BJJ School culture: Essential qualities for any Jiu jitsu academy
By Emily Kwok
For most of us who decide to take an art on, we tend to prioritize things like location, price, aesthetics and instructor qualifications in our pursuit of learning. While these things are important, their influence wanes over time and can have less impact on our long term satisfaction and growth trajectory. What isn’t as obvious but quite critical to our enjoyment and progress is leadership and culture.
Unlike solitary activities like working out at the gym, running or skiing, disciplines like Brazilian Jiu Jitsu require a partner and or multiple partners to practice. In addition to the necessity of another human body, the humans should ideally trust and value each other. It requires a mutually committed community of people in order to flourish. In application, BJJ is very effective and unapologetic, therefore it can be dangerous when practiced and preached by the wrong characters. It’s worth acknowledging that most school owners are self appointed leaders. Not all business owners may choose to be teachers and not all teachers may choose to be business owners. Some are silent, but the majority tend to be senior practitioners of the art. And though they may have achieved a high level of practice in the art, that doesn’t actually qualify them to be evolved leaders.
Knowing the teacher’s intentions
BJJ has also traditionally been an extremely subjective art. There is no standardized framework for what competencies a student should possess through each belt level. Their development is largely left to the discretion of their promoting head instructor. This is not necessarily a criticism of the system, rather an observation that our journey is deeply tied to those who have a hand in raising us. We tend to assume that our teachers are always full of wisdom and truth, therefore we entrust them with our growth. How do we know our teachers and leaders think about growth? Do they provide and support curiosity, experimentation and challenge? Or do they uphold dogma and control what we are exposed to?
Sadly, many self-appointed leaders are not secure enough to hold such power responsibly and use their positions to abuse those around them. Whether they breed a cult of personality or manipulate the reverence they are given, it’s astonishing how little we question harmful behaviors and get duped into protecting them.
Training should be liberating and fun for the average practitioner. And while discipline, focus and discomfort are part of the experience, restrictive, ostracizing or manipulative undertones are usually the signal of toxic leadership and culture. If you are thinking about starting BJJ or are in a place where you are reflecting on your own choices, here are some positive and negative signals to consider. Be mindful that every value has upsides and downsides when expressed dysfunctionally:
Transparency: Does the school directly answer your questions? Do they try to be responsive to your needs? Good schools should earn your trust through honest and open communication. If there is a lack of transparency or withholding of information, it may be worth questioning why. Common situations include not sharing pricing information up front, not attempting to discuss a difficult situation, or covering up for inappropriate behavior. This is manipulative and controlling.
Boundaries: Responsible schools draw the line between teaching you a martial art and influencing your life in an irresponsible way. Solid schools respect the individual, stick to teaching you the art and providing a welcoming and supportive culture. Schools do not own your life, your decisions, or your social circles. Poor leadership can result in predatory behavior, ostracization if you don’t follow the majority, or influencing who or what you do with your free time. Remember that you pay for a service, you didn’t sign your life away to a random black belt.
Values: Can you get a sense for what the school stands for? Not what they project, but what they are invested in? Development of the self? Your family? Self-actualization? Schools with good values can be felt and seen. They don’t need superficial branding for a student to know what they are about. If the priority is on building “their team” by being forced to buy their merchandise and adhere to team conduct, consider where the individual fits in. Beware of dogmatic codes of conducts or pledges. You are a grown, autonomous adult and any entity that puts themselves before you may not actually care about you.
Contracts and Agreements: Every business will construct their memberships in a different way and though the formatting may not be ideal all the time, do they offer options? And more importantly can you actually quit or will the school keep charging you to no end? The customer and the business should work to honor each other’s word, and it is important to be reasonable on both sides. Customers shouldn’t look to break every commitment flippantly, but businesses should also understand that people’s interests and priorities change, sometimes without choice. Be wary of businesses that do not offer you reasonable cancellation options or policies.
Diversity: What does the general population look like? Do you see someone like you? Or are you inspired to be the first? When considering joining a school, assess if the environment feels welcoming to you, if the demographic is more concentrated, or if the school even cares about who makes up their student body. Some schools will be more competition focused, others will aim to serve families. Be observant that some cultures can be inhospitable to people “not like them”. Before you decide to commit anywhere, make sure that the culture feels like one where you can thrive as yourself, where you don’t transform who you are to survive.
School cultures are complex organizations that shift and evolve over time. While we can never have the perfect environment for everyone, we can aim to manage and harmonize what we have to shape a productive and enjoyable atmosphere.