?
I checked out the website beforehand, and it gives the same impression of Jiu-Jitsu that Black Belt Magazine gave when I first read about the Gracies–they don’t address their teachers as “sensei, guru, or sifu,” they don’t bow to each other, and it’s all functional rather than traditional. They had a kids class after school, and because I was bringing my son, I figured we’d attend. I was wondering how they would teach kids without traditional discipline, and I was expecting a bunch of spoiled brats running wild around the dojo, I mean, gym.
I was pleasantly surprised. The senseis, I mean, coaches, were great with the kids. They lined the little kids up (ages from around 5 to 7), asked them to focus, and taught using fun games to keep them engaged. I was particularly impressed with the philosophy. The coach sat them down for one lesson by talking about space.
“There are certain things in jiu-jitsu class that are okay,” he said. “It’s okay to get on top of your partner in jiu-jitsu class when we’re practicing. It’s okay to put him in your guard or bear hug him.
“But,” he continued, “you don’t do this outside of class. You can use jiu-jitsu to protect your loved ones–your parents, your brother, your sister, or your dog.” (At this point, one of the little boys raised his hand and asked, “What about your goldfish?” Coach said, “Yes, you can protect your goldfish.”) But you don’t use it on your friends from school, and you never do it when you’re angry or upset. That’s not what jiu-jitsu is for.”
I thought it was a great class. The class learned fitness, discipline, and jiu-jitsu. I’m pretty sure I will sign up my son and daughter when they get older–haha, if they’ll take us.
The only question I had when leaving is the marketing. Why do Brazilian jiu-jitsu schools always stress how informal and lax they are? In this school, they lined the kids up as they would in judo class, they had them clap and verbalize in unison as they do in judo class, and they required the kids to call the teachers “coach” or “sir,” which is more or less just an English word for “sensei.” In terms of the jiu-jitsu itself, they started with traditional techniques (”the guard”), and then they move on to fancier stuff. It was just like judo class.
It’s funny because it’s the same thing in dealing with Gracie schools themselves. In their ads, they talk about how tough and crazy their training is, how they only care about effectiveness, and how their art is better than anyone else’s. They even recently posted a voicemail from a loser of a parent who bragged that his five year old who used jujitsu to beat up a classmate (which really, really bothered me). Then I read this great book by some Gracie Jiu-Jitsu teachers called “The Essential Guard,” which was totally respectful of other arts and even went as far as to say that Gracie Jiu-Jitsu only gives belts to people with the mental maturity and proficiency in technique to perform the art. The book says that fighting prowess can only get you so far, which is probably true, considering the fact that many top MMA fighters are still working towards their black belts. It can be a great art, but the marketing is so different from what I saw in the class and what I read in the book.
So I’m glad I found a great school. This clearly wasn’t the kind of school that would teach a five year old to beat up a classmate. I just wonder about the marketing. If I were the kind of person to judge a book by its…website, I might have passed it up.
